In the somewhat recent past, we have taken a look at a few of MSI’s AIO options and, while they were rather good, none were what we would classify as being intended to take on the best of the best and stomp a mud hole in them. Instead, they were good “all rounder” options that had some very nice, sometimes unique, features, making them highly suitable for certain builds and scenarios. Just not all builds, nor all scenarios. Especially premium custom builds. Well… it appears MSI took that critique personally and in typical MSI fashion, they did not blacklist us, rather they went back to the drawing board to create a model that could not only out compete the various Asetek based models, but give high-end models like those from Arctic a real run for their money. This newly unleashed series has been dubbed the MSI MPG CoreLiquid P13 360 (or ‘P13’ for short) and as the name suggests this ‘360mm’ AIO-classed model is all about performance… and has been priced accordingly at about 240 CAD (or about $190 in Freedom Fisc).
Before you yawn and go ‘oh look, another AIO that wants to win us over solely based upon cooling slightly better than the rest’… when we say ‘performance’, we mean all types of performance. For example, outperforming the competition in the ease-of-use department (via a new pre-applied “Uni Bracket” mounting hardware that is the best version of this idea we have seen to date). Outperform the competition in the overall aesthetics department (i.e., not just hiding all the wires but also the Uni Bracket itself via an ‘EZ Cap’ that will almost certainly become the gold standard in the coming years). Outperforming the competition in the included advanced features (via a marvelous 2.1 LCD that is actually protected from scratches and yet looks good). Arguably, even outperforms the vast majority of the competition via a highly advanced water block and pump.
Best of all, and unlike the vast majority of AIOs sold today, this is not an Asetek ODM ‘rebadge’. Rather, MSI, who are rightly proud of this fact, did the research and the design themselves “in-house”… and just shopped out the actual building of their design to an OEM to manufacture it for them. Thus, making the CoreLiquid P13 series one of the few non-Asetek ODM models available today. Needless to say, this means that they also intend to outperform the competition in the innovation department.
With all that said, the usual questions about designing it all themselves will spring to mind in experienced builders. Namely, does all the fancy features actually work? As work in the real world and not just in CAD/CAM (or marketing pamphlets)? After all, with an asking price of $240 for the 360mm variant, the P13 series is priced at the higher end of the market. As such, the real question is simple: can the MSI CoreLiquid P13 series do what previous models could not and not only compete with the various Asetek clones… but truly premium AIOs of the market? Put another way, and as Omar once said, “if you come for the king, you best not miss,” so let’s find out if MSI has gotten serious about swimming in the deep end of the AIO pool.
