THICC Q60 Overview
From the start, you can tell that the THICC Q60 is not your average AIO. While it does have a generic layout for the most part, that is about as close as it comes to being like other AIOs. The THICC Q60 gets its name from many of the larger-than-average components used in the loop. The Q60 brings together two 32mm thick 120mm fans with a 52mm thick 240mm radiator. Your standard 240mm AIO would usually have two 25mm thick fans paired up with a 25-28mm thick radiator. The Q60 eschews the old way of doing things and uses these thicker fans for higher airflow and static pressure specifications in order to force air through the radiator that is nearly double the thickness of standard AIOs.
The first component I want to focus on is the radiator. This aluminum radiator comes in at 52mm thick, which again, is close to double the thickness of radiators we typically see on an AIO. Another way to grasp just how big, and potentially efficient, this radiator is, consider that you could slice the radiator down the middle, and end up with two 26mm thick 240mm radiators. The surface area of this THICC radiator essentially means you get a 480mm radiator in a 240mm package. With about 15 fins-per-inch, this lower-than-average fin density will help the factory-installed 120mm fans push air through this radiator. The entire radiator body is outfitted with a black paint job.
If that extra thickness wasn’t enough of a variation to the standard way of doing things, then maybe the two pumps that find themselves in the middle of the radiator will be. This pair of synchronized pumps have a speed range from 2,000-4,500 RPM, which will help to push the internal liquid through what is essentially a 480mm radiator. Ceramic bearings in each pump help with efficiency and lifetime.
Moving to the end of the radiator, we find a large white extension that serves to not only direct the oversized tubing towards the water block, but also as a bit of a hub for connecting the Q60 to your system, as well as other HYTE Nexus Link products. The two oversized tubes coming out of the radiator are 400mm in length, and quite flexible, with their nylon sleeving. Just to the side of these tubes is a circular HYTE logo that is outfitted with RGB lighting.
The aforementioned connections found on the THICC Q60’s radiator come in the form of the dual USB Type-C “Breakout-Kabel” port, as well as an additional USB Type-C port for connecting additional Nexus Link components like fans and light strips.
Moving over to the CPU water block, it is once again apparent that HYTE is doing things differently with the Q60. Taking a look from the top down, you will obviously first see the 5″ LCD screen, but I will go over that in a short bit.
Beneath the screen is a pretty subtle looking water block, with an all-black design. Since there are no cables coming directly from the block to your system, there isn’t much to see here, aside from the two swiveling connectors that attach the block to the radiator.
If you look close enough, you can see that HYTE has routed the cabling for the screen along with the tubes, just below the nylon sleeving.
The top edge of the water block is where the “sprout” that holds the LCD screen exits, but other than that, the water block is pretty bland.
Taking a look at the underside of the water block, we see a copper cold plate, secured via eight screws. This surface does not have a high polish finish, but instead has the satin finish that we are accustomed to seeing on most AIO units. Pre-applied thermal paste has been provided by HYTE, and is laid out in a pattern of varying sizes of circles.
Going back to the LCD screen, you can quickly see that this will be the center of attention when the Q60 is fired up. This 5″ LCD screen has a resolution of 720 x 1280, with a pixel density of 293 PPI. The IPS panel has a 60Hz refresh rate, and the screen sports a brightness of up to 300 nits. The black and white plastic bezel looks quite nice, and matches the color scheme of the rest of the cooler.
Around the back side of the screen you will find a frosted plastic backing that shrouds a matrix of 42 qRGB LEDs, which give the screen a nice back glow, and help to illuminate the components surrounding the CPU area of your motherboard.
Also present on the back of the screen is the connection of the sprout from the water block. This glossy black tube not only provides the data and power connectivity to the screen, but also acts as a double-hinged arm that lets you orient the screen to your liking.
Included with the THICC Q60 are two of HYTE’s FP12 fans. As previously mentioned, these fans sport a thickness of 32mm, a 7mm increase over standard 120mm fans. This extra thickness allows for more fan blade surface and angle options, which results in some pretty amazing performance stats for these fans.
The FP12 fans offer 105.8 CFM of airflow, which is 30+ CFM more than most fans we see with AIOs. Meanwhile, a static pressure of 8.14 mm-H2O is more than double the performance of other fans we typically see on AIOs. Both of these statistics should translate into good performance with the thicker radiator – fans with lower specs just wouldn’t be able to compete with a radiator this thick.
Each corner of the fans has a rubber ring that helps to reduce noise and vibrations that might occur during operation. There is also a thermal sensor in the fan body that can be reported on via the Nexus software.
Another feature worth mentioning about the FP12 fans is their magnetic, cable-less connectivity. Like we have seen with more and more fans recently, the FP12 fans use a pogo-style connector to provide power and data between the fan and your system. Without any cables to get in the way, connecting multiple fans is a breeze, as all you have to do is line them up and they pretty much connect themselves to each other.
In addition to these standard hardware components, the radiator, water block, and pumps, the THICC Q60 also includes an integrated digital hardware interface for both lighting and cooling control. This “mini computer” inside the Q60 is capable of supporting up to 34 devices across two channels, thanks to HYTE’s Nexus Link AmpScale. What this boils down to is the ability to connect additional FP12 fans or LS–series light strips (or whatever else HYTE comes up with in the future) directly to the Q60, and control them all via that single connection going back to your system – no need for a mess of cables going back to a central controller. Just to convey how powerful this sub-system is, consider that it is comprised of a 4-core, 1.3 GHz ARM Cortex processor, 2GB of DDR4, 32GB of eMMC storage, and even its own graphics engine and co-processor.
All that said, HYTE does offer a standalone controller, the Nexus Portal NP50.
The NP50 offers four channels (3 x Nexus Link Type-C, 1 x 4-pin PWM), with a maximum of 18 devices on a single channel, and 54 devices across all channels.
You can pick up the Nexus Portal NP50 in a bundle set with HYTE’s FP12 fans or LS10/LS30 light strips.
