Tryx Stage 360 AIO Review: Luxurious, unique, and quiet

We’re looking at an eye-catching AIO like none other today, sent to us by a relatively new player in the cooling game: Tryx. While the company only started in February 2023, its team of cooling experts has years of experience. We’ve previously reviewed the Panorama lineup of AIOs, finding them to be extremely strong in thermal performance.

Today we’re testing one of the company’s most recent AIOs, the Stage 360 ARGB. Like previous Tryx AIOs, it features a large screen. Technically, it’s two large screens, with a mirror base. This makes for some quite interesting customization options.

Will the Stage 360 ARGB make our list of the best CPU coolers? Let's take a look at the specifications and features of the cooler, then we’ll go over thermal and noise benchmarks so you can decide if this is the right AIO for your next build.

Cooler specifications

Features of the Tryx Stage 360 AIO liquid cooler

● Packaging

While Tryx’s packaging isn’t hugely different from others, it tends to be a bit more eye-catching, just like its coolers. When you open the box, you’ll find a yellow-green cover that highlights the CPU block.

The inner contents are protected by molded foam and plastic coverings.

● Rota SL ARGB 120mm fans

Tryx includes three Rota SL ARGB 120mm fans, which are pre-installed on the radiator for your convenience. This is an extra step I appreciate for two reasons: It saves the system builder a few minutes, and it cuts down on unnecessary packaging waste.

These fans have seven blades, and are rated for up to 65.6 CFM (airflow) and 2.5 mmAq (air pressure).

The fans connect to each other via metal pins, eliminating cable management clutter. One combined ARGB and PWM cable connects at the end.

If you look closer at the connection, you’ll see it isn’t marked – and you might wonder which way to attach the cord. Well, it connects to the fans magnetically and it’s polarized. So if you try to attach it the “wrong” way, it will be magnetically repulsed and won’t attach.

Included with the AIO are the following parts:

• 360mm radiator with three Rota SL ARGB 120mm fans pre-installed
• Dual-screen 4-inch IPS displays

• Mounting for modern AMD and Intel platforms
• Pre-applied thermal paste
• Cable management velcro ties

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• Pre-installed and extra α-01 thermal paste

● AM4/AM5 Installation

The installation of this liquid cooler is very simple. First, you’ll remove the default AM4/AM5 mechanism, and then place the plastic studs on top of the holes of the mounting bracket.

Next, you screw in the metal standoffs.

Tryx includes pre-applied thermal paste on the CPU coldplate, so you don’t need to worry about thermal paste application on the initial installation.

Place the pump and CPU block on top of your AMD Ryzen CPU, and then secure it with the included screws.

The CPU block itself is very simple and thin, without any bling. I think this is what most AIO CPU blocks should look like, assuming they don’t include something fancy like a giant screen (or two).

Speaking of screens, the last step is to place the display section on top of the CPU block.

You can optionally secure it using the knob highlighted below in blue, but it isn’t strictly necessary.

The last step is to connect the screen’s USB header and SATA power connection, and connect the PWM and ARGB connections. Power on your computer, and the hardware installation is complete – but you’ll need to install Tryx’ Kanali software if you wish to customize the display.

● The killer feature: Dual IPS screens with a mirror below

Unless you’re blind, you can easily see what the standout feature of the Tryx Stage 360 is: the included cube-shaped screen. It features dual four-inch IPS displays, each with a 720x720 resolution (1440x720 combined resolution), and a mirror on the bottom. The mirror has two sides – one with a mirror to show reflections, the other side is solid – and you can flip it over to customize the look as you please.

To control and customize the screen, you’ll need to download the Tryx Kanali software. Before I delve into the features of this software, let’s start with my singular complaint about it : the installation process.

As shown above, Tryx asks you to accept a user agreement and a privacy policy. I don’t know about you, but this seems ridiculous to me. Why does software that only serves to control a display need a privacy policy and an extensive EULA?

Worse yet, when I attempted to view the text of these “agreements”, Tryx’s web server kept timing out (as shown in the screenshot above), which means I wasn’t able to see what I was “agreeing” to. That alone might invalidate it in courts, but I’m no lawyer.

With that out of the way, let's look at the features included with the Kanali software. Currently, there are only four presets available. This will likely be updated with more n the future. When I first tested the Tryx Panorama AIO, it only included a few presets at launch. One year later when I tested the Tryx Panorama SE AIO, the number of preset options had greatly expanded.

What I really like about the Kanali software is the ability to easily record custom videos from your computer to use with the AIO’s display. To do this, you’ll click the “customization” button on the main screen (shown below).

A new screen will pop up afterwards, allowing you to control the recording. I loaded up a song from YouTube and recorded it. Once the recording is complete, it will save to a file.

You’ll then need to manually upload it using the “customization” tab.

Real-world testing configuration, AMD AM5 platform

The 9950X3D setup that we were testing coolers with last year has suffered an early death, likely caused by electrically defective equipment. While we were waiting for the CPU to be replaced, we tested coolers with AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X instead and observed some interesting findings.

There are some differences in how the 9950X and 9950X3D CPUs are impacted by thermal events – while the heat output of the CCDs of AMD’s 9950X3D are relatively balanced, the 9950X I’m used has one CCD that runs much hotter than the other, with a difference of over 10 degrees Celsius in some scenarios, shown below.

The benchmark results shared in these reviews may differ from others because I place an emphasis on having results that are comparable to real-world use.

This means that I generally test CPU coolers inside of a closed desktop case, which increases cooling difficulty compared to other testing methods - many will test CPU coolers outside of a case, on an open test bench. Open benches have lowered ambient temperatures, which in turn makes weak coolers appear stronger than they really are. Some publications have used generic thermal plates to test cooling solutions. I reject both of these methods because they don’t accurately reflect the real-world PC cooler conditions.

Our latest testing setup uses the FLOVA F50 PC case, also from Tryx.

This case isn’t just stylish and classy; it features a unique “crossflow” fan that pulls air from the side, which the company claims is more effective than traditional intake fans.