YouTuber and hardware reviewer Tim has been testing a new way of enjoying the latest FPS game from EA, displaying it on the tiny screen of his AIO cooler. Though not the way it was intended to be used, this shows the quality and performance of nowadays premium cooler addons, blending the line between monitoring hardware and, well, a true monitor.
With RGB becoming widely available, cooler manufacturers now equip their premium models with fancy displays to separate them from the competition. In many instances, these are fully fledged panels capable of running anything you would like, as long as the software supports it.
Knowing this, Tim at Allround-PC used the 2.1in IPS screen of MSI’s CoreLiquid P13 AIO liquid cooler to play Battlefield 6 at 480×480 resolution. While not as fast as current gaming monitors, its 60Hz refresh rate is sufficient to have a smooth-looking game. Furthermore, 600nits of brightness is strong enough to counteract any glare coming from other light/RGB sources. That said, I wonder how Battlefield 6 recognised the screen since modern games don’t usually offer a square, 1:1 aspect ratio.
As for those wondering how is this possible in the first place? Well, the CoreLiquid’s screen can be set to function as a secondary display, i.e. like in a multi-monitor setup, meaning you can show whatever you want on it. This can be done via the MSI Center app, which offers four dynamic modes: Hardware Monitor, Video, System Clock, and Extended Display.
Note, however, it’s kind of a rare feature on AIO coolers, as many prefer the simpler gif or general video option. This gives MSI’s solution more versatility, letting users choose what to show with no restrictions. The result is what we see today; a game running on a liquid cooler screen.
Aside from its fancy LCD screen, the CoreLiquid takes great pride in its clean aesthetics, packing three of MSI’s daisy-chainable fans to make cable management as stealthy and hassle-free as possible. Add to that some high-end cooling performance thanks to its large 360mm radiator, and you have a complete set whether you like performance or flashy things.
Battlefield 6 has enjoyed a great launch, marking a triumphant return with record-breaking sales and player counts. EA claims the game sold more than seven million units in just three days, which isn’t surprising seeing how it managed to maintain above 420,000 concurrent daily players peaks on Steam. Understandably, we recommend playing it on a larger, high refresh monitor such as the MSI MPG 271QR QD-OLED X50.
