Arctic Liquid Feezer II 240mm = $99.99. 280mm = $109.99. 420mm = $152.97.

Darkswordz

Gawd
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Amazon has both the 240mm and 280mm versions of the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II AIO coolers in stock.

These are highly sought after, but seldom in stock at MSRP. Go get one if you've been waiting.

Link: 240mm
Link: 280mm
Link: 420mm :geek:

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I got the 280mm version during Prime Days for the same price. I just finished my build with it in a Phanteks P500A.

DFBB6CE9-5CAF-4C9E-BC5E-B68B18784009.jpeg

The pic is from a weird angle, the 2080 isn’t crooked/sagging IRL. The anti-sag bracket that came with the Phanteks case actually seems to do a good job keeping the card level.

Just as a head’s up, the shroud around the 40mm vrm fan is awfully close to the vrm heatsink on my MSI MAG Tomahawk z490 board. If you have a board with large vrm heatsinks, you could have a clearance issue.

I plan to test the new rig tomorrow, so we’ll see if it was money well-spent or not. From handling it during the build it seems like a quality product. At the $109.99 pricepoint it seems a great buy. I’ll update tomorrow with stock and overclocked temps.
 
The 280mm is one of the best tested on Gamer's Nexus - seems like a great value. I chose to go with an EK 360 for my next build for the extra radiator size and RGB, but my second choice was this.
 
Just put this in a NR200 and it was a tight fit lol.

As far as performance using the fans in a put config bringing cold air in I get 87c with a 9900k at stock settings which from what I can tell is not bad. I don’t have experience with other AIOs but the reviews spoke volumes as the only one that is actually different, performing better than the rest other than I think EKs new model.

For the price I’m glad I picked it up. Sorta wish it had adjustable heads on the block though. It’s cheaper than everything out there in its class and beats them all iirc.
 
Got the new build fired up and I’m impressed. The Liquid Freezer II 280 is quiet and my 10700K idles at 29c.

I’ve got mine set to exhaust and it’s seeing pretty cool air from the 3 140mm intake fans, so I don’t think there would be much to gain from switching to intake.

Max CPU temp during OCCT testing was 72C running the small data set.

Max CPU temp after a session of WoW or multiple Time Spy runs was 56C. GPU reached a peak of 64C during this time.

I’ll update again after I overclock.
 
Got the new build fired up and I’m impressed. The Liquid Freezer II 280 is quiet and my 10700K idles at 29c.

I’ve got mine set to exhaust and it’s seeing pretty cool air from the 3 140mm intake fans, so I don’t think there would be much to gain from switching to intake.

Max CPU temp during OCCT testing was 72C running the small data set.

Max CPU temp after a session of WoW or multiple Time Spy runs was 56C. GPU reached a peak of 64C during this time.

I’ll update again after I overclock.

I forgot to mention mine was tested with Prime95 at 30 mins for 88c on the highest core. Not sure if that matters.
 
Sorry to ask a perhaps obvious question but dimension-wise how is the 280 different than the 240, is it thicker? I assume they are still using the fan diameter for that number so where does the extra 40 come from, is that the impeller diameter on the chip contact?
 
Sorry to ask a perhaps obvious question but dimension-wise how is the 280 different than the 240, is it thicker? I assume they are still using the fan diameter for that number so where does the extra 40 come from, is that the impeller diameter on the chip contact?
2x120mm fans = 240
2x140mm fans = 280

The 280 is 20mm wider and 40mm longer. Thickness is the same.
 
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Just put this in a NR200 and it was a tight fit lol.

As far as performance using the fans in a put config bringing cold air in I get 87c with a 9900k at stock settings which from what I can tell is not bad. I don’t have experience with other AIOs but the reviews spoke volumes as the only one that is actually different, performing better than the rest other than I think EKs new model.

For the price I’m glad I picked it up. Sorta wish it had adjustable heads on the block though. It’s cheaper than everything out there in its class and beats them all iirc.
Can’t seem to get it to fit in mine. I got it yesterday and I have it hanging outside on the top of the case.
 
2x120mm fans = 240
2x140mm fans = 280

The 280 is 20mm wider and 40mm longer. Thickness is the same.
Gotcha, that was a little too obvious, thanks for setting me straight. I just ordered a 240, now I need to find a way to stick it in my CM stacker 830. Thanks OP for the heads up!

-B
 
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I had the first version of the Arctic Freezer 240 and it performed extremely well but the pump died after 2 years. I wonder if the 280 is enough to cool Zen 3 because if so, that’s a great deal.
 
Can’t seem to get it to fit in mine. I got it yesterday and I have it hanging outside on the top of the case.

It fits, but you have to be diligent. You have to remove the top corner bar on the radiator side and sorta build the case around the radiator.

mount the radiator to the bracket using the fans. If you don’t the tuning will hit the fans. I’ve seen someone use fan grills but I didn’t have any.

4D014B10-6A90-4CF3-BF35-78FAD08E98E8.jpeg


The tubing coming out of the radiator needs to go behind the PSU then a 110 degree angle up and over the PSU and another bend at the block hitting the radiator. In the image it looks like it would hit the PSU bracket but it goes in front of it it's just farther down and looks weird in the image.

My 9900k idles at 27c and maxes at 88c under a full Prime95 load at 8hrs. I have a phantom mitx z390 asrock and tried to set a 5Ghz over clock with no adjustments and it immediately failed on Prime95 but booted fine.

I haven’t overclocked a CPU in 5 years so I’m rusty.
 
Gotcha, that was a little too obvious, thanks for setting me straight. I just ordered a 240, now I need to find a way to stick it in my CM stacker 830. Thanks OP for the heads up!

-B

IIRC the Freezer II has a thicker radiator than most others.
 
It fits, but you have to be diligent. You have to remove the top corner bar on the radiator side and sorta build the case around the radiator.

mount the radiator to the bracket using the fans. If you don’t the tuning will hit the fans. I’ve seen someone use fan grills but I didn’t have any.



The tubing coming out of the radiator needs to go behind the PSU then a 110 degree angle up and over the PSU and another bend at the block hitting the radiator. In the image it looks like it would hit the PSU bracket but it goes in front of it it's just farther down and looks weird in the image.

My 9900k idles at 27c and maxes at 88c under a full Prime95 load at 8hrs. I have a phantom mitx z390 asrock and tried to set a 5Ghz over clock with no adjustments and it immediately failed on Prime95 but booted fine.

I haven’t overclocked a CPU in 5 years so I’m rusty.
I got it in, I bought fan grills yesterday from Amazon and it is a tight fit. I had to go back to the original Corsair SF750 cables because the ones I got from cablemod were too thick and just wouldnt fit the rad. Guess I am going to custom order the SFF cables.
 
I got the 280mm version during Prime Days for the same price. I just finished my build with it in a Phanteks P500A.

View attachment 292070
The pic is from a weird angle, the 2080 isn’t crooked/sagging IRL. The anti-sag bracket that came with the Phanteks case actually seems to do a good job keeping the card level.

Just as a head’s up, the shroud around the 40mm vrm fan is awfully close to the vrm heatsink on my MSI MAG Tomahawk z490 board. If you have a board with large vrm heatsinks, you could have a clearance issue.

I plan to test the new rig tomorrow, so we’ll see if it was money well-spent or not. From handling it during the build it seems like a quality product. At the $109.99 pricepoint it seems a great buy. I’ll update tomorrow with stock and overclocked temps.

Thanks for the pic. I’m actually putting one in the same case, so I’m glad to see it fits with a little room to spare.
 
Mine arrived yesterday and I got it up and running in my Lian Li Lancool II case. :smug:

It seems like I'm stuck using the two stock fans, as they come attached to the radiator with a cable that runs in-between. I was able to flip the fans in a pull config, which allowed me to mount it properly in my case, but I would have preferred the two fans be removable so I can use my own.

They do a good job though, and I have noticed temperatures about 7C cooler under load than my previous Corsair H115 AIO. I thought the small fan on the top of the block would be a complete gimmick, but I can feel it pushes a little bit of air over the VRM, which is nice.

aio.jpg
 
I slapped a 240mm on the build for my dad and it keeps the OCed to 5.1GHz 10700k reasonably cool during his FS2020 workloads.
 
Mine arrived yesterday and I got it up and running in my Lian Li Lancool II case.

Just a heads up that you may want to flip that rad the other way, with the intake and outlet on the bottom. AIOs are closed systems that don't come 100% filled and lose additional fluid over time. The way you have the rad oriented is going to put more strain on the pump.
 
Just a heads up that you may want to flip that rad the other way, with the intake and outlet on the bottom. AIOs are closed systems that don't come 100% filled and lose additional fluid over time. The way you have the rad oriented is going to put more strain on the pump.
Thanks. I'll give that a try. :)
 
The Arctic Freezer II 420mm(!) is supposed to release in a week or two.
That's gonna be crazy.

The hell?
I'll actually have to remove my optical drive bay in my Fractal Design 7 XL to use that...
The LFII 360 already barely fits in top intake with that drive bay.
So I guess this will be 3x140mm rather than 3x120mm, and will be just a few C improvement in temps compared to the 360?
 
I'll actually have to remove my optical drive bay in my Fractal Design 7 XL to use that...
I'm actually not sure it'll fit in my Fractal Design 7 XL how I have it. Which is kind of a shame. I have mine set in storage config and I found out that I can't have 3x 140mm on top due to the way that the panel connects. I need see if I can fit it in front, but considering how thick the radiator is, i'm not sure there will be clearance....
I think I *could* revert from storage config to a different config and find a way to stack those cages or something, but i'm not sure how viable that really is.
 
The hell?
I'll actually have to remove my optical drive bay in my Fractal Design 7 XL to use that...
The LFII 360 already barely fits in top intake with that drive bay.
So I guess this will be 3x140mm rather than 3x120mm, and will be just a few C improvement in temps compared to the 360?
Yeah, I'm not sure who the 420mm is actually targeting, most OC'ers that are generating that much heat to warrant it on a CPU are likely going custom loop anyway.

Mine arrived yesterday and I got it up and running in my Lian Li Lancool II case. :smug:

It seems like I'm stuck using the two stock fans, as they come attached to the radiator with a cable that runs in-between. I was able to flip the fans in a pull config, which allowed me to mount it properly in my case, but I would have preferred the two fans be removable so I can use my own.

They do a good job though, and I have noticed temperatures about 7C cooler under load than my previous Corsair H115 AIO. I thought the small fan on the top of the block would be a complete gimmick, but I can feel it pushes a little bit of air over the VRM, which is nice.
You need to turn your tubes downwards instead of upwards otherwise you're gonna have a bad time with that air pooling at the top of the rad (it might be fine for a few years but long term who knows), the LFII has one of the longest tube sets of any AIO it should reach just fine.
Also you can just replace those fans with standard ones and plug them in the motherboard (or use extensions if you wanna control them separately) that cable is just a standard fan splitter that uses the PWM output of the main connector.


Edit: Here's another forums thread on it: https://www.overclock.net/threads/a...i-is-it-possible-to-replace-the-fans.1751708/
 
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Yeah, I'm not sure who the 420mm is actually targeting
It's just Arctic trying to win the #1 AIO crown for all the press that will generate.
Honestly if I think there's a way to fit it into my case I'd gladly take a 420 over a 360 simply because I prefer slower, larger fans for everything.
 
It's just Arctic trying to win the #1 AIO crown for all the press that will generate.
Honestly if I think there's a way to fit it into my case I'd gladly take a 420 over a 360 simply because I prefer slower, larger fans for everything.
Pretty sure they already have the crown for AIO since their rads are about 10-12mm thicker on average than the competitions giving them a decent edge, that on top of being extremely well priced makes them a fantastic solution (if you care less about looks/RGB anyway).
 
Pretty sure they already have the crown for AIO since their rads are about 10-12mm thicker on average than the competitions giving them a decent edge, that on top of being extremely well priced makes them a fantastic solution (if you care less about looks/RGB anyway).
They do. In the GN reviews, the Arctic 280 barely gets edged out by the EK 360. Because of that result, GN got a hold of an Arctic 360 and found that it slightly beat the EK 360 to retake the top spot. All the 420 is going to do is push their lead out further. It still seems like a “because we can” product more than anything because the vast majority of cases can’t fit a 420 behemoth anywhere.
 
Curious to see how that 420 performs. I seem to recall Alphacool's Eisbaer 420 struggling due to its weaker pump (DC-LT 2600 iirc).
 
Curious to see how that 420 performs. I seem to recall Alphacool's Eisbaer 420 struggling due to its weaker pump (DC-LT 2600 iirc).
Same, but I suspect if you wait for reviews it'll be sold out and you'll also be waiting weeks to months for a restock.
 
The 420mm is on sale for £110 inc vat + shipping in the UK, or £115 from Amazon inc vat and shipping.
Seems to be a little cheaper than the US price.
 
Just a heads up that you may want to flip that rad the other way, with the intake and outlet on the bottom. AIOs are closed systems that don't come 100% filled and lose additional fluid over time. The way you have the rad oriented is going to put more strain on the pump.
You do realise what a closed system means?
The position of the rad has no effect on the pumps ability to push coolant around or how hard that is.

ps the tubing supposedly does not lose fluid,
But I'm a bit scepticle about that.
However, its damn rigid so who knows ...
 
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You do realise what a closed system means?
The position of the rad has no effect on the pumps ability to push coolant around or how hard that is.

ps the tubing supposedly does not lose fluid,
But I'm a bit scepticle about that.
However, its damn rigid so who knows ...
While most are filled sufficiently in the beginning the longevity and noise of the pump are greatly affected by not mounting it tubes down or the radiator on the top.
By mounting the tubes downwards or rad top side it ensures that any air in the system from the factory or that permeates gathers in the rad.
And by mounting a radiator at the bottom of a case it can make the pump completely ineffective as air will pool directly in the cpu/pump block.

Even though it is sealed/closed the propylene glycol solution does evaporate via tube permeation over time, estimated about 1-2% loss a year according to Steve at Gamers Nexus.


I also got this diagram from EK when talking to their support about their RGB 360mm aio:
 
You do realise what a closed system means?
The position of the rad has no effect on the pumps ability to push coolant around or how hard that is.

ps the tubing supposedly does not lose fluid,
But I'm a bit scepticle about that.
However, its damn rigid so who knows ...
You're wrong on a couple of things.

First, there is always air in a closed loop water cooling system. There has to be in order for them to function correctly. They are made that way. Furthermore, liquid does seep out over time. This is a fact. Tubing has variable permeation rates based on the material used, but they all lose fluid to some extent. This is why none of them come with long warranties. Even if a pump lives on, an AIO will eventually lose so much fluid that it can't keep the CPU cool anymore.

Secondly, based on the fact that there is some air in an AIO and more air will enter the system over time, orientation of the radiator matters a great deal. In a custom loop the reservoir or t-line is the point at which air collects, so it can be purged from circulation. In an AIO there isn't a res or t-line, so air collects in the radiator. If the intake and outlet lines are at the top of the radiator, the air is going to get continuously sucked into circulation by the pump. Hence, it will put strain on the pump as they are made to move fluid and not air. Often times a radiator with the intake and outlet lines at the top will cause a pump to be loud and cooling efficiency can be affected.

Watch the video in the post Spartacus09 made. Steve at GN makes all the same points I did.
 
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You're wrong on a couple of things.

First, there is always air in a closed loop water cooling system. There has to be in order for them to function correctly. They are made that way. Furthermore, liquid does seep out over time. This is a fact. Tubing has variable permeation rates based on the material used, but they all lose fluid to some extent. This is why none of them come with long warranties. Even if a pump lives on, an AIO will eventually lose so much fluid that it can't keep the CPU cool anymore.

Secondly, based on the fact that there is some air in an AIO and more air will enter the system over time, orientation of the radiator matters a great deal. In a custom loop the reservoir or t-line is the point at which air collects, so it can be purged from circulation. In an AIO there isn't a res or t-line, so air collects in the radiator. If the intake and outlet lines are at the top of the radiator, the air is going to get continuously sucked into circulation by the pump. Hence, it will put strain on the pump as they are made to move fluid and not air. Often times a radiator with the intake and outlet lines at the top will cause a pump to be loud and cooling efficiency can be affected.

Watch the video in the post Spartacus09 made. Steve at GN makes all the same points I did.
Yeah you both make good points.
I'm a long time custom watercooler, I only stopped about 6 months ago but have never had a system with air in.
That was my error in my post to you, this will be my first time with an AIO.

I agree liquid will migrate out, it permeated through the tubing on my builds.
Despite the blurb saying the tubing wont allow this, over years of use its bound to happen at least through seal points.

I was thinking of fitting a T piece, this is all I ever used to keep the flow rate up, no res. It works great.
Can I ask why there needs to be air in these AIO to function correctly?
 
As an FYI the 240mm version is too thick for a tomahawk mitx case, in the top mount position. The cradle the radiator sits in needs to be a bit deeper.
 
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