This video has been highly requested by the community! Please share to make sure it's seen, and thank you for giving us time to test it properly. Tear-down of the Arctic Liquid Freezer II: th-cam.com/video/ZQRwn-lecnk/w-d-xo.html Our CPU cooler testing methodology explained: th-cam.com/video/fmTOJP4KOyk/w-d-xo.html Article version of this Arctic review: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3571-arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-cooler-review-benchmark
At last! I've been waiting for this for a long time! I use 360 version of Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II an i am more than enthusiastically. This is the best peace of hardware i ever bought. Best performance, best price and easy to use. Chapeau Arctic Cooling. Thx for thx test hardware Jesus. 👍
Indeed Kitguru and others reported on the ACFII having great performance. As a thought for the future, for those who don't dismantle their coolers (yet:), I hope to see liquid coolers refillable, perhaps on the pump. If Arctic pulls this off in the next gen, like Cougar Helor or Thermalright Turbo Right, and keeps the performance crown, I'm in;)
rtx/on sounds like he gave you a bad review? GN content is usually neutral and very objective. When it comes to criticism, they often do it to help the consumers.
Important note: does not come with or requires you to install any 3rd party bloatware with a plethora of security holes. You just set fan curves in the bios. For intel owners, the 360mm can cool my 9900k for 230watts of P95 continuous load.
Thanks for the positive review. Just to quickly react on the assembly difficulty : our assembly on AMD is not optimal, we know it. This results of the fact that our pump is too wide to allow the same assembly hardware as what we use on Intel (which is basically what Asetek use as well). We are looking into that to get it improved.
Awesome to see internal acknowledgement and plans to make it better. Thanks for posting. It's a refreshing change from companies that hide from any criticism at all. Looking forward to the updated version!
Snap, that was fast. The 280mm version is already out of stock at both Amazon & Newegg in the US. GN, is this your doing?! Should we expect more shipments soon or it might be a while, with the pandemic?
The quality of fans normally shipped with aios is insulting. The fact that this comes with actually good fans at ~50€ less truly shows how much of a ripoff some other offers are.
I'm using for my custom loop and 360mm rad only AC F12 pwm fans. I discovered that they are at least as good as my older Coolink 120p but for a fraction of a price and they have good pressure.
with enough price/difference at least in the US to buy two more p14 fans. the 280mm is much more efficient/quiet at cooling than any 360 IMO since i cant front mount it in push pull bc of hose length. Nor have clearance for push pull on a 360 top mount. Since these arctic fans are actually good and cost effective for a push pull setup. I got a 5 pack so i can put the other as top 140mm exhausts...I also have GPU intake mounted p12 fans. BC thats the only true way to cool a system with a front mount aio. Without adding heat.
@@eEnzo0 If you use F12 to push or pull through the rad , you're not using the optimized version! F12 are for Flow while P12 are for Pressure and are optimized for rads ;) check them out !
@Sugarz I have 17 p12's and 4 p14's in my case (Core X9). Excellent fans. I bought them in 5-packs on Amazon for $40CAD/pack. Most are used on XSPC RX series rads, and they provide great static pressure, and good noise levels even at max RPM. Why anyone would pay $30/fan is beyond me!
all depends on standard in reality there is no such thing as a silent build there is low noise and different levels of it when you get DB low enough tone of noise starts to matter alot more to you coil whine from a psu for example is not that high DB mostly but is absolutely horrible for me to listen to
People are sleeping on Arctic, getting distracted by pretty lights on competition...they have great cooling products and best price/performance ratio in that market. Seriously, the value is amazing. Also, Arctic coolers are even cheaper in Europe... The first Liquid Freezer series also kicked ass and the 2nd one follows through (it helps that they have quality fans by default, which rarely happens with AIOs). I swear, if Arctic is to put some lights on their stuff, NZXT and Corsair would go out of cooling business. Other than that, I can't wait for them to make a bigass air cooler and to see how it does against other behemoths like D15, Assassin and DRP4...
I’ve been consistently impressed with Arctic’s stuff over the years. It’s not flashy, it’s just efficient, high value and it works. I’ve got several of their PWM fans in my system along with one of the Accelero GPU coolers. No problems with any of them.
Exactly. I bought a Freezer Pro 64 for less than $30 in 2010 and it still works perfectly in 2023👏 Performance, reliability & getting what you payed for is 100x’s more important for me than BLING, BLING😂
The fans are great as well. $4 for their P12 / P14 fans is insane, because they can easily compete with something like a Silent Wings 3, Eloop and other $15 to $20 fans. The only distinctively superior fan is the Noctua NF-A12x25 and that's literally a $30 fan.
True that ! I bought 3 x F12 PWM PST fans for the front of my case, 1 x F14 PWM PST on the top (above the cpu as an exhaust) and Freezer 34 for my Ryzen 2600 for a total of 393 Croatian Kuna or 56$ shipping included. I have the cpu overclocked to 4.1 ghz completely stable, never goes above 65c ! It's insane a 30$ cooler preforms this well, and that's with just 1 fan on the heatsink (has holes for an extra fan)! Side note: I bought the fans last Summer when building my rig, don't know what the current prices are.
Their fans are AMAZING... I have a few F12 from their old generations running in my system - they move so much air even at 600rpm it's unbelievable... And for the price I can't think of a better fans...
100% agree on them being under rated.. i'm using two of their liquid freezer 240's one is 4 years old and the other is 2 years ago and have had zero issues with them. even at the 80 bucks i paid for the first one it was worth it. also just the fact that arctic cooling refuses to join the RGB craze is enough of a reason for me to buy their products and recommend them.
Glad to see Arctic getting some recognition. I always go with their fans and air coolers. Really cheap but great performance. The 5-fans value pack is especially amazing.
By all accounts the fans are really good too. I mean that's really what it comes down to, rad and fan, when the difference between a copper and silver open loop block is like 1-2c you know we've got the block basically optimised out of the equation, barring warped plates like that corsair cooler.
@@Taverius Arctic fans have had a growing popularity in the community. They preform well, a box of 5 is cheap, simple aesthetic, and the fans have male and female connectors for daisy chaining. I use them when I need a solid budget option with no RGB.
This is something that should be considered for some buyers, esp in a space-constrained case. Some mounts in some cramped cases won't really be able to handle the 10mm thickness bump over a conventional 28mm. That said, if you've got the space ....
Just bought one of these for my 2700x, and I couldn't be happier. Almost 30 degrees cooler than the stock cooler under load, and it stays quiet as a mouse at all times.
@@loudiamond i got one on a 5900x its dead silent...talking i lock fans to 800-1000 rpm do a 3dmark run...max the push pull 280mm rad....a few hundred points difference for silent vs audible no PBO2 just stock. Either way im getting NHD15 cooling at a quieter rate esp front mounted and push pull. It ups the cooling potential per noise ratio or you can lock set a custom fan curve on mobo/cpu header. And it still hits 4.9-5ghz single core and 4.6-4.8 on 2-4 core scenarios i mostly game occasionally stream just for friends. Just make sure IDEALLY you have a well oriented chassis for a proper front mount and large enough to facilitate enough air flow for a gpu that would push 200-300w on gpu if youre worried about system cooling. If you have a smaller gpu then a front mount shouldnt be much of an issue with the top chassis options. IMO i like front mount for vrm temps and generally more airflow up top and exhaust for ideal vrm/ram/nvme health Paired with a proper psu of course
I’ve requested this one multiple times so thanks Steve! I already pulled the trigger on it and built my first ever system just yesterday and it has been fantastic
I bought the 5-pack of P140 for a home server. Fucking love them. 10-year-warranty, dual-ball bearing, 200RPM minimum (fuck yes) to 1700RPM typical, 4V startup voltage, CO for running off a single header, etc. Insane, insane, insane value.
@@Celician83 Not too noisy, but it depends on how fast you run any fan. They're on the quieter side though for sure. Vardars can have a very large VRM range, so 60% could still could be like 1800RPM.
Just a small point of clarification: Levelness refers to how closely something aligns to the plane of the earth. It's angle relative to the ground, if you will. What you're measuring here is flatness, the degree of variance between any set of given points on a surface.
Then there's the changes in the human body- for instance; places used on one's hand to strike someone- and over 2 decades of relative conditioning of said places. This culminates in at least 1 very general and simple equation: F(@point being you)= M × [ Vsquared ]. Who gives a shit about yer assinine nit-picking bullshit? NOBODY. ME?- Figure it out by simple deduction of my statement here, and then stick yer heads back up each others asses where they were. This channel and the main dude Steve, are extremely good- to the point that companies respond and CHANGE THEIR PRODUCTS!!! And FYI- I'VE EVERY SINGLE NASA MISSION PATCH SINCE THE LATE 70'S and have personally met people involved in things I'll never say; however the point being this isn't an "English" class channel, I don't use literally correct English 100% either! Nor do I need or care. I would gladly PERSONALLY show you and the idiot blabbering about what he thinks happens in space, what I REALLY MEAN concerning the simple formula, and then twist my NASA hat back to the front as I walk. Take your ninny pico-brained bs somewhere else. This is about computer products and testing, not grammar and English (again). And frankly this guy would be considered for a few positions relative to the industry. And I do believe he is aware but chooses to make his own. In conclusion, shut the FUCK UP! Or say something respectable on this particular channel about Steve AND GAMERS NEXUS.
It's still a looker imo, even without LEDs, very low amount of wires too, so it will make the build sleeker. Just great job Arctic, glad they are sticking with the techy designs of their products, love it in my system.
@@SirReptitious There's nothing wrong with air cooling at all. I just recently switched from a custom loop water cooling setup, back to an air cooler..... Not because of leaks though. I've had several pump failures and the most recent one cost me a processor..... So, if you're happy with air cooling, and it's doing the job without any issues, stick with air cooling.
I've had this aio since November. I paid 70 euros for it on sale. Originally I had a manual 4.35 ghz overclock on my 3900x, but 3 weeks ago I decided to switch to a PBO overclock... basically upping the power ceilings on the motherboard and letting the cpu overclock itself and I'm hitting 4.25 ghz all core consistently and 4.57 ghz single core at much cooler temperatures. The 280 aio is simply an incredible effective cooler. It is so nice to not have to brute force an overclock and avoid damaging your processor.
I have a friend who got this cooler and swears by it, somehow this is one of those products that you don't know about them because of marketing but because of the community i bet this took Arctic by surprise to see such a good feedback on a product they did not market at all.
Seems like they sent this kit for free to a lot of youtubers, even small channels. That's really effective marketing, because people who buy PC parts look to youtube to see how it fits/runs/performs. It worked on me. I bought this back in february (the 360). It hits the price mark, the performance mark, and the ease of use mark. You just plug it in to one header. I dont know if that was mentioned in the video- one plug.
Five Guys is the case study on this. They have never once spent a dollar on marketing. Yet there is a waiting list for a franchise, and it is one of the most successful/profitable fast food chains in the US.
I've had the 1st gen of the 240 unit for over 5 years, that came with four fan in a push/pull config. It's looked after three cpus with exceptional results. I'm looking forward to getting this new version very soon. Great review,not many peeps reviewed Artic, I think they are underated!!
Been waiting for this one Steve, I'll wait for your tear down ever since the Enermax fiasco I'm bit iffy. You save my ass with that Enermax video though lol thanks.
Back in the old days they used to be known to be one of the best value/performance brands, with Noctua being the best if money was not an object. If I have to guess, they faded into obscurity because RGB happened and they did not follow the markets. Which is a shame because their products still kick ass. While not the very best their air coolers are still very good and fans are just amazing value, a proper static pressure fans for the price of no-brand Yate Loon case fans.
@@MaaZeus they luckily are still pretty common in germany. Of course all the RGB kiddies also only know NZXT und Corsair over here, but the enthusiasts and cheap people trust Arctics stuff! The only product that isn't that food from them is the Alpine 11... That thing is basically a intel stock cooler replacement...
@@yannikau4521 I wouldn't say that they are common only in Germany, but in Europe in general. I live in the balkans and Arctic is pretty much everywhere even though like you said kids are into the RGB bullshit. They have great products for a fair price. In fact they are a breath of fresh air for people (like me) who hate rgb.
finally a big TH-camr doing a review on this cooler,i really wanted to see the results for the 360 tho they are so underrated and sadly big techtubers don't bother getting one to review.
For people thinking of extending their AiO: The tubes are just pushed on the radiator and CPU cooler (8mm ID) and the metallic pieces are only decoration and not screwable. Just twist-pull the tubes, preferably on the radiator side (it has metal fittings and the first tube needs more force to come off)
Genuinely a little worried about if we run out during this time, though obviously it has more useful things to do than clean CPUs. Still, we have to keep our CPUs healthy!
Get some everclear or high proof vodka. Will work if need be to remove thermal grease or gunk, just let the part dry out a little. The higher the proof the better. (Has done it.)
Been using their 240 AIO for my 3800x since December 19. I replaced the fans on the AIO with their Bionic X fans and I couldnt be happier. My rendering, benchmarks or anything stay under 70c. it's a fantastic AIO.
I bought 360mm version 4 months back and can't be more satisfied! And I had custom EK watercooling loop before. So it speaks volumes, how good those Arctic Liquid II coolers are.
Excellent work in testing the Arctic AIO. I highly appreciate Arctic's effort being focused on performance and not 'looks'. Still the fact that they provide only 2 years of warranty sounds concerning for the durability and longevity of their product. It is the only thing making me skeptical about buying it. Looking forward to the tear-down vid. Thanks.
Thankfully I bought the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm version of this AIO at launch at a reduced price and it is excellent!! Be warned that the radiator is thicker than normal but overall it has been running perfectly and handles my overclock extremely well on a 8700K...Peak temps are much lower! Great job by Arctic on price to performance and it actually does everything it says!
I have had the smaller version of this Arctic cooler, the one that is 120mm, cooling a 3900x on a B450 motherboard for the past several months. Works absolutely flawlessly and also very quiet without sacrificing cooling performance.
I did a lot of research on Arctic cooling products and this video erased any questions I previously had. I pulled the trigger on purchasing the Arctic Freezer 34 esports DUO cpu air cooler for my first pc build with 2x arctic Bionix F140mm and 1x 120mm of the same type for my case fans. Will see how they perform once I complete my build but so far from what I hear, Arctic is a great product and kinda underrated in terms of price to performance. Thanks for the hard work at all the tedious testing you guys do over there @GamersNexus.
I love Arctic fans because they are very silent and efficient. So I was wanting Steve to confirm what I was expecting. Thanks man for testing this AIO/CLC. Great work as always with GN! 😎
The amount of work you put into these things is impressive. And it is usually in one quick, easy to miss sentence. "We did IMPRESSIVE NUMBER of tests in IMPRESSIVE NUMBER of configurations"
Nice to see that this stella cooler now comes with the industry standard 6 year warranty. A few years back I got shot of my 280mm Corsair AIO in favour of the NH-D15, I couldn't accept the tone of the AIO, it really grated on me. I've just updated my rig to 13600kf/ Z690 Edge DDR4/4070Ti and after hearing so much praise for the Arctic Liquid Freezer ii, decided to give it a shot. Initial impression is it's very quiet and cools superbly
I've been using the 280 Freezer II to cool my 9900K @ 5GHz all core, for the last couple of months. very satisfied with the performance and it even cools better than my previous Alphacool Eisbär 280 (using the same fans). also, it should be mentioned that the Freezer II mounting mechanism differs between Intel and AMD sockets and is much easier on Intel.
I bought the 240mm version of this just yesterday right before this video was released. It has definitely made me more confident in my purchase. Thanks brotha, *subscribed * lol
Just got my LF II yesterday and I am so glad in later revisions (I have the latest Rev 7) they provide standoffs to mount the backplate :D They really listened to that feedback.
Henley Deng I’m new to pc building and I have a quick question. I ordered this arctic freezer ii and understand it supposed to cool your cpu. But my problem is the cpu originally comes with a fan that’s supposed to be installed in the exact position the arctic freezer is supposed to be installed. Does the fan just get replaced by this arctic freezer or am I missing something?
Well done i purchased the Ryzen 3900x and cannot find any videos and articles with high end AOI coolers that are the best value. So thank you this helps a lot.
Got the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 (Rev 3) for my Ryzen 9 3900XT because of this review. It's my first liquid cooler and it's incredible. Used your link to buy it, too. Thank you @Gamers Nexus!
Has anyone else noticed this cooler is out of stock most everywhere? Well I've only checked Amazon and NewEgg. But I do really appreciate the review. I have a Hyper 212 air cooler on a 9900K. I never had a problem with temps since I don't overclock. But when I started folding I was suddenly getting warnings every 2 minutes that my CPU was running at over 80 degrees. I fixed that by limiting the folding to 4 threads. I've been wondering if an AIO would be able to keep my CPU cool with more threads enabled. I have an Asus pre-built I bought at Best Buy in 2017. I started it folding as well, but the Intel stock cooler died after less than a day. I've had a really tough time getting a new one. I've been waiting a couple of weeks for it because the post office lost it or something. I was thinking about moving the Hyper 212 to the Asus and getting an AIO, but I don't think I have enough clearance. But who needs a side panel anyway? Much better airflow without it, right?
In the high-end segment the Arctic liquid freezer ii is now the best cooler because it costs less than 100$ and beats everything. If you don't want to spend that much you can go with something like be quiet! Dark rock pro 4 or scythe fuma 2 but I don't think you will be able to overclock a 9900k to 5.00 Ghz with any air cooling
@@жабислав Many OC the 9900K with a high-end air cooler, such as Noctua NH-D15...I even OCed it with my NH-D14 and it doesn't throttle either :) Of course a liquid cooler would be better when OC, since you can reduce the temps by up to 8 to 10°C probably.
@@жабислав Sorry for the late response, I didn't get any notification from YT.. @5GHz all-core (when video encoding the temps rise a little bit over 90°C, when the ambient temp is high)
I installed this liquid cooler into my system, which I built in February of 2020, and it has performed flawlessly over these last 4 years. I give this product 2 big thumbs up and I would not hesitate for one second to buy this item again.
Thank you for the in depth review GN. Much appreciated! My question is centered around Arctic's warranty on the ALF II. Specifically, the ALF II has a 2 year warranty, whereas the NZXT Kraken's have a 6 year warranty. Does this point to low confidence in their product? Should we be concerned over ALF II's longevity? I'll be building a new PC soon, and finally switching from air to liquid cooling, and I prefer to get as much value as I possible can. I've narrowed my choices down to NZXT X63 or the AFL II; the only worry being the markedly different warranties. If anyone could help shed some light on this, I'd greatly appreciate it. Cheers :)
the chapters/bookmarks/whatever it's called in the bottom bar you guys have been doing recently are a really nice touch, I haven't seen any other channels doing that
I switched over to the Arctic Freezer 360mm from a deepcool castle 360 ex This outperforms it and is way quieter at max rpm. Also switched fans to noctuas and performance is even better now Current setup is 5 months old and still running fine
I've been wanting to do the same thing but preferred to wait for affirmation, I assume noise is down a bit and performance is either the exact same or slightly better? Also did you get nf-f12 of nf-a12's?
Oh nice I was wondering about replacing fans on them thanks for the comment. Just out of curiosity did you use the same screws from the arctic fans for the noctuas?
Thank you for the very informative video. In light of the recent video about the rampant incorrect mounting of AIO's I wanted to point out that the unusually deep radiator on this product makes it very difficult to identify which Cases are going to have enough motherboard clearance to allow for a top mounting. Even the cavernous Phanteks Enthoo Pro II apparently does not have the clearance for top mounting the Arctic radiators, which I was personally dumbfounded by. I sent a note to Arctic support suggesting a list of compatible cases for top-mounting and am waiting to hear back. In the meantime, I may be trying to mount on the side-vent of the Enthoo Pro II and hoping that a cables down mounting there could actually reach the CPU. Crazy to say but my desire to have the Liquid Freezer II 360mm and trying to find a case that would handle it was probably the most time-consuming aspect of my build-plan. Even now I am trying to figure out the logistics of the possible cable extensions and fan wiring for a case which is way bigger than I would have otherwise needed.
I don't know why you guys didn't review this earlier. It's easily the best AIO cooler on the market as long as you don't need unicorn puke to be part of the package. It has a 38mm rad while the majority of other AIOs have 28-30mm. I swapped out the fans with 3 Corsair MLs that I already owned. Installation was a snap and if only uses one 4 pin PWM connection to power everything. Couldn't be happier.
Great video! If possible, would you be reviewing EK's new AIO CPU coolers after they launch? I think it would be interesting to see how a water block/custom loop company's take on an All-in-One would preform, especially since their offerings are price competitive with companies like Corsair and NZXT.
08:39 - "We like to simulate a tomb where we work" Look, I know Tomb Raider titles have always been popular for benchmarking, but don't you think you're going too far?
Thank you for giving us this really insightful review. Cant wait for the tear down. I had trouble installing my LF2 as well until I pushed the backplate against the motherboard with a cardboard box. That helped immensely.
watched for a 360 to come into stock for about 4 weeks with a fervor, finally on the 16th, 5 hit stock and I was able to order one, 15minutes later they were all sold, then today I get this from Arctic.. imgur.com/a/j9mPYvN
I have the Liquid Freezer I 240 on a i7-7700K. Love it, no RGB to deal with, installed super easy. I am fixing to move to Socket AM4. I emailed Arctic several months ago and they sent me (for free!) the Socket AM4 mounting kit for it. Superb customer service right there!!
Steve how practical would it be to include a frequency response breakdown of the fans/pump noise? I'm very interested in that information because when you noise normalize liquid coolers against an air cooler (or say a mesh case against a 'silenced' case) even if the dB pressure is the same, I would imagine it actually sounds quite different. This is actually the biggest reason I stayed away from AIOs in the past, because even though the pumps are fairly quiet, they are much more noticible.
@@PredatoryQQmber Wow, rude phrasing. First of all, we didn't hear any whine with this. Secondly, you'll eliminate most pump whine by actually installing your cooler properly. A lot of people install their coolers with tubes up, which is a fantastic way to create a lot of noise. Finally, we aren't presently equipped for frequency spectrum analysis. Since PredatoryQQmber seems to feel so strongly about us not faking something we feel ill-equipped to test, perhaps he could pay for the equipment and the rent for an additional room so that we can set up a semi-anechoic chamber to do it properly. We'll get there. We just aren't equipped yet.
@@GamersNexus Hi Steve, can you please specify what it means " ...installing cooler with tubes up..?" ...I wish to know more about this to avoid any mistakes in my next build. Thank you, b.t.w are you considering make review of Cougar Helor 360 with built-in fill port? Thank you, good job you doing, wish to have that skills like you guys. Just praying now for tornados stay away tonight from family down in panhandle FL. Yours videos keep me awake. Thanks
Have been using the Liquid Freezer II 240 version (push-pull configuration) on my 3800X for the past 2 months and I absolutely love it, superb performer.
Gonna get this one to replace my NHD-15 for two reasons: 1. Better RAM clearance 2. No LED Software comapred to an X63 and better performance than H115i Series (ICUE is tolerable at least. Thanks for the hours upon hours of content, you together with Buildzoid and Roman are the paragons of helping buyers who are willing to learn somethibg make informed decisions. I hope you'll someday get a price or something, because you and your team definitively deserve one.
As long as the water stays where it's supposed to.....and the electricity stays where it's supposed....everything works out fine. Also, water (H2O), is non-conductive and non-corrosive. Water doesn't become conductive, capacitive or corrosive until contaminants are added...
Nice one. And I can vouch for their customer support. Was getting answers in few hours. Really top company of cooling products. My first gpu cooler purchased back in ~2004 from Arctic.
Been using this (the 280) in a NR200 for a 5800X and haven’t had any issues since. It’s also survived 3 reassemblies of my case for upgrades/management/cleaning, so I 100% recommend
I’ve been using the ALF II 240mm with Kryonaut on my 6700k @ 4.8ghz....it’s absolutely BALLER. Loved the vid. Really appreciate the testing. Edited because i'm now @4.8ghz stable. Highest temp under full load is 75c...CRAZY!!
I’ve been using the 120mm version which I got for £50 to cool my R5 2600 for almost 2 months now and I have to say I’m very impressed. Idles at no more than 30C and never exceeds 48C during gaming for multiple hours. Only downside was how inflexible the tubes were but I managed in the end.
@Gamers Nexus I know you won't respond to a one-year-old video, but I want to thank you anyway. Maybe you'll read it in a couple of years, when there's another lockdown. I put together a new PC in September 2020. Ryzen 7 3700 X and a GTX 1660. The temperatures were okay. Until I was lucky enough to acquire a 3060 TI. From then on, the CPU boiled up to max 90 degrees Celsius. Looking for a solution I found your channel. The first thing I needed was a new case. Mine was already 8 years old at that time and did not have a good airflow. Your review of the Lian Li Mesh II convinced me. Now I had a great case and I was looking for a quiet, strong cooler... and there you were again. Thank you for your work. With me you won a new fan from Germany. Greedings, Markus.
I'm so glad you guys did this review. Not just for the review of this particular cooler, but because I've been feeling entirely disenchanted with the way almost all tech-tube channels look at or review the same products from the same companies repeatedly. I understand there are reasons for this, but it feels like all product reviews or news are about NZXT, CoolerMaster, Fractal Design, Corsair... But there are other products out there. Its always the same with all manner of hardware, from coolers to peripherals to cases. So thanks a ton for this refreshing look at something outside the norm. I know you guys at GN do venture out of the usual brands, and I hope this is gonna catch on to other channels too. Kudos!
I put an Artic Accelero Xtreme IV air cooler on my EVGA GTX 980Ti as the water cooling is so expensive and very limited for this old card. I went from 84c to 60c under full load at 1200RPM (not even noticable), Arctic is so under-rated but it's so damned good. Was waiting for this review, thanks Steve.
I've been using their products for years! Originally had an arctic freezer 64 on my amd athlon 64 3200 and a silencer 5 for the ati x800 xt pe. Great products for performance and value!
I picked this up because the are I live has an average temp of almost 30c. This has made a massive difference in my temps. thanks so much for the advise.
This video has been highly requested by the community! Please share to make sure it's seen, and thank you for giving us time to test it properly.
Tear-down of the Arctic Liquid Freezer II: th-cam.com/video/ZQRwn-lecnk/w-d-xo.html
Our CPU cooler testing methodology explained: th-cam.com/video/fmTOJP4KOyk/w-d-xo.html
Article version of this Arctic review: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3571-arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-cooler-review-benchmark
I would love to see you take a look at Alphacool's new Eisbaer Aurora 420mm AIO cooler, the only 420 one that I know of!
At last! I've been waiting for this for a long time!
I use 360 version of Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II an i am more than enthusiastically. This is the best peace of hardware i ever bought. Best performance, best price and easy to use. Chapeau Arctic Cooling.
Thx for thx test hardware Jesus. 👍
You guys need to make Snowflake plushies!! Everyone loves the kitty!!!
Indeed Kitguru and others reported on the ACFII having great performance. As a thought for the future, for those who don't dismantle their coolers (yet:), I hope to see liquid coolers refillable, perhaps on the pump. If Arctic pulls this off in the next gen, like Cougar Helor or Thermalright Turbo Right, and keeps the performance crown, I'm in;)
Penis😎
I know something is awesome when Steve says it’s “good”.
He even said it kicks ass.
The bar is high, and the Steve is harsh.
Under promise over deliver.
others sites be like "product of the year!" haha
rtx/on sounds like he gave you a bad review? GN content is usually neutral and very objective. When it comes to criticism, they often do it to help the consumers.
Important note: does not come with or requires you to install any 3rd party bloatware with a plethora of security holes. You just set fan curves in the bios. For intel owners, the 360mm can cool my 9900k for 230watts of P95 continuous load.
Do you have a revision 2 360mm version or the initial one? I saw there's a rev.2 marketed on the manufacturer's site.
@@nikolaninkov it's not currently out yet. We are estimating the next revision in the May shipments
How loud is the pump?
@@reichenwald-gm4qd i can't hear the pump. i had an alphacool LT360 before this (terrible mounting system) and the pump on that was much louder
@@SilverKnightPCs What are the rev.2 changes?
Thanks for the positive review.
Just to quickly react on the assembly difficulty : our assembly on AMD is not optimal, we know it. This results of the fact that our pump is too wide to allow the same assembly hardware as what we use on Intel (which is basically what Asetek use as well). We are looking into that to get it improved.
Awesome to see internal acknowledgement and plans to make it better. Thanks for posting. It's a refreshing change from companies that hide from any criticism at all. Looking forward to the updated version!
Maybe add a spring type mounting like some of the open loop water blocks? Just a random though
Snap, that was fast. The 280mm version is already out of stock at both Amazon & Newegg in the US. GN, is this your doing?!
Should we expect more shipments soon or it might be a while, with the pandemic?
i thought i was going insane trying to mount my 360mm, as i'm already less mechanically inclined!
Silver Knight PCs grabbed a 240mm off your eBay site a few hours ago. Didn’t expect to see you here, but thanks for having these in stock!
The quality of fans normally shipped with aios is insulting. The fact that this comes with actually good fans at ~50€ less truly shows how much of a ripoff some other offers are.
BuT It HaS No RgB ~ some idiot
And these fans are 5€ each, so you can buy them for your case, spending almost no money
I'm using for my custom loop and 360mm rad only AC F12 pwm fans. I discovered that they are at least as good as my older Coolink 120p but for a fraction of a price and they have good pressure.
with enough price/difference at least in the US to buy two more p14 fans. the 280mm is much more efficient/quiet at cooling than any 360 IMO since i cant front mount it in push pull bc of hose length. Nor have clearance for push pull on a 360 top mount. Since these arctic fans are actually good and cost effective for a push pull setup. I got a 5 pack so i can put the other as top 140mm exhausts...I also have GPU intake mounted p12 fans. BC thats the only true way to cool a system with a front mount aio. Without adding heat.
@@eEnzo0 If you use F12 to push or pull through the rad , you're not using the optimized version! F12 are for Flow while P12 are for Pressure and are optimized for rads ;) check them out !
Well, the VRM fan is a better gimmick than RGB lighting. At least it has some kind of purpose. Also, those 140mm arctic fans are solid performers.
@Sugarz I have 17 p12's and 4 p14's in my case (Core X9). Excellent fans. I bought them in 5-packs on Amazon for $40CAD/pack. Most are used on XSPC RX series rads, and they provide great static pressure, and good noise levels even at max RPM. Why anyone would pay $30/fan is beyond me!
@Sugarz you dont build a silent work station and use fans; too bad this is sold out everywhere lol
all depends on standard in reality there is no such thing as a silent build there is low noise and different levels of it when you get DB low enough tone of noise starts to matter alot more to you coil whine from a psu for example is not that high DB mostly but is absolutely horrible for me to listen to
Another thing about the RGB gimmick it that those colorful leds generate heat unlike the fan that removes heat.
@@PainX187 you can have a completely silent workstation. Passive cooling is a thing!
My $2 superchat asking for a review for this wasn't in vain!
We eventually got there!
People are sleeping on Arctic, getting distracted by pretty lights on competition...they have great cooling products and best price/performance ratio in that market. Seriously, the value is amazing. Also, Arctic coolers are even cheaper in Europe...
The first Liquid Freezer series also kicked ass and the 2nd one follows through (it helps that they have quality fans by default, which rarely happens with AIOs). I swear, if Arctic is to put some lights on their stuff, NZXT and Corsair would go out of cooling business.
Other than that, I can't wait for them to make a bigass air cooler and to see how it does against other behemoths like D15, Assassin and DRP4...
I would have gotten one if it would fit in the top of my case, such a good cooler but the radiator is too thick to fit
Exactly, Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO is pretty good one air cooler as well :)
I bought an Arctic Freezer 7x and its performance is awesome for 20 euros, also it's really quiet.
wake me up when they make a decent TR4 cooler :)
@@CesarinPillinGaming www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-ACFAN00137A-Value-Pack-Pressure-Optimized/dp/B07HC782D5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=arctic+fan&qid=1587106588&sr=8-1
www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Freezer-34-Esports-Processor/dp/B075MYVW5J?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1
I’ve been consistently impressed with Arctic’s stuff over the years. It’s not flashy, it’s just efficient, high value and it works. I’ve got several of their PWM fans in my system along with one of the Accelero GPU coolers. No problems with any of them.
Exactly. I bought a Freezer Pro 64 for less than $30 in 2010 and it still works perfectly in 2023👏
Performance, reliability & getting what you payed for is 100x’s more important for me than BLING, BLING😂
@@ryanjofre i got the 34 esports duo 3 years ago and it's still essentially silent and the thermals are amazing.
Arctic is underrated for their coolers. Considering the price you pay they're insanely good
The fans are great as well. $4 for their P12 / P14 fans is insane, because they can easily compete with something like a Silent Wings 3, Eloop and other $15 to $20 fans. The only distinctively superior fan is the Noctua NF-A12x25 and that's literally a $30 fan.
True that ! I bought 3 x F12 PWM PST fans for the front of my case, 1 x F14 PWM PST on the top (above the cpu as an exhaust) and Freezer 34 for my Ryzen 2600 for a total of 393 Croatian Kuna or 56$ shipping included. I have the cpu overclocked to 4.1 ghz completely stable, never goes above 65c ! It's insane a 30$ cooler preforms this well, and that's with just 1 fan on the heatsink (has holes for an extra fan)!
Side note: I bought the fans last Summer when building my rig, don't know what the current prices are.
Their fans are AMAZING... I have a few F12 from their old generations running in my system - they move so much air even at 600rpm it's unbelievable... And for the price I can't think of a better fans...
100% agree on them being under rated.. i'm using two of their liquid freezer 240's one is 4 years old and the other is 2 years ago and have had zero issues with them. even at the 80 bucks i paid for the first one it was worth it. also just the fact that arctic cooling refuses to join the RGB craze is enough of a reason for me to buy their products and recommend them.
@@marceldiezasch6192 eloops are noticably better, but i totally agree that the p12/14 is damn good
Glad to see Arctic getting some recognition. I always go with their fans and air coolers. Really cheap but great performance. The 5-fans value pack is especially amazing.
The fact this has a 38mm radiator vs most AIOs around 28mm must help to some degree.
Great point. Yes, it would help in taking longer to hit steady state (for that one chart), and likely helps overall.
By all accounts the fans are really good too.
I mean that's really what it comes down to, rad and fan, when the difference between a copper and silver open loop block is like 1-2c you know we've got the block basically optimised out of the equation, barring warped plates like that corsair cooler.
@@Taverius Arctic fans have had a growing popularity in the community. They preform well, a box of 5 is cheap, simple aesthetic, and the fans have male and female connectors for daisy chaining. I use them when I need a solid budget option with no RGB.
The 49mm thick Corsair H80i GT can compete with 240mm AIOs. Thickness makes a difference
This is something that should be considered for some buyers, esp in a space-constrained case.
Some mounts in some cramped cases won't really be able to handle the 10mm thickness bump over a conventional 28mm.
That said, if you've got the space ....
Just bought one of these for my 2700x, and I couldn't be happier. Almost 30 degrees cooler than the stock cooler under load, and it stays quiet as a mouse at all times.
30 degrees cooler? or 30db quieter?
🤔
@@loudiamond cooler
@@loudiamond i got one on a 5900x its dead silent...talking i lock fans to 800-1000 rpm do a 3dmark run...max the push pull 280mm rad....a few hundred points difference for silent vs audible no PBO2 just stock. Either way im getting NHD15 cooling at a quieter rate esp front mounted and push pull. It ups the cooling potential per noise ratio or you can lock set a custom fan curve on mobo/cpu header. And it still hits 4.9-5ghz single core and 4.6-4.8 on 2-4 core scenarios i mostly game occasionally stream just for friends. Just make sure IDEALLY you have a well oriented chassis for a proper front mount and large enough to facilitate enough air flow for a gpu that would push 200-300w on gpu if youre worried about system cooling. If you have a smaller gpu then a front mount shouldnt be much of an issue with the top chassis options. IMO i like front mount for vrm temps and generally more airflow up top and exhaust for ideal vrm/ram/nvme health Paired with a proper psu of course
@SchoolTerrorist 280mm IMO quieter opertaion to cooling ratio p14 fans and a 5x pack of p14 fans that have the multi-link/piggy back connectors
i like the timeline stamps in the video, nice touch
I’ve requested this one multiple times so thanks Steve! I already pulled the trigger on it and built my first ever system just yesterday and it has been fantastic
This Arctic stuff is coming in cheap. Even the pwm fans right now are like 25 for the 5 pack, got 2 140mm fans for 15. And they work like wow.
How noisy are those fans, these EK Vadar fans are unbearable above 60%
I bought the 5-pack of P140 for a home server. Fucking love them. 10-year-warranty, dual-ball bearing, 200RPM minimum (fuck yes) to 1700RPM typical, 4V startup voltage, CO for running off a single header, etc. Insane, insane, insane value.
@@Celician83 Not too noisy, but it depends on how fast you run any fan. They're on the quieter side though for sure. Vardars can have a very large VRM range, so 60% could still could be like 1800RPM.
@@ikjadoon I looked around and I couldn't find ball bearing versions in 5 pack, where did you buy them?
@@Celician83 They're audible but the noise profile is quite pleasant. A low hum.
Just a small point of clarification: Levelness refers to how closely something aligns to the plane of the earth. It's angle relative to the ground, if you will. What you're measuring here is flatness, the degree of variance between any set of given points on a surface.
Very true, people make the same mistakes when they say you are sucked out of the spaceship rather than what really happens, you being blown out.
Then there's the changes in the human body- for instance; places used on one's hand to strike someone- and over 2 decades of relative conditioning of said places. This culminates in at least 1 very general and simple equation:
F(@point being you)= M × [ Vsquared ].
Who gives a shit about yer assinine nit-picking bullshit? NOBODY.
ME?- Figure it out by simple deduction of my statement here, and then stick yer heads back up each others asses where they were.
This channel and the main dude Steve, are extremely good- to the point that companies respond and CHANGE THEIR PRODUCTS!!!
And FYI- I'VE EVERY SINGLE NASA MISSION PATCH SINCE THE LATE 70'S and have personally met people involved in things I'll never say; however the point being this isn't an "English" class channel, I don't use literally correct English 100% either! Nor do I need or care. I would gladly PERSONALLY show you and the idiot blabbering about what he thinks happens in space, what I REALLY MEAN concerning the simple formula, and then twist my NASA hat back to the front as I walk.
Take your ninny pico-brained bs somewhere else. This is about computer products and testing, not grammar and English (again). And frankly this guy would be considered for a few positions relative to the industry. And I do believe he is aware but chooses to make his own.
In conclusion, shut the FUCK UP! Or say something respectable on this particular channel about Steve AND GAMERS NEXUS.
@@giorgioblessedbaby5213 relax there yayvideogames
It's awesome how it's got the breakdown next to the timer. Seeing it swap from Background Information to 35dBA noise was good. 👍
Looks like they learned from StayHomeHub 🤔😆
That's the best feature YT has developed in a long time. Hopefully other channels are going to implement it as well.
Eyyy!
It's still a looker imo, even without LEDs, very low amount of wires too, so it will make the build sleeker. Just great job Arctic, glad they are sticking with the techy designs of their products, love it in my system.
Except those ugly pipes.
They should’ve made those piped black.
@@meteor1522 you're the only idiot who thinks so
@Teamgeist you're the only idiot who thinks so
@@meteor1522damn I thought the pipes looked great you must be really really stupid
the pipes look great imo @@meteor1522
I've been waiting for you to review this cooler, I log into youtube...Uploaded 1 minute ago. Hell yea
Dude you're really measuring the surface smoothness of a cooling plate. Look how far you've come, GN. That's crazy nerdy. I love it!
Dunno, first 60 seconds made me actually want to buy this CLC for the first time, since I'm an obstinate air cooling type of person.
It's time to end the obstination.
@@CaveyMoth CAVE. U AGAIN.
@@SirReptitious There's nothing wrong with air cooling at all. I just recently switched from a custom loop water cooling setup, back to an air cooler..... Not because of leaks though. I've had several pump failures and the most recent one cost me a processor..... So, if you're happy with air cooling, and it's doing the job without any issues, stick with air cooling.
I've had this aio since November. I paid 70 euros for it on sale. Originally I had a manual 4.35 ghz overclock on my 3900x, but 3 weeks ago I decided to switch to a PBO overclock... basically upping the power ceilings on the motherboard and letting the cpu overclock itself and I'm hitting 4.25 ghz all core consistently and 4.57 ghz single core at much cooler temperatures. The 280 aio is simply an incredible effective cooler. It is so nice to not have to brute force an overclock and avoid damaging your processor.
I have a friend who got this cooler and swears by it, somehow this is one of those products that you don't know about them because of marketing but because of the community i bet this took Arctic by surprise to see such a good feedback on a product they did not market at all.
Just goes to show, that a good product needs little marketing.
100%
@Erotikstudio Winkler GmbH and now, they got Gamer Nexus reviewing it. Hehe now arctic is gonna get more sales
Seems like they sent this kit for free to a lot of youtubers, even small channels. That's really effective marketing, because people who buy PC parts look to youtube to see how it fits/runs/performs. It worked on me. I bought this back in february (the 360). It hits the price mark, the performance mark, and the ease of use mark. You just plug it in to one header. I dont know if that was mentioned in the video- one plug.
Five Guys is the case study on this. They have never once spent a dollar on marketing. Yet there is a waiting list for a franchise, and it is one of the most successful/profitable fast food chains in the US.
I've had the 1st gen of the 240 unit for over 5 years, that came with four fan in a push/pull config. It's looked after three cpus with exceptional results. I'm looking forward to getting this new version very soon. Great review,not many peeps reviewed Artic, I think they are underated!!
Been waiting for this one Steve, I'll wait for your tear down ever since the Enermax fiasco I'm bit iffy. You save my ass with that Enermax video though lol thanks.
Arctic, one of most underrated brand in PC Market
wonder why
🤔
Back in the old days they used to be known to be one of the best value/performance brands, with Noctua being the best if money was not an object. If I have to guess, they faded into obscurity because RGB happened and they did not follow the markets. Which is a shame because their products still kick ass. While not the very best their air coolers are still very good and fans are just amazing value, a proper static pressure fans for the price of no-brand Yate Loon case fans.
@@MaaZeus they luckily are still pretty common in germany. Of course all the RGB kiddies also only know NZXT und Corsair over here, but the enthusiasts and cheap people trust Arctics stuff! The only product that isn't that food from them is the Alpine 11... That thing is basically a intel stock cooler replacement...
Lack of marketing and a few bad products here and there between all the great ones. That's my guess.
my £15 Freezer 7 pro on my 6600k (overlocked) never goes above 55 and its just a fan cooler.....so yeh i agree
@@yannikau4521 I wouldn't say that they are common only in Germany, but in Europe in general. I live in the balkans and Arctic is pretty much everywhere even though like you said kids are into the RGB bullshit. They have great products for a fair price. In fact they are a breath of fresh air for people (like me) who hate rgb.
Thank you, Steve, for reviewing this AIO! I bought this AIO (the 360 version) a few weeks ago and absolutely LOVE it. Keep up the good fight.
finally a big TH-camr doing a review on this cooler,i really wanted to see the results for the 360 tho
they are so underrated and sadly big techtubers don't bother getting one to review.
I've been running this cooler since November and it's been nothing but flawless! It runs quiet and really does keep the CPU cool!
Is it still running?
@@gabe8422 Still going strong!! Works just as good as day one!
@@swpsacs1 I just ordered mine couple of hours ago thanks. Looking forward to it.
What CPU do you have?
@@harrymarley2476 Started with a 3700x, now running a 10700k at 5.1ghz.....still nice and cool!! Amazing cooler!!
For people thinking of extending their AiO:
The tubes are just pushed on the radiator and CPU cooler (8mm ID) and the metallic pieces are only decoration and not screwable.
Just twist-pull the tubes, preferably on the radiator side (it has metal fittings and the first tube needs more force to come off)
Thank you so much steve, it's good to see that once again you listen and deliver when it comes to quality content
19:07 - That's so much easier to read than the previous colored dots graph. Well done to whoever came up with this!
My 360 will be here tomorrow! I knew I made the right decision when the thumbnail for this popped up lol. Thanks Steve! Happy folding 😁
Ive been running one of these(240) for the past 4 months 24/7 on a 3950x to replace a X62 that died. Great little unit.
What case are you running the 280 in?
More importantly Steve, WHERE DID YOU GET RUBBING ALCOHOL?
Genuinely a little worried about if we run out during this time, though obviously it has more useful things to do than clean CPUs. Still, we have to keep our CPUs healthy!
I have like 3 oz's left.
"You guys have rubbing alcohol?"
Aren't distilleries selling 90% alcohol?
Get some everclear or high proof vodka. Will work if need be to remove thermal grease or gunk, just let the part dry out a little. The higher the proof the better. (Has done it.)
Been using their 240 AIO for my 3800x since December 19. I replaced the fans on the AIO with their Bionic X fans and I couldnt be happier. My rendering, benchmarks or anything stay under 70c. it's a fantastic AIO.
I bought 360mm version 4 months back and can't be more satisfied! And I had custom EK watercooling loop before. So it speaks volumes, how good those Arctic Liquid II coolers are.
Excellent work in testing the Arctic AIO. I highly appreciate Arctic's effort being focused on performance and not 'looks'. Still the fact that they provide only 2 years of warranty sounds concerning for the durability and longevity of their product. It is the only thing making me skeptical about buying it. Looking forward to the tear-down vid. Thanks.
Update from 2022: Arctic AIO's now include a 6 year warranty.
I believe the warranty has been extended. And the AIO I bought (240mm) was only $80, so it doesn't break the bank.
Thankfully I bought the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm version of this AIO at launch at a reduced price and it is excellent!! Be warned that the radiator is thicker than normal but overall it has been running perfectly and handles my overclock extremely well on a 8700K...Peak temps are much lower! Great job by Arctic on price to performance and it actually does everything it says!
Hey, any updates on the AIO? Planning to get one from across the watres, which would mean a bit higher price and no warranty.
Just got done installing full custom water cooling and for some reason I was still excited to see this. Stoked for the tear down.
Whelp, this review was effective since I can't find one of these to buy anywhere right now . . .
I have had the smaller version of this Arctic cooler, the one that is 120mm, cooling a 3900x on a B450 motherboard for the past several months. Works absolutely flawlessly and also very quiet without sacrificing cooling performance.
It will be out of stock for a long time, thanks team GN! :)
I did a lot of research on Arctic cooling products and this video erased any questions I previously had. I pulled the trigger on purchasing the Arctic Freezer 34 esports DUO cpu air cooler for my first pc build with 2x arctic Bionix F140mm and 1x 120mm of the same type for my case fans. Will see how they perform once I complete my build but so far from what I hear, Arctic is a great product and kinda underrated in terms of price to performance. Thanks for the hard work at all the tedious testing you guys do over there @GamersNexus.
It's always good to see technology moving forward - improving. Excellent review.
I bought mine (280mm Liquid Freezer II) on December 1st for 70€ (which at the time was equivalent to $77). Very happy with this purchase!
Nice deal
I love Arctic fans because they are very silent and efficient. So I was wanting Steve to confirm what I was expecting.
Thanks man for testing this AIO/CLC.
Great work as always with GN! 😎
The amount of work you put into these things is impressive. And it is usually in one quick, easy to miss sentence.
"We did IMPRESSIVE NUMBER of tests in IMPRESSIVE NUMBER of configurations"
Arctic has always been performance, value with new innovations. Personally never had a bad cooler from them. Even their fans are a bargain and last.
Nice to see that this stella cooler now comes with the industry standard 6 year warranty. A few years back I got shot of my 280mm Corsair AIO in favour of the NH-D15, I couldn't accept the tone of the AIO, it really grated on me. I've just updated my rig to 13600kf/ Z690 Edge DDR4/4070Ti and after hearing so much praise for the Arctic Liquid Freezer ii, decided to give it a shot. Initial impression is it's very quiet and cools superbly
I've been using the 280 Freezer II to cool my 9900K @ 5GHz all core, for the last couple of months.
very satisfied with the performance and it even cools better than my previous Alphacool Eisbär 280 (using the same fans).
also, it should be mentioned that the Freezer II mounting mechanism differs between Intel and AMD sockets and is much easier on Intel.
I bought the 240mm version of this just yesterday right before this video was released. It has definitely made me more confident in my purchase. Thanks brotha, *subscribed
* lol
I have the 240mm on a 6700k....it's INCREDIBLE.
Amazing analysis. Love the new testing standards.
Just got my LF II yesterday and I am so glad in later revisions (I have the latest Rev 7) they provide standoffs to mount the backplate :D
They really listened to that feedback.
I love their case fans. I have 5 of them in my rig. I don’t care about rgb.
Henley Deng I’m new to pc building and I have a quick question. I ordered this arctic freezer ii and understand it supposed to cool your cpu. But my problem is the cpu originally comes with a fan that’s supposed to be installed in the exact position the arctic freezer is supposed to be installed. Does the fan just get replaced by this arctic freezer or am I missing something?
Seero the cpu cooler by arctic freeze 2 replaces the oem cpu cooler that came with your cpu.
Well done i purchased the Ryzen 3900x and cannot find any videos and articles with high end AOI coolers that are the best value. So thank you this helps a lot.
The most requested review for some reason
Most requested because everyone that owns one loves the price,
performance, and low decibels.
Got the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 (Rev 3) for my Ryzen 9 3900XT because of this review. It's my first liquid cooler and it's incredible. Used your link to buy it, too. Thank you @Gamers Nexus!
Has anyone else noticed this cooler is out of stock most everywhere? Well I've only checked Amazon and NewEgg. But I do really appreciate the review. I have a Hyper 212 air cooler on a 9900K. I never had a problem with temps since I don't overclock. But when I started folding I was suddenly getting warnings every 2 minutes that my CPU was running at over 80 degrees. I fixed that by limiting the folding to 4 threads. I've been wondering if an AIO would be able to keep my CPU cool with more threads enabled. I have an Asus pre-built I bought at Best Buy in 2017. I started it folding as well, but the Intel stock cooler died after less than a day. I've had a really tough time getting a new one. I've been waiting a couple of weeks for it because the post office lost it or something. I was thinking about moving the Hyper 212 to the Asus and getting an AIO, but I don't think I have enough clearance. But who needs a side panel anyway? Much better airflow without it, right?
In the high-end segment the Arctic liquid freezer ii is now the best cooler because it costs less than 100$ and beats everything. If you don't want to spend that much you can go with something like be quiet! Dark rock pro 4 or scythe fuma 2 but I don't think you will be able to overclock a 9900k to 5.00 Ghz with any air cooling
@@жабислав Many OC the 9900K with a high-end air cooler, such as Noctua NH-D15...I even OCed it with my NH-D14 and it doesn't throttle either :)
Of course a liquid cooler would be better when OC, since you can reduce the temps by up to 8 to 10°C probably.
@@Valandized to what frequency did you overclock it?
@@жабислав Sorry for the late response, I didn't get any notification from YT.. @5GHz all-core (when video encoding the temps rise a little bit over 90°C, when the ambient temp is high)
I installed this liquid cooler into my system, which I built in February of 2020, and it has performed flawlessly over these last 4 years. I give this product 2 big thumbs up and I would not hesitate for one second to buy this item again.
Thank you for the in depth review GN. Much appreciated! My question is centered around Arctic's warranty on the ALF II. Specifically, the ALF II has a 2 year warranty, whereas the NZXT Kraken's have a 6 year warranty. Does this point to low confidence in their product? Should we be concerned over ALF II's longevity? I'll be building a new PC soon, and finally switching from air to liquid cooling, and I prefer to get as much value as I possible can. I've narrowed my choices down to NZXT X63 or the AFL II; the only worry being the markedly different warranties. If anyone could help shed some light on this, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Cheers :)
the chapters/bookmarks/whatever it's called in the bottom bar you guys have been doing recently are a really nice touch, I haven't seen any other channels doing that
I switched over to the Arctic Freezer 360mm from a deepcool castle 360 ex
This outperforms it and is way quieter at max rpm.
Also switched fans to noctuas and performance is even better now
Current setup is 5 months old and still running fine
I've been wanting to do the same thing but preferred to wait for affirmation, I assume noise is down a bit and performance is either the exact same or slightly better?
Also did you get nf-f12 of nf-a12's?
Eric Mann Performance increased noise levels dropped . I went for the NF-A12 x25 since I want them to double as airflow fans
@@gezgez2 yes NF-A12 x25 are 35 Euro vs Artic P12 PWM PST (pst = pressure optimized) 8 Euro
Dan D noted I’ll adjust it
Oh nice I was wondering about replacing fans on them thanks for the comment. Just out of curiosity did you use the same screws from the arctic fans for the noctuas?
Thank you for the very informative video. In light of the recent video about the rampant incorrect mounting of AIO's I wanted to point out that the unusually deep radiator on this product makes it very difficult to identify which Cases are going to have enough motherboard clearance to allow for a top mounting. Even the cavernous Phanteks Enthoo Pro II apparently does not have the clearance for top mounting the Arctic radiators, which I was personally dumbfounded by. I sent a note to Arctic support suggesting a list of compatible cases for top-mounting and am waiting to hear back. In the meantime, I may be trying to mount on the side-vent of the Enthoo Pro II and hoping that a cables down mounting there could actually reach the CPU. Crazy to say but my desire to have the Liquid Freezer II 360mm and trying to find a case that would handle it was probably the most time-consuming aspect of my build-plan. Even now I am trying to figure out the logistics of the possible cable extensions and fan wiring for a case which is way bigger than I would have otherwise needed.
I don't know why you guys didn't review this earlier. It's easily the best AIO cooler on the market as long as you don't need unicorn puke to be part of the package. It has a 38mm rad while the majority of other AIOs have 28-30mm. I swapped out the fans with 3 Corsair MLs that I already owned. Installation was a snap and if only uses one 4 pin PWM connection to power everything. Couldn't be happier.
Are the corsair ML better? I was considering both them and the arctic p12 mounted on this aio as case fans
@@Mentadeath stock fans are already really good to let you know
Great video! If possible, would you be reviewing EK's new AIO CPU coolers after they launch? I think it would be interesting to see how a water block/custom loop company's take on an All-in-One would preform, especially since their offerings are price competitive with companies like Corsair and NZXT.
I've had the 240mm version cooling my 3800x for almost 5 months not one single issue. Amazing cooler for the price.
ordered one on the 16th, a 360mm.. but with the email I received today.. Ill have to take your word for it I spose.. imgur.com/a/j9mPYvN
Good review guys, so close to 800K 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Just in time for lunch, thanks GN!
Seeing there are a lot of comments about the fans, it would be nice to see a separate fan review / roundup.
08:39 - "We like to simulate a tomb where we work"
Look, I know Tomb Raider titles have always been popular for benchmarking, but don't you think you're going too far?
I really appreciate your reviews. Your attention to accuracy and depth of coverage is unsurpassed. Your professionalism is impressive.
Just as I start considering replacing my aging CLC 280 I get this. Where is your brain wave listening device GN?
Thank you for giving us this really insightful review. Cant wait for the tear down. I had trouble installing my LF2 as well until I pushed the backplate against the motherboard with a cardboard box. That helped immensely.
Would love to see a comparison between the 360 and the 280 to see how much of a difference it makes
i dont watch video :D but i have my results for you compare
watched for a 360 to come into stock for about 4 weeks with a fervor, finally on the 16th, 5 hit stock and I was able to order one, 15minutes later they were all sold, then today I get this from Arctic.. imgur.com/a/j9mPYvN
I have the Liquid Freezer I 240 on a i7-7700K. Love it, no RGB to deal with, installed super easy. I am fixing to move to Socket AM4. I emailed Arctic several months ago and they sent me (for free!) the Socket AM4 mounting kit for it. Superb customer service right there!!
Steve how practical would it be to include a frequency response breakdown of the fans/pump noise? I'm very interested in that information because when you noise normalize liquid coolers against an air cooler (or say a mesh case against a 'silenced' case) even if the dB pressure is the same, I would imagine it actually sounds quite different. This is actually the biggest reason I stayed away from AIOs in the past, because even though the pumps are fairly quiet, they are much more noticible.
@@PredatoryQQmber Wow, rude phrasing. First of all, we didn't hear any whine with this. Secondly, you'll eliminate most pump whine by actually installing your cooler properly. A lot of people install their coolers with tubes up, which is a fantastic way to create a lot of noise. Finally, we aren't presently equipped for frequency spectrum analysis. Since PredatoryQQmber seems to feel so strongly about us not faking something we feel ill-equipped to test, perhaps he could pay for the equipment and the rent for an additional room so that we can set up a semi-anechoic chamber to do it properly.
We'll get there. We just aren't equipped yet.
@@PredatoryQQmber no need to make "ass-liking praise" but no need to be disrespectful either, as the guy showed a quite honest and unbiased review
@@GamersNexus Hi Steve, can you please specify what it means " ...installing cooler with tubes up..?" ...I wish to know more about this to avoid any mistakes in my next build. Thank you, b.t.w are you considering make review of Cougar Helor 360 with built-in fill port? Thank you, good job you doing, wish to have that skills like you guys. Just praying now for tornados stay away tonight from family down in panhandle FL. Yours videos keep me awake. Thanks
Have been using the Liquid Freezer II 240 version (push-pull configuration) on my 3800X for the past 2 months and I absolutely love it, superb performer.
Gonna get this one to replace my NHD-15 for two reasons:
1. Better RAM clearance
2. No LED Software comapred to an X63 and better performance than H115i Series (ICUE is tolerable at least.
Thanks for the hours upon hours of content, you together with Buildzoid and Roman are the paragons of helping buyers who are willing to learn somethibg make informed decisions. I hope you'll someday get a price or something, because you and your team definitively deserve one.
i still dont think electricity and water mixes though, ill stick to air
I hope your car doesn't use electricity and a water cooled engine
@@FinneousPJ1 I dont have a car, i walk or ride my bike, those are both air cooled also
As long as the water stays where it's supposed to.....and the electricity stays where it's supposed....everything works out fine. Also, water (H2O), is non-conductive and non-corrosive. Water doesn't become conductive, capacitive or corrosive until contaminants are added...
Your loss.
11:49 Schroedinger's VRM fan.
You get me Steve :D
Nice one. And I can vouch for their customer support. Was getting answers in few hours. Really top company of cooling products. My first gpu cooler purchased back in ~2004 from Arctic.
Been using this (the 280) in a NR200 for a 5800X and haven’t had any issues since. It’s also survived 3 reassemblies of my case for upgrades/management/cleaning, so I 100% recommend
How is it now, still runnning? Also, what temps are you hitting avg
I’ve been using the ALF II 240mm with Kryonaut on my 6700k @ 4.8ghz....it’s absolutely BALLER.
Loved the vid. Really appreciate the testing. Edited because i'm now @4.8ghz stable. Highest temp under full load is 75c...CRAZY!!
As a Newbie to building PC's your chanel has been a true life saver.
im in love with the p12 fans! such a great performance for such a low price! value king atm imo!
I’ve been using the 120mm version which I got for £50 to cool my R5 2600 for almost 2 months now and I have to say I’m very impressed. Idles at no more than 30C and never exceeds 48C during gaming for multiple hours. Only downside was how inflexible the tubes were but I managed in the end.
Do you still use this combo? If yes, how does it perform by now?
22:00 Use a dry dish sponge under the backplate perhaps? Lots of ways to fill space. Balled up printer paper or paper towel, etc.
@Gamers Nexus
I know you won't respond to a one-year-old video, but I want to thank you anyway. Maybe you'll read it in a couple of years, when there's another lockdown.
I put together a new PC in September 2020. Ryzen 7 3700 X and a GTX 1660. The temperatures were okay. Until I was lucky enough to acquire a 3060 TI. From then on, the CPU boiled up to max 90 degrees Celsius. Looking for a solution I found your channel.
The first thing I needed was a new case. Mine was already 8 years old at that time and did not have a good airflow. Your review of the Lian Li Mesh II convinced me.
Now I had a great case and I was looking for a quiet, strong cooler... and there you were again. Thank you for your work. With me you won a new fan from Germany.
Greedings, Markus.
I'm so glad you guys did this review. Not just for the review of this particular cooler, but because I've been feeling entirely disenchanted with the way almost all tech-tube channels look at or review the same products from the same companies repeatedly. I understand there are reasons for this, but it feels like all product reviews or news are about NZXT, CoolerMaster, Fractal Design, Corsair... But there are other products out there. Its always the same with all manner of hardware, from coolers to peripherals to cases.
So thanks a ton for this refreshing look at something outside the norm. I know you guys at GN do venture out of the usual brands, and I hope this is gonna catch on to other channels too. Kudos!
I put an Artic Accelero Xtreme IV air cooler on my EVGA GTX 980Ti as the water cooling is so expensive and very limited for this old card. I went from 84c to 60c under full load at 1200RPM (not even noticable), Arctic is so under-rated but it's so damned good. Was waiting for this review, thanks Steve.
I got the 240 version *new* for almost 40$ 4 months ago... its a relief hearing Steve's opinion
I have an NH-D15S.. Eyeing this for a future upgrade. The difference in sustained loads is hard to ignore.
The timing of this video is amazing. Just earlier today I was wondering why you haven't reviewed the Arctic Liquid Freezer II yet.
wow those sections on the progress bar are amazing! and I thought your on-screen progress bars was impressive. they work great together!
I've been using their products for years! Originally had an arctic freezer 64 on my amd athlon 64 3200 and a silencer 5 for the ati x800 xt pe. Great products for performance and value!
I've had this cooler for over 8 months. Its fantastic. Also Arctic customer service are extremely helpful.
I picked this up because the are I live has an average temp of almost 30c. This has made a massive difference in my temps. thanks so much for the advise.
That Charmander potted plant is amazing.