Review: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 liquid cooler

Discussion in 'Frontpage news' started by Hilbert Hagedoorn, Jan 16, 2020.

  1. Hilbert Hagedoorn

    Hilbert Hagedoorn Don Vito Corleone Staff Member

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    Today, we are reviewing an AIO cooler from Arctic: the LIQUID FREEZER II 280. The series has been introduced on the 9th of December this year. Arctic is no “newbie” in the AIO segment of the marke...

    Review: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 liquid cooler
     
    Embra and fantaskarsef like this.
  2. AndyMutz

    AndyMutz Master Guru

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    got mine on black friday sale for 60 EUR :)
    keeps my 9900K @ 5GHz all core in the same temperature range as in your review.

    -andy-
     
  3. Ieppo

    Ieppo Member

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    Wondering if that 360 version would perform better or worse than 280 version?
     
  4. kakiharaFRS

    kakiharaFRS Master Guru

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    temps look good ,same as my corsair h115 280mm or h150i 360mm
    for the price, awesome unless you have a problem with the transformer batmobile look
     

  5. GlennB

    GlennB Master Guru

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    Should be better as both are 38mm thick.
     
  6. superzeus

    superzeus Master Guru

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    big question why you dont include in the test comparation Corsair Products ?
     
  7. Captain_Hook

    Captain_Hook Member Guru

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    Should be better, more dissipation space.

    I'm thinking about doing another platform with Ryzen, but not 3950X as it's hard to get + not too popular among the daily users (price).

    The big answer here is - pls check the last H100i RGB Pro XT review.
    https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/corsair-h100i-rgb-pro-xt-liquid-cooler-review,1.html
    There you can compare them. Corsair review has been completed after the Arctic one.
     
  8. vMax1965

    vMax1965 Active Member

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    I have the 360mm version and I am so impressed. Keeps my overclocked 8700K at 4.9GHz very cool even under max load with P95 small FFT's...for the price it is one of the best if not the best...be warned the radiator is a lot thicker than other AIO's so double check your measurements in your case.
     
  9. superzeus

    superzeus Master Guru

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    ok i see thanks.
     
  10. Camaxide

    Camaxide Active Member

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    I'd like to add that my 360 version of this cooler has no issues keeping my 9900KS cool at all times :)
    I'm very pleased with this cooler so far.
     

  11. Aast

    Aast Guest

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    Adding that I have the exact same model and handles my 3900X on a both an X570 Aorus Master and MSI X570 Unify with no issues whatsoever.
     
  12. korn87

    korn87 Guest

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    I bought it after seeing this review. I have 9900kf, set it to 5GHz 1.35V, the temperature in wPrime 2.10 (at 16 threads) was 95 degrees. Air temperature 25 degrees.
    ???
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
  13. DG21

    DG21 Member Guru

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    @korn87 :

    maybe issues with pumpspeed?

    I have the smaller one (240mm) on a R5 3600 (placeholder for sth. bigger & no compare to your beast) on a B450M Mortar Max in a Silverstone PS07.

    It runs 4-5 °C cooler than the Dark Rock Pro 4, that was installed before... (ok, it's running in pushpull with two Silentwings 3 but the maschine is now even more silent than before in idle & load).

    After 24h Prime95@3.94GHz/1.33V average (CPU setting@auto) I had 62.9°C average and 66.9°C peak, which I think is quite good, considering the size of my case.

    I really wonder why it's so cheap & only has 2 years of warranty... but so far I'm very happy... :)

    (to others: The fans can be disconnected & exchanged, installed on the other side of the rad (which I did). Everything is connected via '4'pin-headers, so that it can be unplugged easily)
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2020
  14. korn87

    korn87 Guest

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    another owner of the 9900k has an NH-D15, just like when consuming about 250W, the processor heats closer to 95 degrees. I think that the author of the test deceives us when he writes that the processor was fully loaded with wPrime 2.10.
     
  15. DG21

    DG21 Member Guru

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    Since saturday, my Mortar MAX was packed with a 3900X... and man, it's insane!!!

    The Arctic 240 LF II keeps it down to 69°C average & 79.4°C max. at 4.125GHz@1.31V allcore (HWinfo64-average after 3h with autosettings in UEFI).
    (thermal compound: Arctic-MX4).

    CB15: 3172/214 - max. values -> CCX0: 4.65, 4.625, 4.60; CCX1: 4.55; CCX2&3: 4.40-4.35.

    And it's soo silent (yes, I know - custom loops can be almost inaudible, but given the budget it's just WOOOW.)
     

  16. Zsoltluu

    Zsoltluu Guest

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    hi . A question for an Arctic LF II owner’s ..
    when the CPU loads up or down , i hear a very strange voice from the cpu (pump) but on the full load i don’t hear.it’s like when you blow with air an empty tube... if you know what i mean..
    Have you heard this strange voice also ?
    My Cpu is i5 9600kf Cpu Cooler Arctic LF Ii 360mm. i overclocked to 5 Ghz . I tried auto voltage 1,344 also tried 1,300 ,1,27 the system boots and aida 64 1 hour jumping between 64 and 81 C
    i also have high temperatures while stress test Prime 95 small FFtp no AVX, my temps reached 99 C after few minutes testing...
    I used the stock Mx4 thermal paste
    My case with good airflow! so no problem with that
    any Helps please?
     
  17. Tsenng

    Tsenng Active Member

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    Extremely weird you are getting such high temps as 99C??? You must either A: Have done something wrong on installation of the coolerblock on the cpu or B: Your unit is broken. I am just cooling my Ryzen 5 3600X with this one and i have not rune prime or anything like that. I just game like crazy and even in high demand gaming my cpu never reaches over 75C with the cooler on pwm control. Super silent and happy with this watercooler. It completely DESTROYS my super expensive EK 280 Predator cooler wich cost me 2.5 times as much 2 years ago.

    Have you installed it in the front of case or top?
     
  18. Shonk

    Shonk Member

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    I think its down to the orientation when i first set it up in my cube case sideways max prime95 avx temps where 85 or so
    I moved it to the top a few days later and temps where about 12°C higher peak

    I changed case the other day with the rad in the front with the pipes down and its back to 85°C Peak
    and this case runs alot warmer than the old one

    at the time i presumed it was down to summer
    but turns out it was the orientation

    Edit i did post images but it seems postimg is banned or something

    anyway

    Top of case = Bad
    Side of case = Good
    Front of case with pipes at bottom = Good

    At a guess i would say Front of case with pipes at top = Bad
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2020
  19. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    AIO coolers contain 2-10% air in the loop, depending on manufacturer. Positioning an AIO in the front of the case or the bottom of the case with tubes at the top can cause the air to enter the pump, reducing performance and causing pump noise.
    Installing an AIO in the front of the case with tubes down is ideal, but not always possible.
    Installing an AIO in the top of the case would have a negligible affect on cooling performance, granted there are enough intake fans installed and fan speeds are properly controlled.
     
  20. alpha007org

    alpha007org Member Guru

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    Hi.

    I bought NZXT 510 but I cannot mount Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 anywhere inside, so I have a radiator outside on top of the case.
    I'm buying a new PC Case where I could mount the radiator on top. Since it's so thick I found only one case where they say how much clearance is there: Phanteks Eclipse P500. But I don't like how it looks.

    Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 is sooooo good it cooled my old Ryzen 3600 like a champ, totally silent. Now it cools Ryzen 5900 totally silent too. After 1h of prime95 torture test temps are ~10-15C below the average of similar AIO products. But one reason is probably because the radiator is outside of a case... :)

    Any ideas?
     

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