Should I get Artic Freezer II 240 or Deepcool Castle 240?

[PavleM]

I was wondering which one of these two should I buy. I know that Freezer is one of the best budget for performance but I dont like the look of the pump and tube length bcs Im building in a small case. On the other hand Deepcool looks a lot better, has rgb and has an anti-leak technology. So the question is how much really are the temperature differences between these two? Maybe I should sacrifice those 2 or 3 degrees for the look of Deepcool Castle.
Every advice would be appreciated and feel free to suggest me any other aio in that price range, this is my first build.

 

[bobbybluz]

If you want better performance (and now a 6 year warranty) get the Arctic. if flashing lights are more important get the Deepcool. I have two Arctic Freezer II's (280 & 360) in use now and they're great.

 

[PavleM]

If you want better performance (and now a 6 year warranty) get the Arctic. if flashing lights are more important get the Deepcool. I have two Arctic Freezer II's (280 & 360) in use now and they're great.

I have 2 questions:
1. Are the tubes too long so they kinda get in the way and block airflow
2. How much, if you have any experience, are arctic's aios temperatures cooler than average aios like Deepcool? Because I think those little differences in temperature wont matter too much, are minimal and its only for marketing

 

[bobbybluz]

1. Define "too long". I have no idea of what your case configuration is. They're no longer than any Corsair 240, 280 or 360 AIO's.
2. I heavily overclock my PC's plus use aftermarket extremely high performance fans on them. The Gamers Nexus pump teardown of the Arctic showed it to be a superior product in more ways than one. I've been using AIO's since they first hit the market and IMO Arctic is at the top in performance + price at the moment. Arctic's also use a 38mm thick radiator that gives better cooling.

 

[Caring1]

Arctic's also use a 38mm thick radiator that gives better cooling.

That's also something to consider in a "small" build, will it fit in the limited space.
From what I have read on line the Deepcool Castle is capable and there's really nothing negative about it apart from pump height which means it will be a tight fit in mini iTX cases, the Arctic Freezer 11 is also very good so it comes down to space and appearance.

 

[PaulieG]

The Deep Castle is literally the same as 90% of all AIO's on the market. They are Asetek. They are...fine. The AIO's that perform the best are NOT Asetek. They are the EK AIO, the Arctic you are considering and the Alphacool Eisbaer. Out of these three I have the EK and the Aphacool. The EK is by far my favorite mostly due to ease of installation and the fact that you can buy them straight from EK in Italy yet they have it at your door within 7 business days and their customer service is very good. My only complaint with the Alphacool is the backplate. It's awful, so I use an EK backplate with it. Cooling between the EK and Alphacool are almost identical in the 360 versions. There's also a good comparison review between the EK and the Arctic from Steve at Gamer's Nexus that you might want to check out.

 

[claylomax]

Don't forget about the little fan on the Artic Freezer; some people don't mind and some find it noisy and annoying.

 

[HaKN !]

The little fan on the pump/block dosen make a sound on my 360 even at 100%. Cant hear a peep

I was wondering which one of these two should I buy. I know that Freezer is one of the best budget for performance but I dont like the look of the pump and tube length bcs Im building in a small case. On the other hand Deepcool looks a lot better, has rgb and has an anti-leak technology. So the question is how much really are the temperature differences between these two? Maybe I should sacrifice those 2 or 3 degrees for the look of Deepcool Castle.
Every advice would be appreciated and feel free to suggest me any other aio in that price range, this is my first build.

If you want perfomance get the arctic. i wont ever touch any other AIO again after arctics freezer II series.

 

[PaulieG]

The little fan on the pump/block dosen make a sound on my 360 even at 100%. Cant hear a peep



If you want perfomance get the arctic. i wont ever touch any other AIO again after arctics freezer II series.

I think you'd do yourself a disservice if you didn't at least try the EK and Aphacool. Especially the EK.

 

[Keullo-e]

Arctic are the ones which are almost always recommended here in Finland. If I'd go for an AIO, it would be Arctic. Hella awesome price/performance ratio and it has great fans as bundled ones.

 

[WhitetailAni]

Arctic all the way.
I have a Liquid Freezer II 120mm (case doesn't support larger and I can't fit tower coolers taller than 92mm) and it performs great. Under Cinebench multi-core on a stock Ryzen 5 3600 (haven't gotten around to overclocking yet) max temps are ~73C.

 

[HaKN !]

I think you'd do yourself a disservice if you didn't at least try the EK and Aphacool. Especially the EK.

I did try the Ek basic one , to my knowledge its no difff from the others. And the fans oh my. So loud ! But i liked the design and look. So far Arctic one had me. Tried both the 120mm and now the 360mm. Never going back to any other aio. And the plus side is that i can refil the arctic one and clean the baseplate if need’d. Just 4 screws and its off