Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB

[crazyeyesreaper]

Arctic looks to dominate with the Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB. This 280 mm all-in-one liquid cooler boasts exceptional performance, a six year warranty, and an affordable price, making it a clear winner in a cut-throat market with no shortage of competitors.

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[FreedomEclipse]

Arctic should have made the little 40mm VRM fan RGB as well. Missed opportunity IMO

 

[GerKNG]

too bad that the radiator is so thick that the 280mm version does not even fit in a Meshify S2.

 

[Guwapo77]

Excellent review, I was just looking at this AIO last night. I'm going to throw this bad boy into my son's rig.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I bought a AF2 420. One of the things I made sure to look for was to make sure it fit AM3+. It didnt. I had to modify the bracket and do some funky stuff to get it all mounted. It was a headache for sure, but once it was in, I was very happy with the results and temps.

I swapped the fans that came with it to the pull side and whenever they ramp up, it sounded like they were hitting the radiator fins, turned out they were hitting the extended screw tabs on it.

The other thing I really didnt like is the fan cable, its permanently mounted to one of the hoses. I dont use it, I use a fan hub and there is not connection for that. So it sits there hanging making my cable management unruly.

I'd still buy again, but would definitely remove that useless cable first.

 

[MachineLearning]

Thank you very much for the review. I honestly didn't expect Arctic to do RGB since it's historically uncommon for them. Glad to see the implementation is good, although like others I would have liked the VRM fan to be RGB too, maybe accents on the block as well.

One small correction at the beginning: Arctic Cooling (just "Arctic" now) =/= Arctic Silver. This is needlessly confusing naming, but probably coincidental since Arctic Silver was founded in '99 and Arctic Cooling was '01 (and different countries). But yeah, Arctic Cooling doesn't make Ceramiqué or Arctic Silver 5 (and "Silver" is just part of the company name, not the product delineation, making things even more confusing).

 

[toilet pepper]

I really want them to sell the fans seperately. They are the best 140mm fans around.

 

[Mistral]

Is there a chance to get a comparison with the non-RGB version, to see how much performance is sacrificed for the pretty lights?

 

[AlwaysHope]

My next cooler!

 

[Nephilim666]

I really want them to sell the fans seperately. They are the best 140mm fans around.

I'm pretty sure they do? In Australia at least.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/56544/arctic-p12-120mm-pst-semi-passive-140-mm-argb-fan-3-pack

 

[Mussels]

That VRM fan is a game changer for many budget boards, the worse the board the more it helps

Also a huge deal is the upward facing hoses, which massively help with RAM compatibility on cramped mobos

 

[Yttersta]

Hello @crazyeyesreaper, I couldn't find any references to which mounting you used for the AMD system; offset or the older ones? From the pictures I think you used the offset holes.

The offset bracket came bit later after the first release of the LF2 series of coolers but Arctic was kind to send me this bracket for free and it dropped a few degrees on all fronts incredibly with my 5900x, not that it is a CPU which answers well to cooling but still :-D

 

[watzupken]

I've used the 360 and currently using the 240mm AIO from Arctic. For both coolers, I think they deliver good cooling without costing a bomb. From a cooling perspective, they may be one of the best. However, they are not without flaws, for example,
1. The retention piece for the water block/ pump is quite big, and I ran into issues installing it on a B550 MATX board, and now with a B460 ITX board. It is being obstructed by the components/ cooling solution around the socket area. So even with the cooler offering the Zen 3 offset mount, I couldn't use it because there is no clearance on both the MSI and Asus motherboards

2. The amount of liquid seems quite little. Try shaking the radiator and you hear a lot of slushing in there
3. Due to the thickness, it is very hard to install in some setup/ casing or even some positions. This is especially so when you have a small/ ITX case. I struggled to fit the 240mm version in a NR200, and when moving to the Phanteks P200A, I am not able to side mount the cooler because the fan is hitting the PCB of the power button at the top of the case.
What I really like is the long warranty, the good cooling performance, and the lack of wires to connect. Just one nice connector for the non-RGB version. My previous AIO had so many wires to connect and it was a headache to install and remove.

 

[r3ptil3]

I've used also the Arctic Liquid 360 + 360 ARGB + 240.
The 280 has the same performance like the 360 version and I think it's the best 280 AIO which is available.

A note regarding the fans:
the fans produce vibrating noises at approx. 900-1000 rpm. This is a bit annoying.
it is a very similar behavior to the normal p12 fans.

Once Noctua introduces their new 140mm fans in Q2 2022, I would like to replace the ARGB fans with the Noctuas.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Hello @crazyeyesreaper, I couldn't find any references to which mounting you used for the AMD system; offset or the older ones? From the pictures I think you used the offset holes.

The offset bracket came bit later after the first release of the LF2 series of coolers but Arctic was kind to send me this bracket for free and it dropped a few degrees on all fronts incredibly with my 5900x, not that it is a CPU which answers well to cooling but still :-D

I used the offset mount as indicated by Arctic for the CPU I am using (3000 and 5000) series. I did do testing with the original orientation and found no real differences at stock. OC i noticed a 1-2C difference but when you consider mounting / TIM spread and other aspects as I record peak temps while avg temps may show a larger delta since I am looking at the potential for thermal throttling I stick with peak temps. These peaks were within margin of error for me. Obviously different CPUs will behave differently. As such I stuck with the manufacturer's recommended mount for best performance which turned out to be true even if by a small amount. Multiple test runs did indicate a 1-2C improvement with Offset. However in a situation like this mileage will vary.

 

[mtb scotland]

too bad that the radiator is so thick that the 280mm version does not even fit in a Meshify S2.

fits at the front does it not?

I used the offset mount as indicated by Arctic for the CPU I am using (3000 and 5000) series. I did do testing with the original orientation and found no real differences at stock. OC i noticed a 1-2C difference but when you consider mounting / TIM spread and other aspects as I record peak temps while avg temps may show a larger delta since I am looking at the potential for thermal throttling I stick with peak temps. These peaks were within margin of error for me. Obviously different CPUs will behave differently. As such I stuck with the manufacturer's recommended mount for best performance which turned out to be true even if by a small amount. Multiple test runs did indicate a 1-2C improvement with Offset. However in a situation like this mileage will vary.

Seen 5C difference with the offset mount but I'm not using the same CPU settings (more power) and the 360mm rad.

 

[GerKNG]

fits at the front does it not?

top is too thick and sits on ram and VRM Heatsink.
Front has the issue that the tubing is too short and does not reach to the CPU.

 

[mtb scotland]

top is too thick and sits on ram and VRM Heatsink.
Front has the issue that the tubing is too short and does not reach to the CPU.

too short really? tubes are pretty long.

 

[GerKNG]

too short really? tubes are pretty long.

yes but they are straight into the block and can not be bent without a sharp angle above the fittings. (and the tubing is already straight with no room left to move it up or down)

except when you have the radiator mounted with the tubing on top (which is not good)

 

[mtb scotland]

yes but they are straight into the block and can not be bent without a sharp angle above the fittings. (and the tubing is already straight with no room left to move it up or down)

except when you have the radiator mounted with the tubing on top (which is not good)

nothing wrong with them being on top BTW - its how I have always had mine. never had an issue with the AIO's I've had. Currently got a 360 arctic LFII on a 3900x

 

[GerKNG]

nothing wrong with them being on top BTW - its how I have always had mine. never had an issue with the AIO's I've had. Currently got a 360 arctic LFII on a 3900x

as soon as enough liquid has permeated you'll have an air gap at the top of the radiator and you can have issues pulling liquid, mix it with air or creating bubbles. (my old X72 had this problem after around 2 years)

 

[Lateshow]

@crazyeyesreaper Flashier than their usual stuff, but looks good. I believe a lot of companies are sourcing their radiators from the same 2-3 OEM's. So it's the implementation that really matters. Any chance of there being an AIO round up?

Oh, and while I'm asking, is there any chance of some reviews on the latest batch of Thermalright coolers? LeMacho got a fair number of reviews. It's weird that I can't find any on their latest offerings (Frost Commander 140/Spirit, etc). Wondering in part because people said they are using a different OEM for their latest fans, which were a big selling point on their previous coolers.

 

[Mussels]

nothing wrong with them being on top BTW - its how I have always had mine. never had an issue with the AIO's I've had. Currently got a 360 arctic LFII on a 3900x

as long as the top of the radiator is above the pump, you're fine

 

[JustBenching]

I know it's offtopic but what catches my eye is the u12a. Its the smallest cooler that manages to pass every test thrown at it.

Reading the comments from the original u12a review, yay... Let's just say some people were horribly wrong