Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 280 A-RGB & 420 A-RGB CPU Coolers Now Available

[btarunr]

High-end cooling meets an impressive variety of colours: Addressable LEDs in the fans and pump head enable fully customizable lighting to suit personal taste. Thanks to compatibility with common mainboard standards and ARCTIC's recommended software SignalRGB, colors and effects can be easily controlled and perfectly matched to the entire setup. The new 280 and 420 A-RGB variants as well as the existing models of the Liquid Freezer III Pro series are available in the ARCTIC Webshop with a "Payback" discount. The discount is automatically applied in the shopping cart. Also, available on Amazon, eBay and selected partners.



Pricing (Arctic Webshop Pricing)

• Liquid Freezer III Pro 420 A-RGB: €105.99
• Liquid Freezer III Pro 420 A-RGB White: €116.49
• Liquid Freezer III Pro 280 A-RGB: €89.90

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[KrazedOmega]

While I'm happy to finally see the 420/280 versions, they're still a no buy until they have a non contact frame mount option available for Intel.

I don't see how it's so hard to just have a "normal" Intel mount.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

non RBG LF3 is about $100 on amazon, rgb version is 9 bucks more.

 

[Sol_Badguy]

One of the "pros" (pun intended) is that it's affordable, well it has to be in order to offset the cost of a compatible case which certainly isn't going to be cheap in the case of the 420 variant.

PR move, nothing more, the so-called improvements of the Pro are in Arctic's benefit not the end user's.

The disadvantage the non-Pro had in review results was that it wasn't necessarily at the very top in the brute force/full rpm category. Where it shined was in the noise normalized category (the one that interests end users, even if they don't realize it at first). But for the less informed/less tech savvy demographic, aka the ones that look only at the balls to the wall results, Arctic risked not being among their buying options.

So they went ahead and cobbled up a version that would also perform very well in the full rpm category, thus maximizing the product's chances of being on everyone's short list.

In this regard it's a success, in the noise normalized category however it's pretty much the same as the non-Pro.

The only real change is the Intel contact frame which now has an offset so that it performs better on LGA1851, but not necessarily on LGA1700. It's interesting how they're forcing the use of the contact frame even if on LGA1851 it's not mandatory (practically speaking) like on LGA1700. There is still a minimal bend, but not one that warrants a contact frame.
Well not a poorly designed one such as this, if someone is determined to use this type of accessory they might as well buy something properly designed like the Thermalright one, and then whatever cooler (air or liquid) that has standard mounting. And the performance will be similar to the Pro but with the added benefit of less AIO bulk.

^The takeaway is this:
AMD users rejoice, you basically got more of the same, if it fits in your case it's a valid option.
Intel users look elsewhere, seriously it's one of the worse options, especially for LGA1851 users.

 

[Rover4444]

Didn't they already have an RGB LF3?

 

[Rightness_1]

These are so good for the money that they are hardly reviewed by sites that are sponsored by Corsair, BeQuiet... et al.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

One of the "pros" (pun intended) is that it's affordable, well it has to be in order to offset the cost of a compatible case which certainly isn't going to be cheap in the case of the 420 variant.

my LF 2 420 cost me about $200 and a bad mounting bracket.

 

[Sol_Badguy]

my LF 2 420 cost me about $200 and a bad mounting bracket.

Different conditions back then?
Nowadays (the first months of this year) the non-Pro without RGB 360 variant for less than $80 (when discounted) was definitely affordable.

For AMD users it is pretty much the default option, thanks to the offset mounting.
In my country at least I've read on some forums about people upgrading from the LF3 to the LF3 Pro, like literally changing the entire AIO just for the fans. The hype is crazy, almost inversely proportional to the size of that coldplate.