RRP: £59.99
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I always tell people that are in the market for a custom PC two things. 1. Pick a case with good airflow, and 2. Get a good CPU cooler. Stock coolers are just that. They do enough to keep you from frying your CPU, but that’s about it. With the workloads from gamers and well, anyone that does things like we do here at TFT (ie, photo editing, video editing, coding), you need proper cooling. It should come as no shock to you by now that today we are going to be looking at the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240. I am very excited about it. It packs a 2 yr warranty with an affordable price tag. But does it cool? Let’s find out.
Now, about the box, it has all of the information you could possibly need on it. The fonts are clear, the logo is on the front of the box as it should be. I like the eye friendly blue box. I only wish that they would put a proper picture on the front and not just an outline. There are some proper pictures on back but it would look nicer on the shelf with a nice picture on the front. The specs are on the side, warranty on the front. They did not miss anything out.
Inside we find:
QR code - just scan that with your phone and you can get the manual up. This saves on unneeded paper waste.
A survey card - I’m not sure why they did not put that on the back of the QR card to be fair, as it just takes up more paper.
The cooler
Backplate and brackets
Screws
Paste
Just a quick note to you, this unit is pre-built. The fans are already on it. So, if you are pressed for time on a build, there is no fiddling with the fans. Thank goodness someone finally gets that. The fans are Pressure Optimized as well. There are two 120mm fans on this and there is a mini fan on the cooling block. The cooler has one cable to connect to the board, that’s it! Most coolers come with two or more and some even require splitters. (especially the RGB ones) This is clearly designed with the builder in mind. I also like the way the Arctic logo is on the radiator as well as the block and the braided cables. This is proof you don’t need RGB to have a sexy looking cooler. One more thing I noticed besides the fans being installed for us, thanks again, is there are no fan cables hanging down getting in the way. It’s just the most tidy wiring I have seen.
Dimensions, Specs, Support:
The cooler supports 2 120mm Pressure Optimized fans up to 1200rpm (comes with)
Supports Ryzen
Supports Intel 115x, 2011-3, 2006* *Square ILM needed
AMD AM4
Radiator 277 X 38mm
Tubes 450mm
Testing:
We tested this in a normal working environment. The specs of our rig are on the video if you are curious about that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOVhzpIujE
Fans on Auto Testing
Idle Temp for 30 minutes (Average) - 29°C
100% Burn for 30 minutes (Average) - 50°C
Highest Temp On A Full Load 100% Burn 30 minutes - 58°C
So far, this cooler is the coolest we have tested to date. To see how it outperformed the competitors, take a look at the graph pictures and the video.
Fans on Full Testing
Avg Temp Idle Full Speed Fans 30 mins - 28°C
Avg Temp Full Load 100% Burn 30 mins - 48°C
Highest Temp Full Load 100% 30 mins - 56°
Again, it outperformed its competitors by leaps and bounds. I’m amazed and thrilled at the results.
Final Thoughts:
They nailed it! Whomever is behind the design of this has job security for life. Arctic are well known for great products. But if I am honest, I never expected THIS! It takes a lot to wow me, but it happened with this review. It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen...literally. I’m speechless.
Pros and Cons:
Pros
Tidy Cables
Only one cable to connect
Pre Assembled
Mini Fan on the block
Braided Tubes
PFans
Less paperwork than in most things
Thermal paste included
No need for splitters
Attractive without the use of RGB
Cools better than any cooler we have tested to date
Logo on the cooler block and radiator
Easy to build with
Time saver (pre-assembly of fans)
Great value for money
Cons
The tubes are a bit stiff
The water block is a bit big
And on that bombshell we are giving this the TFT BUILDER’S CHOICE AWARD for an excellent product. Well done!
