Best CPU Coolers Deathmatch: Arctic 360 vs. EK AIO 360 Liquid Coolers for AMD Ryzen

[@GamersNexus]

Watch our review of the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYHEhHh9mpuAgpI Watch our review of the EK AIO 360 & 240: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZOygaaupqqAqJY Our CPU cooler review methodology is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ63gH2GabCCr80 Or written form here: www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3561-cpu-cooler-testing-methodology-most-tests-are-flawed Support GN directly and get something in return: Our GamersNexus Wireframe Mouse Mat is a 36" x 12" (91 x 30cm) smooth mousing surface with a blue rubber underside, blue border stitching to prevent fraying, and PC components in 3D wireframe layout. We spent ten months perfecting the quality of these and have them on back-order now: store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-wireframe-mouse-mat

[@OIFIIIOIF-VET]

Love my Arctic Freezer II 360.

[@xSabinx1]

How much do fans affect the results? If I put a pair of Arctic P12s on an X62/63 the noise would be closer to the liquid freezer II?

[@half_empty_soul6534]

Thank you for your time an effort you put into this review!!! I was thinking to buy Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 but when I found out about 2 things - Arctic pre-installing fans for a push-out mount so if you want to have it at the front intake you have to 1st disconnect and unscrew all the fans and as a final nail to the coffin a limited 2 years warranty (it screams LOW QUALITY) when EK is giving 5 years of warranty, sorry but EK AIO 360 is a clear winner of this comparison

[@qzxyst6946]

i hope to see an msi coreliquid review 🙂

[@winha1435]

@@xSabinx1 I chanced my corsair aio fans to arctic Pseries and they did improve thermals and noise in my case, they also mounted to rad leaving no openings on the sides. Im happy whit the chance.

[@ARCTIChannel]

Thank you so much for your time an effort you put into this review! The crown is retrieved (on a technical point but nonetheless retrieved 😊)

[@yousportshd6058]

Excellent product, just some suggestions : 1. Better fans 2. A bigger vrm fan 3.A drain exit for refilling the liquid easier (the most important feature to improve) My best wishes, keep it up and follow the good work 🙏😉

[@ninja36inc]

@@yousportshd6058 its probably got a port for filling/draining they hide them on the rads normally on the end

[@yousportshd6058]

@@ninja36inc No, it doesn't have any. Steve did a tear down of this AIO and it was missing 😕

[@ninja36inc]

@@yousportshd6058 his was a sample i believe

[@yousportshd6058]

@@ninja36inc I have one bro (360mm), and It would be really nice to have a drain port 😋

[@custardstuff5178]

Arctic seem to genuinely give a crap about improving, it's such a refreshing company to deal with.

[@custardstuff5178]

@@stevenlockhart9255 ah crap, thanks

[@myownsite]

Those Arctic fans are excellent and cheap - I added them to my EVGA CLC 280 which made it pretty good. But later swapped it to an NH-D15 since I appreciate the reliable tech.

[@-eMpTy-]

Love the P12 and P14 PWM. Can be used as radiator and case fans, very budget friendly and a warranty of 6 years.

[@quirinaled2752]

I'm waiting on delivery of a value pack of Arctic fans atm. A friend used them in a Pure Base 500 (same case as mine) and they're definitely better than the stock BeQuiets. Ridiculously good value as well.

[@user-dibribhsvj36d]

@Martin M actually 5x P12 for price of one A12x25. 5pack is $30

[@VincentAndre_HK]

Thanks Steve!! No better way to start the work week than by having our product reclaiming the top of your chart :).

[@jvleon1399]

planning to buy arctic 360 😊

[@ORBrunner]

I guess when engineers start to compete with each other it is always a win-win situation Two good AIO - all winners. And in the end the consumer is also a winner. It is rare sign when you see very good designed from technical side AIOs today And never the choice between two products was so difficult. If you don't want RGB - Arctic is your buddy. IF you want RGB stuff - EK AIO is a partner for your build. Awesome test and analysis, guys. Have a good time!

[@VentureNW]

That pump RGB is ugly though

[@SULFURIOUS]

@@VentureNW i like it, white rgb inside or purple/red/green looks awesome. You need to see it in real. Btw Arctic has to improve warranty, its his biggest flaw.

[@HoangDucNuyen]

50% more expensive for RGB and 3 more years warrantty on EK

[@hi_tech_reptiles]

@@SULFURIOUS how long is the arctic warranty? 2 years? I doubt leaking would be an issue after that, only cooler failure via pump or permeation and it is cheaper by a lot (at least the 280mm was, 360mm obviously less so). It def can be refilled at least, but 2ish years for cheaper but just as quality AIO imo is a good deal regardless. Also, i agree about the pump i like it on the ek unit as far as argb pumps go. It does look a little clouded plastic Tupperware tho haha

[@SULFURIOUS]

@@hi_tech_reptiles leaking isnt the issue. Its very hard to get one. The pump is. I have seen many dead asetek pumps and cooler master ones, just after 2y of usage, i wouldnt trust any manufacturer and 5y is a must for AiO for me.

[@LinkStorm13]

Arctic: "Finally a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary!"

[@simoSLJ89]

King Dragon sends his regards

[@Keiuran]

@@simoSLJ89 Thought this was a Kung Fu Panda reference, not King Dragon saga reference lol

[@simoSLJ89]

@@Keiuran Ahah I know but I couldn't read it without ProZD voice :D

[@Thorkhofal]

No this is a Madara reference.

[@user-sp2ig9vv8m]

@@Thorkhofal no, this is a Goku reference xd

[@isuruabc100]

Was just about to comment on the best case comparison video for a best AIO comparison

[@toccoa]

I hope so, but is this really a best AIO comparison though? The "best case comparison video" seemed to not be about the best case but rather best case under $200. If you have a $750 cpu and a [sigh] $1200 video card, then I am not as sure about sacrificing quality/features to save a nickle or dime a day over the life of the build.

[@nukedathlonman]

Love the "grudge" match. :-) Both EK and Arctic should be proud of these products. :-)

[@Operational117]

Indeed. It’s essentially a draw at noise-normalized performance.

[@GamersGuard]

Which one give best temps in highest load MSI 360R or Arctic 360 freezer 2?

[@vigilant_1934]

@@GamersGuard Come on. Do you MSI at the top of the charts? And what load? 100 watts? 150 watts? 250 watts? Be specific.

[@victorx4648]

Using Arctic Liquid Freezer 360 for almost 3 years already. Amazing piece of engineering. Worth every penny. Arctic supplied me with AM4 mounting mechanism for free too. I just had to send them the picture of the AIO box and the receipt.

[@JE-zl6uy]

I will still consider the Arctic Liquid Freezer II to be my best and favorite AIO for ITX and SFF builds... Because it has one cable to "Manage" and that's a Godsend.

[@TheNonXtreme]

I don't think so. The thick radiator and stiff non-rotatable tube that come out directly on top of the pump block make Liquid Freezer II incompatible/difficult with the majority of SFF cases.

[@renome986]

​@@TheNonXtreme nonsense...tube are very flexed and can be managed very well.

[@johnbuscher]

Renome But still, with the connectors taken into account, that’s at least about 70mm tall, and then you have to work in the tubing that needs to get bent. Vs the EK AIO and others only going to about 50mm tall.

[@bananya6020]

@@TheNonXtreme yeah i wish it'd fit in the sg13

[@thirtyacres7504]

"Consumers not using reviews properly." Call 'em out, Gamers Nexus! Truth. Thank you for all the energy and effort that you put in these reviews that make our lives easier.

[@Malkoth]

"That's not how noise works.." I know exactly what emotions went into that statement.

[@Vengir]

This was not the issue with not understanding how the noise works. That guy simply has unreasonable expectations. To him the fans in Scythe Mugen 3 are too loud even at lowest RPM, and bequiet's Silent Wings are getting loud at 500RPM. Also, his favourite GPUs are passively cooled 75W ones.

[@richardmethot7195]

he was challenged and took it to heart.... the reviewer should probably have a cup of tea and maybe go for a walk.

[@Aggredior]

I watched your Arctic 280mm video and i bought Arctic 360mm and then you released this video. :) NEVER disappointed!

[@DavidEsotica]

No idea why I'm watching this as I'm a committed air cooler user.. I just love watching GN videos

[@hi_tech_reptiles]

Lol no reason not to learn, you always do from GN. If nothing else, at least about products you can reccomend or discuss!

[@SomeOneOneOne]

I just wanted to see how they compare to air coolers... aaannnd theyre not worth it vs noctua😂

[@Diviance]

@@SomeOneOneOne 8c difference at similar noise levels with a similar price is... pretty worth it.

[@forgofm7105]

@@SomeOneOneOne Well, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 costs around the same as the D15, and it performs much better, which is probably worth it. It also is not as beefy and ugly.

[@innaig86]

Better performance now when the aio is new, but it can maintain the same gap over years (evaporation, corrosion like the enermax liqtech, etc..)? And what's the fault rate of pumps? Air cooler are more reliable. Yes, it doesn't fit all cases, but neither the 360 rad. Yes, it doesn't have RGB and for someone this is a selling point. Yes, it's BIG and covers rams and someone can like a smaller cooler. At the end, it's personal preference considering personal factors.

[@critical_unknown]

I bought the EK DRGB 360 last week, very happy with the results.

[@critical_unknown]

@Uprise no change at all, I wouldn't mind the Elite version.

[@critical_unknown]

@Uprise no worries 👍

[@diegoballesteros9199]

Bro, was watting for this one for sooo long!

[@coredumperror]

I love that Arctic's own marketing copy for the Liquid Freezer II links directly to this video. Shows just how good GN is at making quality content.

[@FinaISpartan]

Im glad after years of stagnation we finally have high performance cases and high performance coolers. It took way too long to get here.

[@audiophizile13]

The case part is the bigger surprise to me. Fine mesh front panels... How did this take so long to become "mainstream"?!?!

[@rtyzxc]

@@audiophizile13 The cases with solid closed up front were stupid for sure, but those "ultra fine meshes" of recent cases probably aren't going to filter a speck of dust. It sure looks nice when no dust gets trapped in the front but it means that everything is going through.

[@jaalan7896]

@@rtyzxc It does trap some dust for sure. Mine isnt even as fine as some and it catches a ton of dust. I also get a decent ammount inside the PC, but its stored on the floor (carpet). But the mesh does work in some sense.

[@audiophizile13]

@@jaalan7896 no amount or density of mesh should make you neglect cleaning things up regularly. I have cats and it definitely keeps almost all of the fur out which by itself is a huge up side.

[@bloodyzbub6213]

The “Batmobile” does make a difference with my entry level Asus Z270-P mobo....and aesthetically pleasing to boot. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder broski. ALF II 240mm keeps my 6700k (4.8Ghz) nice and cool. Great vid!!

[@christopherwood2290]

17:54. That it has taken this long to design pump/block combinations that sidestep the Asetek patents is just mind blowing.

[@Magmafire]

I personally like when a company like Arctic owns up to their short falls and states they'll do better. It also helps that their product performs well.

[@BeckOfficial]

From a technical POV I'd love to see these reviews with the same fans mountet on all the coolers. Just to test the actual cooling capabilities of the loop itself (pump, radiator, cooler head etc.) I always change the fans to noctua on the AIO's I get, so it would be something I'm interested in at least.

[@StefanEtienneTheVerrgeRep]

I'm personally offended by the lack of Anti Static bracelets not being worn in this video. I was waiting for one of the computers to explode in static fire. Be safe brah.

[@instantkarma1978]

I know, right! He's not fighting static or cancer!

[@potatomaaan1757]

@@instantkarma1978 I was about to comment the same thing lol

[@shaneeslick]

but all Anti-Static bracelets at G/N were 'Not being worn' during this video, so why are you offended, 🤔 Maybe you are offended by the lack of an Anti Static bracelet being worn in this video.

[@phlixcarbon]

The Matt they use is anti static iirc so should be fine

[@MrBonger88]

Don’t worry. He has it on his ankle

[@SeeTheWholeTruth]

The Noise issue, thanks for explaining, and enduring your students to bring it to full awareness. Didnt know that much til you brought fourth the methodology and issue.

[@ravenshrike]

"Maybe that issue will be resolved" In which tech jesus underestimates his influence.

[@kevinellis4002]

Steve why must you upload at 3 AM? I was considering sleep! Guess I'll just watch another one of your solid videos instead.

[@Saaurier]

Unfortunately time zones exist

[@kevinellis4002]

@@robotslug Sleep is overrated anyway.

[@SweatyFeetGirl]

10 am here lol

[@smartgorilla]

For us UK guys for Sunday mass

[@WarisAmirMohammad]

it's ok to not watch everything immediately

[@titaniummechanism3214]

Now someone has to make a competetive 420 CLC again! This arms race is getting exciting!

[@BossManSays]

Arctic makes a 420

[@titaniummechanism3214]

@@BossManSays Yeah, they do now.

[@jean-paulpitman2172]

This is awesome!! Most anticipated video this year. Gamers Nexus deliver again. Thank you for the work you and the entire team do. The happiest of patrons right here.

[@Reevos]

Just an FYI if you don't want the RGB, EK also offers the same model 360 without the colors for about 40USD less at 119. Seems like a no brainer at that price.

[@wadadli4sun]

The 280/360 became widely available 3 weeks ago in Europe. Had my 280 delivered (£80), but unfortunately my ROG Strix x470i Gaming developed a fault 🙁 Looking forward to testing it in my SFF.

[@406mill]

Got my 360 this week as well, was £97+ shipping UK. As good as it is, it has made me appreciate how good my H110i GT Extreme 280 actually is. 360 gave me a 3c drop in temp.

[@SomeOneOneOne]

Whats the isssue with your board!?

[@neonlights_12]

They've come back in stock in the US as well, on Newegg at least

[@wadadli4sun]

@@SomeOneOneOne Upgraded from 2700x to 3900x. When stress testing at steady 90°C/vrm 100°C, I got a few flashes of "Power surge on USB port." Later after restart I got "USB device over current status detected!! System will shut down in 15 seconds". I've narrowed it to one of the rear I/O dual USB port, checked and cleaned. Still no better :-(

[@SomeOneOneOne]

@@wadadli4sun hmm interesting.. this only occures at high temps!? 100° is pretty toasty.. maybe the iO shield touches something?

[@yooz111]

Arctic has some great quality products for its price range, especially the thermal paste and pads

[@elegyking]

My current build is anti-RGB as its in my bedroom. Looking forward to the arctic 360 release. Thanks so much for the content. Can’t think of an entity I trust more. Keep up the good work!

[@theviewer1423]

So basically the Batmobile vs. Some multicolored hippie van from the 70's when they were high on weed

[@heroinwithease]

Probably a acid van mate all those colours

[@yiims]

the Batmobile vs. the Mystery Machine

[@wixy6638]

@@yiims that’s perfect😂

[@someoneelse7629]

I'm all for function over form/design/RGB, but if there is no preformance difference, or price, I would actually go for the unicorn vomit, you can always turn it off, and that is probably the way it would sit here. But if you don't have it, you can't turn it on that one time you want to show off. Problem is, you got to go either way, only having RGB on one component is just sad, I would never turn on RGB if I only had it on the memory, or one fan...

[@praetorxyn]

@@someoneelse7629 I like the RGB just because I always pick a single accent color (no pattern, no unicorn vomit), and RGB lets me change the accent color of my build whenever I feel like it.

[@timothymaggenti717]

I just bought one based on at least 3 of your videos. I truly thank you for doing these videos and tests. It helps us part time builders a lot. I personally build a new system only when I need one...

[@MissedMessages]

P12 or p14 from Arctic, 5 static fan, pwm from 20 to 100%, 1800rpm (1700 the 140mm), all daisy chainable. A pack of 5 for 25-30€. No one is talking enough about them. I have 17 of them push pull in my system, at 33% fixed 600rpm. System under 18dba. The same amount of fan from Corsair/ek/noctua would have cost me 400$+ instead of 100$ for the same performances

[@boiler195]

I have P12s on this 360 cooler (and had another 2 under my gpu for a bit in a pci slot) and P14s in my case right now (P600s). The P12s unfortunately have a VERY annoying whine at ranges 1170-1190 RPM as well as 1400-1500 RPM that you have to work around in your fan curve. People gush over them but I have barely seen this mentioned. P14s seem to be fine until 100% and I'm very happy with them.

[@cl4ster17]

@@boiler195 Why would you run them above 1000 RPM in the first place?

[@boiler195]

@@cl4ster17 Tested them through their full range when I first got them. Also when I was playing around with different RPMs when I had them installed in that pci slot that I mentioned to see how effective it would be at cooling the GPU - It wasn't worth it in the end.

[@FerralVideo]

Don't underestimate the F12/F14 airflow case fans either. They don't have the static pressure, but are quiet and very affordable. I haven't put my P12s into service yet, but dry-run on my desk finds it quiet and reliable with competent airflow.

[@parlmc]

the sheer value of any of your video is incredible!!! don't need any but i'll definitely visit your store/patreon to support your work. you took me too many times out of the (metaphorical) mud to not pay you back

[@parthkachhara9824]

Yesssssss finalllllyyyyyyyy the video I was waiting for

[@shaneeslick]

G'day Steve, It is so cool when the Bully gets outsmarted, Asetek & their 'Do everything to stop competition' attitude has led others to better performing deigns, I really like the look of the Arctic Liquid Freezer II, I wish we had Artic products available at our Large Tech Retailers here in Australia 😧 I like EK's Custom Cooling Lines But like you think the AIO Pump looks Gaudy, looks similar to their Velocity Line would have been much better.

[@DarrenKrusi]

First site I've seen with Aussie pricing. www.ozgameshop.com/pc-hardware/arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-280mm-liquid-cpu-cooler-pwm-fan-and-pwm-controlled-pump

[@mattfarrar5472]

Thank god, as I just ordered a EK AIO 360 2 days ago...

[@Handsx]

Surface Flatness Testing..Some Next-Gen reviewing. Keep up the great work!

[@neomathew]

Will you be reviewing the deepcool castle 360ex??

[@iMartyification]

Deepcool castle 360ex, Cougar Aqua 360 & Cougar Helor 360

[@wouldntyaliktono]

Might be a fun exercise to take cooler performance readings at a range of noise levels and put them in an xy scatter plot. The slope of the line formed by these points will tell you a bit about the static pressure performance of fans and coolers. It might also help us better understand the relationship between noise and cooling efficiency for different devices.

[@kaisersolo76]

Steve, The Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 has been out the same time as the 280 and 240 versions, so this isn't there reply, this cooler existed before the EK cooler. It's better and its a third of the price. Please Review the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 Version.

[@kaisersolo76]

@@deminybs I believe YOU need to watch the start of the video and understand that I have had the 360 version since before Xmas. the 360 version came out when they originally released. Steve has dressed this up at the start of this video, as Arctics "reply", when it's not. Arctic had released all models at the same time months ago. Before EK had even make their 360 model in this video.

[@joshuawaterhousify]

@@kaisersolo76 At no point does he say the 360 is a new AIO in their product stack. Having gone back and listened to the intro again I can see how it can be taken that way, but it's not actually said. I took it as his way of saying 'let's put your matched SKU against the one thing that beat your 280 and see if you did still have the crown' or something. The fun of inferred and implicit meanings rather than specified and directed meanings.

[@ivot1761]

I really like your in-depth scientific reviews! They are very informative and interesting! Thank you!

[@ewenchan1239]

In the first chart, you need to change delta(t) to delta(T). Lowercase t is for time, by convention. Uppercase T is for temperature.

[@xhayame]

Tried to get the 360mm Liquid Freezer II earlier this year but there was a stock count error and it didn't go through, tried picking up the EK AIO 360 after that and they also had manufacturing issues. Recently bit the bullet and tried for the liquid freezer II once again except with a $40 markup and I don't regret it at all. Install was clean, no mounting issues or stupid amounts of cables like my old corsair h100i pro rgb had, and finally off iCue software. My brother also picked one up as well and gave me his stock fans since he wanted some rgb for his; I could do push/pull but I don't even feel like I need to run push/pull on this 3950x even with power limits through the roof. Arctic makes some pretty good stuff and they're support is also on point.

[@Diviance]

Other AIO manufacturers need to learn from Arctic and let people use their motherboard to control the fans with whatever software they want. Don't worry, NZXT, I am not going to name names.

[@Clonefire.]

And with the big caveat of availability. I really wanted the arctic 360 cooler, but after months of waiting I gave up.

[@iron-gamerstv]

Same here. I finally just opted for the Deepcool 360ex white.

[@Clonefire.]

I went for the Fractal Celsius S36 Blackout. Being LED free was the big thing for me. Noctua nf f12 2000rpm fans make up for any cooling deficiencies.

[@3isr3g3n]

Been driving my Arctic 360 for two years straight. Thing's great. No bad gaskets because i bought early batch thanks to you reviews. Their tech support was excellent, to the extent that a technician got a cooler to re-measure some things for me over the phone- just to check if it'd fit my P500 case. Great company, really glad i went with them.

[@WTP_DAVE]

Im still much less worried about ~10% variance in CLC performance and much more worried about these coolers that have not been out for 3+ years to have corrosion data for us

[@gmaxsfoodfitness3035]

Arctic has been around for like 20 years I think and they've had liquid coolers for probably over a decade. This is their second line of the Liquid Freezer series and the first line originally came out nearly 10 years ago at this point. Not sure exactly when but someone in a comment mentioned having the first Liquid Freezer AIO back in like 2013. They have tons of data and thousands of hoours of testing at this point and now in August of 2022 I still haven't heard any issues whatsover about corrosion or about the pump. They use high quality tubing, not the cheap stuff that cracks over time. Gamers Nexus talked about the quality when Steve did the tear down back in 2019.

[@rofljohn23]

Just here to say that your use of errorbars and understanding that x degree difference between two doesn’t really matter if the errorbars overlap makes me rock hard! Keep up the great work!

[@skangerskagz5926]

Would like to see a Fractal celsius+ S24/28/36 review!

[@dylanandersen9318]

or that new InWin cooler that has the weird CPU block

[@tmass1]

it's weird. when you try to google about which AIOs are quietest and perform well, you find a lot of people pointing towards corsair. this says otherwise. I trust this because it has actual numbers.

[@pigsarehairy]

can someone make a chart topping aio without looking like crap? honestly just a black cube for the block would look better in either case

[@JeremyArchie]

You read my mind...there's no way I'm putting that anywhere near my CPU. I don't care HOW good it performs, but that's just me. I'm currently using a Enermax LIQFusion 360mm. There's few AIOs with a better looking CPU block. Performance is great too. Keeps my 3700x (at 4.3 GHz) at 39C idle, and 75C max load.

[@smoketinytom]

It's a great sign that the manufacturers email in after they've been top trumped. It's nice that they'll take things back and go through with making it better.

[@troyn14]

for the price of the ek you can get a artic 360 and x3 noctua nf-a 12 fans and then probs outperform the ek in temp and noise :D

[@Raivo_K]

They already come with top of the line fans. Especially the 140mm version used on the 280mm AIO is believe is very impressive: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKeUhGyInaZ1l5o

[@cl4ster17]

Not only are Arcitc's P12 and P14 among the best fans on the market. They are also dirt cheap. A 5-pack of Arctic P12 is available for 25€ (in Germany). That is cheaper than a single NF-A12x25.

[@sirius4k]

@@cl4ster17 Meanwhile Corsair: But, but... RGB?! Buy now!

[@Snafu2346]

Of all the techtubers, in North America,I think you're the only one that uploads at 3:00am.

[@Akubabu]

I generally agree with the methodology used in your reviews but I think there is one aspect of noise that is lacking. Namely the lowest possible noise level you can expect at idle (or near idle) temperatures. The tests normalizing temperatures at 35dBA does not necessarily cover that. I am interested in the lowest possible noise level while the temperatures remain within acceptable range. I would argue that this is the critical aspect when talking about noise levels. For me at least I care less about the noise when I have something heavy running on my PC and care more about the PC being completely silent when for instance just using a web browser. I recently installed a Arctic Liquid Freezer II and while I am happy with the performance I think it is too loud at idle temperatures no matter how I set the RPM/temperature curve. I am not entirely sure but I think the noise is coming from the pump and it gets even louder when its running very slowly. My old air cooler was practically inaudible at idle temperatures. I would like to see a test where you measure the lowest possible noise level while maintaining acceptable temperatures (that does not compromise life span) together with qualitative evaluation about the nature of the sound.

[@helmholtzthemulewatson4763]

I feel were your coming from 35 dba seems pretty load but that's 35 dba at 20 inches distance on a test bench. That said there prolly isnt a significant difference at idle for noise. Basically any 360 rad with decent fans can run idle or near idles loads with fan speed that are inaudible. Also I dont think your pump should not be audible at all. You prolly have bad mounting/paste job or your running your fan speed to low. Yes to low is a thing.

[@GamersNexus]

Lowest possible while idle is irrelevant. They're all going to be the same.

[@Akubabu]

@@GamersNexus They're going to be the same as in all set to 0 rpm?

[@Akubabu]

@@helmholtzthemulewatson4763 I've tried different settings and I've found the most quiet setting which I don't find quiet enough. The temperatures look fine so the mounting is OK.

[@slaytan1cforrest]

I'm using the arctic liquid freezer II 360 on my R9 3900x build. Great cooling while being fairly quiet. The only problem I've had is the vrm fan has never worked, this doesn't bother me much as I have good air flow anyway. Overall a great cooler and of course as always a great review.

[@FastTouge]

Hey Steve, could you please make a review about Lian Li Galahad AIO 360? Thanks!

[@DeadpuII]

Literally waiting for a review of it, so I can decide whether I will upgrade to the Lian Li one or the Arctic.

[@thorscape3879]

It'd be cool to have an interview or deep dive in how sound/noise works. Would be helpful for the future and a good point of reference to use for future reviews.

[@Zosu22]

God my sleep schedule is so unhealthy

[@notpublic7149]

Awesome video, thanks for doing the research and sourcing the hardware. Cheers.

[@notpublic7149]

Omg lol 6:45 ... dbspl sound weighting, inverse Square law.. you threw the book.

[@biscuit715]

I don't understand how people can claim air is the same performance as AIOs when there is an 8 degree advantage. That's not insignificant.

[@tcclaviger]

Air-cooling fanatics are like religious diehards, facts don't matter "but mAh NHDSX15++ can do just as good", meanwhile 8c difference lol.

[@chippsterstephens6800]

Got a ek 360 in all white , sitting at home , can’t wait to get it installed on my days off, have not seen a review yet of that one on KZbin, both aio’s, are top shelf units, only one is now available in white, all mounting hardware is in the real production run, packaging is on the level of Apple.

[@damian9070]

Been waiting for this video for a while!

[@ComettYT]

The price to performance on this item is just unreal, I'm new to pc building and I havn't found many items that are both good in price and good in performance, and this Artic cooler is just at the top of the chart right now, best "globally" performing cooler while costing (where I am) in some cases even half of their competitors ! ! ! I think I'm gonna buy one 100% for the pc I'm upgrading to! Thanks for the video!

[@brosifstalin415]

I just bought the RGB liquid 2... Shows up tomorrow. Can't wait, first water cooling device I've ever bought

[@watercannonscollaboration2281]

Coming back here 3 years later and where Steve can say in the 6:07 section: we have our own testing chamber now

[@406mill]

Just an FYI. If your case support a 360mm AIO make sure it has around 400mm of space for this cooler as i had 3 ATX cases here that support 360's and not one of them fit the Arctic 360 as it's 397mm long. Please bare this in mind. I eventually got it in the front of my S300 TG but i had to flip the HDD cage on it's side.

[@Jori002]

Hello Steve, if I may call you that. I know its a year since you've made this video and the other one: EK Wb vs. Arctic... but this is relevant to me now. Let me explain. Im having a setup built (its a warranty thing why i dont build it my self) and i did my research on coolers and ended up picking the Arctic liquid freezer 280 RGB. My case is the 5000D air flow and mobo is gigabyte z690 gaming X. One day the shop called me and said that i have to pick another cooler because the radiator on the arctic hits the mobo. And they wanted me to do it right there on the phone so they can continue the build. Well after going thru some coolers i picked the EK-WB EK AIO 280 D-rgb. After i got home i started to look trough the youtube videos to find reviews and was happy to find that you had made some (I watch plenty of your videos). I was happy also to find that i had made the right decision in picking the EK aio as replacement. But my question here is that you have comparisons of arctics 240, 280 and 360 models, but not EK's 280 model. Could you please do a comparison/review of the EK AIO 280 D-RGB, maby compare it to the arctics 280? Thank you

[@acidutzuh]

Great video! I was wondering if I should get the Arctic 280 or 360 for my new rig, but now I know that I should go with the 360 :)

[@ozoak]

Nearly a year on, still a super-helpful comparison. A lot of the time in the past with air coolers I switch packaged fans for Noctuas - assume it would make the same impact on AIO's.

[@gmaxsfoodfitness3035]

For the record the Arctic P12s and P14s are some of the best on the market for use on radiators, air coolers, and cases. I had Noctua premium and Redux fans and switched them out for some P12s that were half the price of the Redux and nearly a quarter the price of the premium fan. No difference in thermals or noise. Sure the Noctuas were machined a bit better as I noticed the blades were smoother but other than that aesthetic there was no other difference besides the price lol.

[@justinsugay1149]

Just ordered the Arctic 420mm for my Fractal Torrent; can't wait to see how that performs. My rig is already pretty quiet. This should be awesome!

[@TechLevelUpOfficial]

owhhh finally a proper review on the Freezer II 360 yessssss

[@sp-xx8ty]

Arctic keep doing what you're doing, I always recommend your fans to my budget minded friends and noctuas to my money is no object ones. That's saying something and people I feel are really starting to notice your products more and more.

[@Diviance]

Their fans are some of the best bang for buck fans I have ever seen and their AIO line now is amazing. I recommend them as well. Especially the fans, if someone doesn't need/want RGB. And even if they do want it.

[@zig131]

Noctua's 120mm fans are good but the NF-A14 is worse than the Arctic P14 overall in all applications (case, cooler & radiator)*. Noctua's 200mm fans are also not that impressive considering cost & size. *Source: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKeUhGyInaZ1l5o

[@mo0rd]

My EK AIO 360's pump just died and split the plastic casing for some reason. Leaked all over my 4090. Only had it for around 2 years too.

[@The_Chad_]

DAMNIT GN! Hush up about Arctic. I've known just how good Arctic's fans and coolers were for a while now and I always put them in my builds(I build A LOT of computers). Since GN and now other outlets have been talking about how good their products are, they're always out of stock. I never had a problem getting any of their products within 2 day, now I'm waiting weeks. Right at this moment I'm waiting until the end of the month to get a LF II 280, 240, and a bunch of Bionix fans. Luckily I was able to get a LF II 120 fairly quickly recently. I'm afraid they will start raising their prices with so much glowing coverage around them and high demand lately. Honestly, I am pretty happy that Arctic is getting the credit they deserve finally, but it was nice when they were my secret weapon in my builds.

[@John__K]

Nothing like starting your weekend with a GN video!

[@zachlynn276]

I’m new to the pc building world I thought 35 dB was low as well until you explained it’s a relative statistic measured at a certain distance and environment I’m glad you keep these so test so accurate awesome channel nice video

[@MaxPower-zp7wy]

Where is the Intel AIO Test ? Are any of these AIO worth having over my Noctua U12A cooler ? Say for a 9700K at 5GHz or a 10850K at 5.2GHz ?

[@Leonsimages]

Liquid Freezer II is 80€ for the 280 variant and 90€ for the 360 in Germany... that's a pretty amazing price for the performance.

[@nemtudom5074]

Assuming that was what Arctic said to GN, thats a surprisingly humble response, and, i honestly like it. Their last few air coolers caught my eye earlier and now im considering buying one for my next rig

[@OOZ662]

Been waiting for Arctics to reappear on the non-scalper market since I saw the previous review weeks ago. The 280 would fit my case okay but lopsided so I have my eyes set on the 360...someday, when the disease of the year chills out.

[@miketestani9707]

Great work Steve. IDK if you will see this or not but I noticed people lately have been running into CLC hose length problems on install with there case because different manufactures have different length hoses and was wondering if you can from now on try and include the hose length of all the CLC's you test. Thanks man love your work keep it up.

[@Bobzillaaaful]

i know it would be WAY too much testing but i think it would be interesting to mix and match fans and the aio's and see the performance then just to see what the best fan is on the what the best aio is.

[@georgeindestructible]

Arctic's response was very good, from my experience as well, they are good and responsible people.

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

The deathmatch we need is between the cases that can actually fit the Arctic LC II (in all sizes) in top-mount. *Without* the use of power tools and C4! 😭The issue is where they mount the mobos such the memory or various other protrusions get in the way.

[@GamesStudioTwo]

The 3 Hand thing installing the Liquid Freezer II, was because you have undone all 4 screws and the backplate fell off. You should have done it only 2 at a time, then it would have been held on by 2 screws. I just installed it on an MSI MAG X570S CARBON MAX Wi-Fi was simple enough just done it left side, then right side backplate did not fall off simple to install, BTW, thanks your reviews are great I'm building a new system for compiling c++, Went with the MSI X570S CARBON MAX Wi-Fi, AMD 5950x, Kingston 64Gb HyperX Predator, Because it was dirt cheap flee bay £100 same kit new was £360 when I looked it up bargain, Liquid Freezer II, WD Black 500 GB SN850 NVMe Gen 4, keeping my old 980ti EVGA closed loop water-cooled, thank you so much as some of this is bought because of your reviews, Great channel and love the content. Btw old rig was, Intel 4770k was always looking to go AMD and there's no better time as i'm not understanding the E-core and P-core and non compatibility with games and software thing. But you cannot beat that i5, 12600k value, it's been so tempting. Again, many many thanks for your input.

[@Insomn]

This is the cooler that I ordered before your 280 review dropped. No complaints and I've been using it since march. As much as I love your testing methodology I have to still wonder if you should create a new test, which is how most consumers will use the coolers: Hook it up, no extra settings or adjustments. All stock fan curves and whatnot. Some people might want the best performing cooler as it stands straight out of the box. One other request is that you review the CRYORIG A40 Hybrid Liquid Cooler, as I was almost going to buy it before the liquid freezer II, and it would surely top the VRM cooling chart and even the playing field a bit.

[@narcoleptic-insomniac4663]

I am a one man operation and typically work with Ryzen and Nvidia for the $500-$800 range of builds. I work full time and lately have been moving away from the used market and more towards new/warrantied used for most of my parts. Anytime I have a Ryzen 3600 I immediately banish the stock fan to my “poor performing heatsinks box” . Then I use either the Arctics 33 esports ($20-$29) for mildly overclocked systems/non enthusiast client. For the 2700x-3800x I use Arctics 34 Duo (I buy when on sale/ugly color fans to save the $20. Price point is $40-$45. $60+ for there specialty colors i am no longer in the “budget” realm. Which kills my roi) The 34 duo allows for some seriously affordable overclocking on air. Most of my clients are people I work with directly and have yet to have a failure of any kind with these. None of this was needed for my actual question, just wanted to shout Arctic out for there amazing products. I just replaced my Lian Li lancool 2 (non-mesh) with the Phanteks p600s. The Evga 360mm clc is mounted as my top exhaust, for intakes/back exhaust I am just using the stock 140mm Phanteks fans. My setup is a 3800x on the b550 strix WiFi, with pbo enabled. The clc is as noted in this video fucking loud. Am I better off selling it and buying a new 360mm aio or replacing Evga’s fans? If I do replace the fans I want to still be able to plug it into the clc’s dedicated fan plugs. What should I be looking at in terms of max rpm to keep the same cooling performance?!

[@Alexik586]

Bought the arctic 240 version because of your review. Now my ryzen runs cool and silent. Very happy with my purchase. 1600 oc to 3.9 on an aorus x470 gaming ultra. And the tiny vrm fan actually works in my case because of the not so great motherboard vrm.

[@jpthsd]

Yes! I've been using Motherboard chasis fan port to control the radiator fan since 2010 :) !!!

[@Obantrash]

Any chance for a Fan chart in the future? It would be andy to know to what extent each manufacturer stock fans make a difference in the end Benchmark. I'm really curious to know how would perfom the Arctic 360 with let's say, a set of NF-A12s or NF-F12s. Thermal testing feels kidna incomplete without fan data, but hey, that probably just me ;) Atleast, you know what you get straight out of the box, and i'm sure it's your target

[@jh77sly]

db floor in my house is typically around 40db during the day and 55-60db when the laundry is being done. At night that all drops to about 30db if the AC is not currently running and computers are off. This is using my dB meter (one of those cheap ones from Amazon) to measure ambient noise at my desk. So +/- 2dB and grains of salt suggested. Your mileage may vary. Also... DEAFENING would be 70+ dB. And yes, I have used such CPU fans before (4500 RPM max 80mm top down back in the K6 days).

[@QactisX]

I got a 240 freezer ii for Ryzen 3600 before you got your review out and yeah installing it was REALLY hard. I had to get my wife to come over and pin it down while I screwed it in due to the bends in the hosing causing the unit wanting to move. It slipped twice after I had smoothed out a layer of Hydronaut, and I had to tell her to come back in 5 minutes after I had fixed the jabs the cold plate cut in the layer of grease. A word of advice to anyone buying one for AMD, DO NOT INSTALL THE RADIATOR BEFORE THE PUMP. Despite all this it was a purchase that I don't regret for a second and it blows my previous H100i out of the water (no pun intended) so while Arctic made the worst mounting bracket of all time for AMD, the thermals are unreal. I lost one of the AMD mounting screws after one of my reseatings and after a couple emails with Arctic letting them know which one it was they sent me 4 of them with expedited shipping for free no questions asked. Awesome!

[@NeoInGame]

Love Arctic! Recently got my 120mm case fans to replace old ones (mix of coolermaster, corsair & silentium). Now its dead silent and cools better.

[@b0bst3r]

In the UK the Arctic freezer II 360 is available on Amazon for £109.95, the Arctic Freezer II 280 at £90.99. The EK AIO 360 is about £135, so both have superb performance at also a superb price. I sound like a salesman but Steve failed to tell us the price of the EK.

[@CharlieVeve]

Hi, I have Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 on r5 3600. In idle 30-35°C, in max load 64-67°C. With stock cooler, the max temps were around 85-90°C. It costs only 75€. I don't care about noise, or if its loud. My PC is for gaming. I am using headphones. If you want quiet system, put your PC to fridge😀. Arctic is very good for its money. All vents in my pc case are Arctic p12 pwm. I wish I could put them on my Aorus RX5700XT.😄😄😄 good video.

[@572089]

the biggest upside of the EK one is that the pumps are really quite powerful. that doesn't come into play in standard AIO use cases, but if you wanted to mod yours, add an extra block, or another radiator, you actually could. with most AIOs you'd run into flow rate or head pressure limits first, but the EK's pump being gloriously overkill makes it as powerful as a custom water 'lite' pump (and technically more powerful than due to increased rpm and flow rate). the overkill windings you mentioned are because they used the same windings and structure as from EKs vario D5 pump. its a real shame they didnt add a fill port on these and market then as 'modable' because thats exactly what they are; hell, the pump on these is better than any of alphacools aftermarket Pump-blocks; is essentially a toned down D5 with a shrunken impeller.

[@DoubleOGamer007]

I got the 420 and dropped some noctua fans and this thing keeps my 10900k @ 5.4 under 55c no matter how long I game.