Page 4 - Conclusion
Did the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB reaffirm the advantages of having an AIO liquid cooler, even with it being pricier when compared to their air cooling counterparts? For starters, the 280mm aluminum radiator is strongly built and has a clean look. The braided tubes are not only flexible, but also long enough to route around most cases. The copper base of the water block is smooth and has a flat contact base. The installation was a mostly smooth process with the online instructions being very clear and easy to follow. The P14 PWM A-RGB fans are also well built and suit the cooler well with their vibrant RGB LED lighting. When it came to performance, the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB outperformed all compared coolers in my tests, including the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL240 Flux, which is a solid performing unit in of itself. The P14 PWM A-RGB fans were not terribly loud at full speed, which is another excellent sign for the quality of this AIO liquid cooler. The VRM fan on the water block is a nice addition to bring additional airflow over your motherboard components. With all that said, one moderate issue this cooler has is the size compatibility. I was unable to mount this cooler on the top and side of my Corsair 5000D case, which is a fairly large chassis. This is due to the thick size of the radiator and fans. A thinner radiator and fans will go a long way in saving users the hassle of having to reorganize the configuration of their case fans in the future. The lack of hinges on the water tubes might also further limit mounting options due to the lack of flexibility. Other than that, the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB is a solid performing cooler with colorful ARGB LED lighting. At a retail price of about $120 as of the time of writing, this is a solid cooler to pick, as long as you do a check on your case to make sure it will actually fit in the ideal mounting position.
ARCTIC provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.2/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB is a colorful and solid performing AIO liquid cooler that will get the job done as long as the thick radiator can fit in your case.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware, Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
