Most PC owners won't usually consider buying a new cooler [[link]] for the CPU in their gaming rig, unless they're [[link]] doing a full upgrade or the old one has gone kaput. But if you are in the market for a new all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler, then you really need to consider this , on sale for a smidge over .
Arctic's Pro range is a slightly updated version of its highly successful Liquid Freezer III series, a cooler that we rate so highly that it's our top pick for the you can buy. The changes are fairly minor but crucial ones for cooling—the radiator is thicker and the fans are now Arctic's P12 Pros, rather than the standard P12s.
The former ensures there is more water in the system to absorb heat and offer more surface area in the radiator for air to flow over. Helping that out are the seven blades in each of the three P12 Pro fans.
I have multiple test rigs dotted around my office, with the low-end setups sporting air coolers, but everything else using a Liquid Freezer III of some kind. They're astonishingly good and can easily cope with any desktop CPU, even an overclocked with performance-level power limits.
There are a couple of drawbacks to them, however. First of all is that the sheer size of the cooler, in terms of radiator thickness and pipe length, means that they simply won't fit into every PC case.
If you're going to top-mount the radiator, you need [[link]] to ensure that there is plenty of clearance above the motherboard for the cooler; likewise, with a front-mounted setup, but this time checking it won't clash with your graphics card.
Arctic uses a bespoke mounting plate for the pump head, requiring you to remove the default retention bracket and clip that's fitted to every motherboard. Despite using Arctic's coolers for a long time, I still find it awkward to install the pump, and I do wish the process were simpler.
Lastly, there's no software included, so you'll need to control the fans and ARGB LEDs either through the motherboard BIOS and its software or a third-party app.
The fans are also a little noisy at full speed (I replaced the set of P12s in my main rig with a bunch of Noctuas for a quiet life), but you won't hear the pump or the integrated VRM cooler.
While some of these aspects may put you off buying this AIO cooler, I can assure you that if you can fit one inside your gaming rig, and you don't mind the lack of software, then you won't regret buying it. Arctic's Liquid Freezers are exceptionally good coolers and at this price, exceptionally good value for money.