Arctic is one of the most well-known manufacturers of cooling products with a great performance/price ratio. AIO coolers are very common among users since they combine high cooling performance and very low working noise. The Liquid Freezer II 280RGB product is not a recent product but a best-buy product that many users buy for its overall performance/price package.

Since Arctic is one of the few companies that constantly updates their products to support new motherboards and processors, we decided to ask for a sample unit and see what is all the fuss about the Liquid Freezer II 280RGB. The Liquid Freezer II series was awarded the “European Hardware Award 2022” for the best CPU water cooler.

The Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280RGB supports Intel (1700, 1200, 115X, 2011-3, 2066 Square ILM) and all recently released AMD sockets AM4 and AM5. Arctic supports their products and in case users miss some components should contact Arctic support and get help about this.

AMD has been using a new multi-die layout for its high-end AM4 processors for a few generations now. In these processors, the hotspot is not centered by the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader). To still allow for optimal heat dissipation, we have developed a special mounting kit for the Liquid Freezer II that allows the cold plate to be placed directly over the hotspot of the CPU. AMD's upcoming 7000 series AM5 processors also come with multi-die layouts and can therefore benefit from the Liquid Freezer II's unique offset mounting.

The Liquid Freezer II A-RGB combines the Liquid Freezer II series' efficient, proprietary PWM water pump with ARCTIC's new A-RGB fans optimized for static pressure. This allows for perfectly matched, multi-color lighting effects. With the help of advanced A-RGB Gen.2 technology and customizable LEDs, you can design your system with your very own look.

Arctic uses am in-house water pump and like the Liquid Freezer II’s fans, the water pump is PWM-controlled and adjusts its speed accordingly. This not only leads to significantly lower noise levels at low and typical loads but also a much lower power consumption for all components of the AiO.

Arctic uses 38mm thick radiators with a high fin density. This allows a larger amount of water to be used in the circuit and significantly increases the cooling surface area. Water has a much higher heat capacity than aluminum or copper. This leads to a slower and up to 5 °C lower temperature increase in the time-limited turbo mode of modern CPUs.

Arctic uses a small 40mm fan that is attached to the main body of the CPU component. According to Arctic, it helps out with the cooling of nearby components (MOSFETs) and also can be turned off in case you don't want it. The fan of course is PWM-controlled.

The Liquid Freezer II has fiber-reinforced 45 cm tubes that allow for installation even in large cases and effectively prevent coolant evaporation, so you don't have to worry about refilling your compact water cooling system. The system has a pre-installed cable management hiding both the RGB and PWM cables at the of your radiator fans in the sleeving, making installation easy, with only two connectors to connect to the mainboard.

The Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280RGB uses illuminated P-fans with focused airflow and high static pressure. The fans guarantee extremely efficient cooling, even with increased air resistance. Therefore, the P-series fans are particularly suitable for use on heatsinks and radiators.

The Liquid Freezer II series can support 120/240/360/280 and 420mm radiator fans, for either small/medium of full tower PC cases. The warranty for all Arctic products is 6 years.