ARCTIC debuts its first all-in-one liquid CPU coolers

[HEXUS]

The Liquid Freezer 120 and Liquid Freezer 240 promise to be "quietest, and most powerful".

Read more.

[crossy]

(Disclaimer: when it comes to AIO H20 coolers I'm a total n00b, so apologies if anything I'm about to say is naive/daft.)

I'm considering an AIO for my next (re)build and Corsair's are front-and-centre in my thoughts. However, I'm wondering if Arctic are being a bit crafty by picking the non "i" models of the Corsair range - where the user can control the fan speed and therefore the noise level?

The other thing is the warranty - Corsair seem to offer a five year warranty on the models I've looked at, yet Arctic are pleased with their mere two-year "limited" warranty?

Only things I can see in Arctic's favour are the cheaper price (£30 less than the Corsair 100 series models) and perhaps that Arctic's pump won't be as vocal as Corsairs reputedly is (at least according to all the reviews I've read so far).

By the way, is it normal that adding a second fan and doubling the length of the radiator doesn't make much of a difference to an AIO's performance? According to the spec's the LF-240 can only cope with a 50W TDP increase over the LF-120, which seems a bit low to me.

[3dcandy]

Got a H50 from Corsair and it's about 3 years old - can't hear the pump at all and hardly hear the fan to be fair. i7 920 run at stock. I do like the AIO h20 coolers for noise

[crossy]

Got a H50 from Corsair and it's about 3 years old - can't hear the pump at all and hardly hear the fan to be fair. i7 920 run at stock. I do like the AIO h20 coolers for noise

Good to know - but it's the H100 series I've been looking at (dual 120mm fans), comments like:

Our noise readings suggest that Corsair's H100i GTX is one of the quieter liquid coolers, but we feel the numbers in this case don't paint an entirely accurate picture, as the Hydro Series pump seemed noisier than our noise meter is letting on.

A quick online search reveals that pump noise is proving problematic, and this is irrespective of whether it's run using the quiet or performance profiles available in the Link software. The H100i GTX is too vocal for our own personal liking, and with our quiet test platform touting solid-state storage and a graphics card whose fans turn off at idle, the addition of a 2,800rpm pump feels counterproductive.

Interesting also that, in the course of my research, it looks like a top of the line air cooler - like the Noctua NH-D15 with dual fans - can pretty much match these AIO's for cooling performance. However, I'll be the first to admit (I'm a happy NH-D14 owner) that the Noctua is a big lump o' metal and a royal pain to have to work around as a result - I'm very sure that a Hydro H100i GTX (or this Arctic cooler) would be a lot more "discrete".

[3dcandy]

Probably... but I do like them once set up. Yeah I guess that perhaps the bigger models have noisier pumps there has giot to be a trade-off somehow. I was very careful with my setup - my pc is rack mounted (music rack) and is inaudible now if I have to record some quick vocals

[Attila the Bun]

I have the Corsair H100i and I have to say that the cooling is great.

The bundled fans are very noisy on boot up but are acceptably quiet once you up and running with normal use. Gaming loads produce more fan noise. I have bought a couple of 120mm EK Vardar F4 high static pressure fans which I'm going to put in instead which should solve the fan noise.

The pump noise is noticable for me but as I have a very enclosed office space I can accept that. If I move the PC to an open room the noise barely registers at all.

Where I think Corsair have dropped the ball is the bundled software...I've had nothing but trouble with and I can tell from searching the web that I'm not the only one. I recommend that if you go for Corsair save the money, get a non-i version and use that ASUS fan controller.

If you want any further info PM me. Edit: Or I'll post it here...sorry I'm having one of those days.

- I'm very sure that a Hydro H100i GTX (or this Arctic cooler) would be a lot more "discrete".

Depends...I moved mine from a "large" Lancool to a "small" LianLi and had no problems but I know that there are a lot of "small" cases where the 240 rad is a right pita...and those hoses are not very flexible.

[Attila the Bun]

- I'm very sure that a Hydro H100i GTX (or this Arctic cooler) would be a lot more "discrete".

Depends...I moved mine from a "large" Lancool to a "small" LianLi and had no problems but I know that there are a lot of "small" case where the 240 rad is a right pita...and those hoses are not very flexible.

ps...Thanks for the merge peterb, I will endeavour to do 1 post, when I only need 1 post, in the future

Now you have to get rid of this one...doh

[ChewieJ]

I've been running new pc with a H60, with a pair of Cougar Vortex VF12HP fans in push - pull mode (as an exhaust system) and on paper, the Cougars have a better air flow rate and noise level than those Arctic units do.

I'd be interested to see how they compared in reality.

[pastymuncher]

Not that I ever would as I have custom watercooling, but if I was to ever buy a AIO it would be a Corsair unit. High praise indeed from someone who doesn't like Corsair. The reason being is the warranty. If these things leak they can easily kill other components and Corsair has a proven track record of replacing damaged components caused by their AIO's leaking on a case by case basis. Arctic Cooling on the other hand have had a patchy after sales support service from my previous experience and I wouldn't trust them to to the right thing should things go horribly wrong.

[Biscuit]

I actually ditched my H100 in favour of a lump of metal (Be Quiet Black Rock 3... or something). Cooling performance didn't really change all that much to be honest and its certainly quieter. Its the other fans in my case that need sorting out now.