INTRODUCTION

    Air vs liquid cooling has been a debate for PC users for well over a decade now and even though I usually prefer the latter for my builds I can't deny that current air coolers have little to be jealous from AIO liquid coolers. Still, AIO liquid coolers do outperform most air coolers, arguably look better (for the most part) and they do offer real zero clearance issues with motherboard components and RAM. Yes, having pump issues is always a possibility but out of the 100+ models I've reviewed and used to date I've only encountered such issues with 3 of them. A few months back ARCTIC unveiled their Liquid Freezer III line of AIO CPU Coolers which thanks to a very aggressive pricing campaign (still ongoing) has been praised by gamers all over the world and since some of you asked today, I decided to test the 420mm variant (just like with when they launched their Liquid Freezer II line back in 2022).

    ARCTIC, a leading manufacturer of low-noise PC coolers and components, initiated and continues to shape the trend towards quiet cooling systems. In addition to an extensive range of CPU coolers and fans for home use and servers, ARCTIC produces high-quality monitor arms, wall mounts, thermal paste as well as thermal pads. The company, headed by founder Magnus Huber, has offices in Germany, Hong Kong, USA and China. It has won over PC enthusiasts in more than 65 countries with innovative and user-friendly products that are high quality and sold at competitively low pricing. For over 20 years, ARCTIC has stood for comfortable computing, top-level gaming and overclocking, with the best service and personal support.

    The 3rd line of liquid freezer AIOs by ARCTIC is available in two colors (black and white), with and without A-RGB lighting and in 4 different sizes (240/280/360/420mm models). As for features the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB (and most models in this line) sports an 38mm thick aluminum radiator, 2800RPM PWM pump complete with a detachable 60mm 2500RPM VRM fan with ARGB LEDs on top, 450mm long braided EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) tubes, three 140mm P14 PWM PST A-RGB fluid-dynamic bearing fans (1900RPM/69.90CFM/2.0mmH2O) ready with cable management (routing). The new liquid freezer III line of AIO is compatible only with Intel LGA 1700/1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 motherboards and as for warranty ARCTIC covers the entire line with a 6-year limited one.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING IN CONTENTS

ARCTIC uses the same box as they did with the previous generation so once again at the front we find their logo, product drawing and compatibility.

Another product drawing is located on the right side.

A product description is available on the left side in 8 languages.

The product specifications are printed at the rear of the box.

Packing is very good, a bit strange but very good so no problems here.

Along with the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB inside the box you'll also find the three P14 PWM fans (pre-installed), a backplate, MX-6 thermal paste tube, fan and 3-pin ARGB extension cables, Allen key and all the necessary bits and pieces for installation on Intel LGA 1700/1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 compatible motherboards.

THE LIQUID FREEZER III 420 A-RGB

Measuring 458mm in length, 138mm in width and 38mm in thickness the radiator of the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB is almost identical to that of its predecessor.

Here you can see that the radiator is slightly thicker than just 38mm whereas with the fans it gets up to roughly 66mm.

All three P14 PWM fans are pre-mounted and have their cables already routed as seen above.

In terms of FPI (fins per inch) this radiator comes to 14 (close to 15).

The 450mm long braided EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) tubes should be long enough for even the largest PC cases out there.

In order to prevent possible damage during shipping ARCTIC has removed the fan/ARGB part of the pump/waterblock.

As you can easily tell from the above picture the 60mm VRM fan pushes all around the pump so it should provide some degree of cooling for VRM and even your RAM.

ARCTIC as expected has placed their logo on top of the pump (keep in mind that because of the 60mm VRM fan the pump/waterblock combo is larger compared to other AIO models so it may have clearance issues with your M.2 SSD cooler - ARCTIC has a compatibility list online).

The tubes only rotate around 30 degrees from the pump end, but I had no issues while mounting the liquid freezer III 420 A-RGB.

Just like with its predecessor the coldplate may not be very large but it's adequate for the supported CPUs.

Another similarity between the liquid freezer ii and iii lines are the P14 PWM fans (1900RPM/69.90CFM/2.0mmH2O).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Testing complete water cooling kits or individual radiators is no different than testing CPU Coolers and since we want all of you to be able to compare similar products, we created new and separate charts (you can still cross-compare results however since we are using the same test rig). So once again single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests complete water cooling kits or radiators with bundled fans are measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. Finally, much like when testing CPU Coolers, it's very important to point out that just because a water cooling kit outperforms another when tested with our test rig (when we test complete water cooling kits) that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures, we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded, we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs, but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests (when fans exist in the bundle) are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the radiator. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here, we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

* Since some manufacturers have ceased support for the Intel LGA 2011-3 platform, for such coolers, I’ll be using the Ryzen 7900X / ASRock X670E test rig (July 2024, onwards).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

    Just by looking at the new Liquid Freezer III line of AIO liquid CPU coolers it’s quite clear that ARCTIC used their previous generation as the base and further expanded on it. As a matter of fact, the main differences seem to be the newly designed and larger VRM fan (60mm/40mm) and the faster pump (2800RPM/2000RPM). That being said the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB model was clearly made with one goal in mind, optimal cooling efficiency at low noise levels. Because of that both EK Water Blocks models I did test with my Ryzen 9 7900X system surpassed it in cooling efficiency and yes, noise levels. It’s pretty clear that higher CFM and air pressure usually results in better performance levels and of course noise levels so this wasn’t unexpected. By using a larger radiator however ARCTIC produced similar cooling results as the Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB but with around 5dBA less (and if you have your PC case near you, that’s not a small amount). The one thing I didn’t like was ARCTIC dropping support for like 90% of the available sockets out there. I do realize that many people would be getting this in order to use it on a new system, but I imagine many would probably do the exact opposite so when I saw that it only supports the 2 latest sockets from Intel (officially anyways), that wasn’t something I was expecting.

    As mentioned already ARCTIC is following a very aggressive pricing strategy and so right now, the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler retails for USD108.73 inside the USA (Amazon.com), 95.03Euros inside the EU (ARCTIC.DE) and for 93.18Pounds in the UK (Amazon.co.uk). Again, it’s obvious the Liquid Freezer III 420 A-RGB was not designed to be the highest efficiency AIO liquid CPU cooler but a model which can deliver similar cooling efficiency as some of the best 360 models out in the market but with less noise and since it delivers just that it deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Good Cooling Efficiency
- Noise Levels
- ARGB Lighting (Fans / Pump)
- Single 4 Pin PWM Connector (Power)
- 450mm Long EPDM Braided Tubes
- 60mm VRM Fan
- Routed Fan Cables
- 6 Year Warranty)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Motherboard Compatibility (Intel LGA 1700/1851 & AMD AM4/AM5)
- Pump Size (PC Case Compatibility)