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)