INTRODUCTION

   If you've been reading our news then you probably know that a few hours ago EK Waterblocks announced a recall of their EK-XLC Predator 240/360 Pre-filled CPU Xpandable Liquid Coolers since according to their stats 1 out 10 showed signs of leakage due to faulty O-Rings. We know it will not be easy for EKWB to recall all these units but what really matters is that they didn't try to sweep this issue under the rag so a big bravo to them for this. Leaving out such unfortunate and rare incidents however AIO liquid CPU coolers are not only very safe and have gone a long way since their initial introduction in the market roughly 7 years ago but they are also considered especially ideal for use in small cases with not so good airflow levels. ARCTIC is one of the very first companies to enter the PC cooling market back in 2001 (back then it was Arctic Cooling) and perhaps the only manufacturer that has been providing air and liquid GPU cooling solutions to a large number of graphics cards manufacturers. Today with us however we have their latest AIO Liquid CPU Cooler for overclockers called the Liquid Freezer 120.

   The increasing heat emission of modern CPUs and graphics cards has gone beyond the capability of most manufacturers to design powerful enough yet quiet coolers. An increasing noise level was the result, which had a negative impact on productivity. A quiet computer is the basis for pleasant working conditions. ARCTIC initiated the trend towards quiet cooling systems for desktop PCs in 2001 and has given distinction to it ever since. Today ARCTIC is one of the leading manufacturers in computer cooling and has acquired profound knowhow in consumer electronics. ARCTIC is a privately-owned company with its headquarters in Switzerland and offices in Hong Kong and the USA. ARCTIC contributed significantly to the development of computer cooling solutions, created a number of patented technologies leading to greater efficiency and remarkable noise reduction. Within the cooling industry ARCTIC is recognized for offering innovative solutions with a fair price tag. Our products are sold in over 45 countries across the globe. Up until 2009, ARCTIC COOLING focused solely on cooling solutions. In 2010, we became ARCTIC with the additional aim to provide a comprehensive set of innovative consumer electronics and peripherals. ARCTIC's long term goal is nothing less than being present in everybody's home. Our philosophy is still the same since the very beginning - offering consumers value-for-money, innovations at affordable prices.

   Much like most if not all of their AIO Liquid Coolers (both CPU and GPU) ARCTIC has once again tasked our friends over at Asetek (everyone does that not just ARCTIC) with the manufacture of their latest AIO cooler so if you think that the Liquid Freezer 120 looks a lot like some other 120mm AIO models we've seen over the years then you're probably right. Of course that's not a bad thing since Asetek is the leader in everything related to liquid cooling and on top of that the Liquid Freezer 120 is also a slightly upgraded version of what we've seen so far by them (at least according to them and their internal tests). So this time over we have a 49mm thick 120mm aluminum radiator, two 120mm PWM CFD (computational fluid dynamic) high-airflow fans, 5V/12V high-performance pump that only uses 2W at load and an all-copper base. How do all these translate in performance remains to be seen however.