ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 Overview
As the product name implies, the Liquid Freezer II 240 is a 240mm AIO, utilizing two 120mm fans on the 240mm radiator. As with most current AIOs, the Liquid Freezer II 240 combines a CPU water block and pump unit connected via braided cooling lines to a radiator. One thing that we noticed right away was the lack of many cables hanging off the system. Typically there is a power cable for each fan, in addition to the pump connection, and any RGB lighting cables. When it comes to the Liquid Freezer II 240, things are a bit different, and in a very good way. There is only a single cable on this AIO, but we will touch on that more later.
Taking a look at the radiator, we have an aluminum construction with a 38mm thickness, which is on the thick side when compared to most AIOs. This additional thickness has been paired up with a fins-per-inch spacing of 14FPI. This wider fin spacing will allow air to flow though the thicker radiator much easier than it would if the fins were closer together. Wide fin spacing and a thicker radiator allows the fans to spin a bit slower in order to push the same amount of air through the radiator, which helps keep the noise level down.
Around the outer border of the radiator is a matte black shroud, typical of AIOs, and along the long sides of the shroud is the ARCTIC logo and nameplate in chrome.
Exiting from the end of the radiator are the two braided cooling lines, which are connected to the unit via crimped connectors. These cooling lines are 450mm in length and their black and white sleeving provides protection and better looks than plain tubing, which we don’t really see much of anymore.
The two 120mm fans included with the system come pre-mounted to the radiator in a push configuration, though they can be moved or flipped over to operate in a pull configuration. This is where we really appreciate the extra work that ARCTIC has done to make installation easier, while also resulting in a much cleaner setup. In addition to already being mounted to the radiator, the fans are connected to each other and their cables have been routed in a manner that results in no loose cabling to worry about. Instead, the 3-pin power connection is routed into the cooling line fitting on the radiator, where it continues underneath the braiding to the pump unit. Not having to worry about connecting fans to each other and routing their cabling to a fan controller or motherboard is such a nice touch during installation, and makes the system so much cleaner looking.
With regards to the fans themselves, ARCTIC has chosen a five blade design capable of 56.3 CFM of airflow, and 2.2mm H2O of static pressure. Spinning between 200 and 1,800RPM, these fans are PWM controlled, though they are only connected via three pins in their default setup, with the Sense/Tach line disconnected.
Moving on to the CPU combination unit, we have a quite different looking design when compared to other modern examples. An almost stealth-looking design has been chosen for the Liquid Freezer II 240’s cooler, with the mostly black plastic casing being quite angular and aggressive looking.
Exiting from the top of the cooling unit are the two cooling lines, again connected via crimped connections. Unfortunately, these connections are static, and do not offer any rotation, which makes installation a bit more tricky when you try to twist and maneuver the components in your case. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but we would have loved to see swivel fittings here.
The next most interesting part of this AIO is the inclusion of a 40mm VRM cooling fan on the cooling unit. We have seen fans mounted to cooling units before, but they have always felt like an afterthought. The way ARCTIC designed the Liquid Freezer II 240’s fan makes perfect sense, with the opening on the top of the blower-style fan to pull in air, and multiple fins surrounding the fan to direct air towards your motherboard’s VRMs. This is especially helpful in liquid cooled systems, as you would typically have a bit of airflow that reaches the VRM heatsinks when using a standard air cooler.
Flipping the cooler on its side, we can see the copper coldplate that will make contact with our CPU. After removing the protective sticker, we can see that the copper base has a satin finish to it, and is mostly free of any machining markings. Also seen on the bottom of the cooler is the wiring for the 40mm VRM fan, which routs along the bottom, and the PWM cable that provides motherboard connectivity and power to the pump, VRM fan, and radiator fans.
