I do know I'll get rinsed by rising prices someplace when constructing a PC however my favourite product this yr was one of some issues that didn't ask for extra money
We have got many of the large stuff lined with our Gear of the Yr awards. Although even I am going to admit we’re lacking award classes for instances and coolers. There are numerous deserving of a nomination, from the wonderful Havn BF 360 to the return of a legend, the Corsair Air 5400. However I needed to go together with my intestine.
I first caught sight of the Liquid Freezer III Professional at Computex, Taiwan’s largest tech present. I arrived at Arctic’s sales space in a little bit of a large number, having basically jogged between appointments many of the morning within the stuffy climate. I spent an undue period of time admiring the brand new Liquid Freezer Professional, if just for a short respite because the cool air from its followers reached my face.
It would not be simple to enhance upon the unique Liquid Freezer III. Our Nick rated the unique mannequin so extremely that he awarded it our no.1 spot in our greatest liquid cooler shopping for information. It additionally price pennies in comparison with different all-in-one coolers providing related efficiency. However Arctic was going to offer it a go, anyway.
The Professional improves on the earlier Liquid Freezer III in a few methods, particularly improved pump management, higher fin density, and new, sooner followers.
I’ve reviewed the Arctic Freezer III Professional 360 since then. It reveals its true colors in testing. It retains even essentially the most power-hungry processors at a good temperature (taking a look at you, 14th Gen), and makes gentle work with much less demanding chips, such because the Ryzen 9000-series. What’s extra, the P12 Professional followers are glorious—rated to an enormous 6.9 mmH20 static strain. Whereas loud at their 3000 rpm high pace, and crushed by Noctua’s newest at slower speeds, you may tune them down and nonetheless reap many of the advantages.
Most of all, the Liquid Freezer III Professional earns my advice as a result of it does one thing fairly extraordinary these days. It launched at roughly the identical value as its predecessor; the factor it improves upon in nearly each approach.
|
Fan |
Max RPM |
Rated airflow (CFM) |
Rated static strain (mm H20) |
Airflow (m/s) @ Max RPM |
@ 1,200 RPM |
@ 800 RPM |
@ 450 RPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arctic P12 Professional |
3,000 |
77.00 |
6.90 |
2.60 |
1.10 |
0.70 |
0.40 |
|
Hyte Thicc FP12 |
3,000 |
105.80 |
8.14 |
3.20 |
1.30 |
0.90 |
0.40 |
|
Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM |
1,800 |
63.15 |
3.14 |
2.20 |
1.40 |
1.00 |
0.50 |
|
Corsair iCUE LINK QX120 RGB PWM |
2,400 |
63.10 |
3.80 |
2.20 |
1.10 |
0.70 |
0.40 |
|
NZXT F120 RGB DUO |
1,800 |
48.58 |
2.42 |
1.40 |
1.00 |
0.60 |
0.30 |
The Liquid Freezer III Professional 360 will set you again, as of time of writing, simply $90. If you need some RGB lighting to go together with that, it is one other $9. Each choices have been cheaper for appreciable lengths of time, however you may hardly argue with that value. There’s little else that may contact it when it comes to bang to your buck—although I did have a tender spot for the Cooler Grasp MasterLiquid Core II 360 for $60 over Black Friday.
When it appears like firms are taking prospects for a journey and wringing each final penny from our financial institution accounts, Arctic had the chance of a technology with the Liquid Freezer III Professional to do the identical. However it did not. No point out of ‘macro-economic headwinds’. No speak of tariffs. Only a nice product, bettering on what got here earlier than, and for an outstanding value. That is why the Liquid Freezer III Professional beat the opposite merchandise to earn my private choose for Gear of the Yr.
If you wish to discover out who wins within the PC Gamer {Hardware} Awards, we’ll be publishing all of the winners on New Yr’s Eve.
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