I know I'll get rinsed by rising costs somewhere when building a PC but my favorite product this year was one of a few things that didn't ask for more money
Let's give it up for affordable all-in-one liquid coolers.
(Image credit: Future)
We've got most of the big stuff covered with our Gear of the Year awards. Though even I'll admit we're missing award categories for cases and coolers. There are many deserving of a nomination, from the excellent Havn BF 360 to the return of a legend, the Corsair Air 5400. But I had to go with my gut.
I first caught sight of the Liquid Freezer III Pro at Computex, Taiwan's biggest tech show. I arrived at Arctic's booth in a bit of a mess, having essentially jogged between appointments most of the morning in the stuffy weather. I spent an undue amount of time admiring the new Liquid Freezer Pro, if only for a brief respite as the cool air from its fans reached my face.
It wouldn't be easy to improve upon the original Liquid Freezer III. Our Nick rated the original model so highly that he awarded it our no.1 spot in our best liquid cooler buying guide. It also cost pennies compared to other all-in-one coolers offering similar performance. But Arctic was going to give it a go, anyway.
(Image credit: Future)
The Pro improves on the previous Liquid Freezer III in a couple of ways, namely improved pump control, greater fin density, and new, faster fans.
I've reviewed the Arctic Freezer III Pro 360 since then. It shows its true colours in testing. It keeps even the most power-hungry processors at a decent temperature (looking at you, 14th Gen), and makes light work with less demanding chips, such as the Ryzen 9000-series. What's more, the P12 Pro fans are excellent—rated to a massive 6.9 mmH20 static pressure. While loud at their 3000 rpm top speed, and beaten by Noctua's latest at slower speeds, you can tune them down and still reap most of the benefits.
Most of all, the Liquid Freezer III Pro earns my recommendation because it does something quite extraordinary in this day and age. It launched at more or less the same price as its predecessor; the thing it improves upon in almost every way.
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Fan
Max RPM
Rated airflow (CFM)
Rated static pressure (mm H20)
Airflow (m/s) @ Max RPM
@ 1,200 RPM
@ 800 RPM
@ 450 RPM
Arctic P12 Pro
3,000
77.00
6.90
2.60
1.10
0.70
