Artic Liquid Freezer II 280 + Noctis 450. Will it fit on top?

EnzoMP · October 25, 2020

Not so long ago I've graduated from uni. As they knew of my plan to upgrade to an AMD system soon, some friends of mine have gifted an Artic Liquid Freezer II 280.

I already had an NH-D15, had planned to buy a NM-AM4 mounting kit for the upgrade, since at the time i bought it it came without it (and I cannot ask a free one as I lost my receipt).

Searching online for the Liquid Freezer II 280, I've seen that it has good performance, but that's mostly because it is hella huge.

I have a NZXT Noctis 450, and I don't think there's enough clearance between the top mount and the motherboard.
I was thinking about moving the fans on the top of the rad. The fans in the LF II 280 are routed next to one of the tubes that go from the cpu block to the radiator. They are also removible, but I wonder if it is possible to move them to the other side without getting a fan splitter.

Does anyone have the same case-aio configuration?

I'm open to any advice, thanks!

alyen · October 25, 2020

I do not own the case, but you should check height clearance of the top panel above the main part of the case. Arctic 140mm fans are 27mm thick. Steve from the Gamers Nexus video said the height was 25mm or 26mm if you were to mount fans on the top.

Even if there is enough clearance to mount the radiator you have to check if it fits with the heatsink and I/O shroud for that motherboard. And there is also memory clearance if you pass I/O and heatsinks. It's a really tough call from looking at pictures.

EnzoMP · October 26, 2020

I had missed out the Gamer Nexus review of the cooler. I'll try mounting this one as soon as I upgrade cpu-mobo-ram. I'll also add some picture for reference so that anyone with the same case will be able to look at it.