Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 v Custom Loop

[mikeyw64]

Hi All

given I have 2 almost identical builds in front of me I thought I might compare the LF2 Performance against my custom loop.

Damn, the LF2 seems like a good cooler (although noted the custom loop is cooling CPU & GPU)

(Ambient was 19.5c, both CPUs with PBO enabled, MY PC (RHS) on its daily settings of 50% Water Pump Speed and Rad Fans fixed at 850RPM, Case Fans fixed at 700RPM, both after approx 30 minutes cinebench R23)

[jaslion]

Also keep in mind the q300l is a bad airflow case.

 

I know it doesnt look like it but there is a TON of metal in the way when I had this for my 2700x with a ml 240 I saw a 12c drop by cutting 2 circular holes into the front where the fans were. So that internal lf2 isnt even at max potential.

 

Also keep in mind your dual ultrathin rads have probably not a massive amount more surface area than the liquid freezer + you have a gpu even if its not doing much or anything still putting extra heat in the loop.

 

Also just increasing your pump to like 80% is gonna do a lot too. That arctic is pushing a ton of water your system that large of a loop at 50% speed isnt doing too muc. Had this show clearly with my vega 64 + 3900x loop. At 40% I had nearly 20c higher trmps on my gpu compared to running at 90%

 

So whilst the arctic is genuinly a good piece of kit I also think your loop could use some more fine tuning to easilt beat that arctic.

 

 

 

[mikeyw64]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Also keep in mind the q300l is a bad airflow case.

 

I know it doesnt look like it but there is a TON of metal in the way when I had this for my 2700x with a ml 240 I saw a 12c drop by cutting 2 circular holes into the front where the fans were. So that internal lf2 isnt even at max potential.

 

Also keep in mind your dual ultrathin rads have probably not that much more surface area than the liquid freezer + you have a gpu even if its not doing much or anything still putting extra heat in the loop.

 

 

 

aye fully aware that the Q300L/Q500Ls have a reputation as Hotboxes

I thought it was just an interesting comparison showing how effective the LF2 can be  

[jaslion]

8 minutes ago, mikeyw64 said:

aye fully aware that the Q300L/Q500Ls have a reputation as Hotboxes

I thought it was just an interesting comparison showing how effective the LF2 can be  

Oh yeah the lf2 is like top notch stuff

 

Lovely device and cheap too. Really shoes how far we have come from aios are kinda meh to custom loops are very very very edge cases now for need to have.

[mikeyw64]

5 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Oh yeah the lf2 is like top notch stuff

 

Lovely device and cheap too. Really shoes how far we have come from aios are kinda meh to custom loops are very very very edge cases now for need to have.

In the real world the biggest difference is (especially as the GPU comes onto load) is that my system with the custom loop is significantly quieter

[jaslion]

Just now, mikeyw64 said:

In the real world the biggest difference is (especially as the GPU comes onto load) is that my system with the custom loop is significantly quieter

Oh yeah no doubt there. Especially the gpu noise is waaaaay lower.

[freeagent]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

Oh yeah the lf2 is like top notch stuff

According to this review, it's a little better than a good air cooler

 

Linky

[jaslion]

2 hours ago, freeagent said:

According to this review, it's a little better than a good air cooler

 

Linky

Its not on the list?

 

It has about the same cooling capacity as a nhd15

[freeagent]

13 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Its not on the list?

It's the 420.

[jaslion]

6 minutes ago, freeagent said:

It's the 420.

And on this build is the 240. Thats 2 different coolers.

[mikeyw64]

3 hours ago, freeagent said:

According to this review, it's a little better than a good air cooler

 

Linky

IMHO one of the big advantages of any for of liquid cooling (AIO or custom loop)  is generally speaking it will be quieter than a fully air cooled config for the same cooling efficiency

[freeagent]

2 hours ago, mikeyw64 said:

IMHO one of the big advantages of any for of liquid cooling (AIO or custom loop)  is generally speaking it will be quieter than a fully air cooled config for the same cooling efficiency

Yup, until the coolant reaches the same temp then you’re in the same boat as an air cooler. That is why I say AIO are E-Waste. No better then a top air cooler, and you have to throw them away after a few years if the unit cannot be topped up. If you are going to do water get a real loop not those pretend ones

[mikeyw64]

59 minutes ago, freeagent said:

Yup, until the coolant reaches the same temp then you’re in the same boat as an air cooler. That is why I say AIO are E-Waste. No better then a top air cooler, and you have to throw them away after a few years if the unit cannot be topped up. If you are going to do water get a real loop not those pretend ones

 2 Points of relevance
.
1) I was comparing an AIO with a custom loop in two almost identical builds sat in front of me.
2) The LF2 can be topped up quite easily . In fact most AIOs can probably be if you really want too

The biggest advantage of a custom loop is that you can add the GPU to it. Yes you can get AIOs for GPUs/get AI cooled GPUs but they're (probably ) not as common.

What I have IMHO shown is that the latest generation of AIOs can be as good as (if not better) than a custom loop although I will admit that the custom loop (due to having a much higher water capacity) could probably run at a sustained 100% load far longer than an AIO.

But who runs at 100% load all day and if you have a need to do that then you will be building accordingly ;o)

[freeagent]

I don’t think an AIO will ever be as good as a real loop, but that’s just me. 
 

3 minutes ago, mikeyw64 said:

But who runs at 100% load all day and if you have a need to do that then you will be building accordingly ;o)

Anyone who runs distributed computing such as F@H, WCG, Rosetta, etc. you don’t need water for that though.