Why are Arctic Freezer III AIO's cheap?

Marak

Marak

Marak

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28 Mar 2017
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394
Location
Lincoln
Chaps, my good old Arctic Freezer II 360 is a good few years old now and started gurgling suggesting it's been losing fluid so I'm on the lookout for a replacement. It has been a fantastic cooler in its lifetime so obviously I'm looking at the Arctic Freezer III models which appear to have had good reviews, but the prices are so damn good that it's got me worried.

www.overclockers.co.uk

homepage.seo.open_graph_title

Leading the way in bespoke PC systems and PC gaming, any and all of your components & peripherals needs are met with our vast range of products and services.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Look at these, 360mm for £76.99, 240mm for £62.99, 280mm for £69.95, 420mm only £82.99!!! These are really good prices or am I mad!?

Is there an issue with these that I'm not aware of that people are avoiding them?
 
Marak said:
Chaps, my good old Arctic Freezer II 360 is a good few years old now and started gurgling suggesting it's been losing fluid so I'm on the lookout for a replacement. It has been a fantastic cooler in its lifetime so obviously I'm looking at the Arctic Freezer III models which appear to have had good reviews, but the prices are so damn good that it's got me worried.

www.overclockers.co.uk

homepage.seo.open_graph_title

Leading the way in bespoke PC systems and PC gaming, any and all of your components & peripherals needs are met with our vast range of products and services.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

Look at these, 360mm for £76.99, 240mm for £62.99, 280mm for £69.95, 420mm only £82.99!!! These are really good prices or am I mad!?

Is there an issue with these that I'm not aware of that people are avoiding them?
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It's less that these prices are so damn good and more they are a realistic price than the overpriced offerings from elsewhere (same as Noctua coolers are wildly overpriced compared to comparable competitors). I have a Themalright AIO and it runs great and only cost me £50 for a 240.
 
With players like thermalright putting out well performing 360 AIOs for around £50 then companies like Arctic can’t rest on their laurels. Great for the consumer when competition drives down prices.
 
How old is your freezer II? Think they upped the warranty to 6 years on them retrospectively and said they will honour for purchases made before the announcement.

Assuming you have it installed correctly with the hoses below the pump as stated in the instructions I would think you might just get sent a new one if you have a video of the noise.
 
It’s a fair price.
Very hard to justify a £300+ asetek based AIO.
As others mentioned, nothing wrong with it.
Same goes for aircooler. Thermalright made very hard to justify £100+ aircoolers.
 
Finners said:
How old is your freezer II? Think they upped the warranty to 6 years on them retrospectively and said they will honour for purchases made before the announcement.

Assuming you have it installed correctly with the hoses below the pump as stated in the instructions I would think you might just get sent a new one if you have a video of the noise.
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I bought it very shortly after coming out if I recall. Ok I just looked it up and it was November 2019.

Hoses below the pump? I've always installed AIO's with at least some part of the rad above the level of the pump, with the best location being on the top of the case so hoses would be going up.
 
ALXAndy said:
If you think they are cheap look up Thermalright.
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Haven't paid attention to AIO's for a while as this one lasted very well, plus it's only in the backup PC (I have a custom loop in my main) so it doesn't get turned on that often anymore. So I was expecting £100+ for most of the line, didn't think to look at the competition.
 
Marak said:
Haven't paid attention to AIO's for a while as this one lasted very well, plus it's only in the backup PC (I have a custom loop in my main) so it doesn't get turned on that often anymore. So I was expecting £100+ for most of the line, didn't think to look at the competition.
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You could try and get a free service kit. (put a date in that qualifies, you do not need proof of purchase unless you send it in for them to service it)

https://www.arctic.de/en/lf-service-kit

If you do decide to get a new one, check your motherboard is compatible here.

https://support.arctic.de/lf3-compatibility
 
Marak said:
I bought it very shortly after coming out if I recall. Ok I just looked it up and it was November 2019.

Hoses below the pump? I've always installed AIO's with at least some part of the rad above the level of the pump, with the best location being on the top of the case so hoses would be going up.
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Yeah that's fine I wasn't clear in what I said, if it's at the front of the case it's best to have the hoses at the bottom. It even shown on the artic site as mounted in the roof of a case so they couldn't get out of warranty with that. Not saying they would try as everything I read online says they are very good with customer support.
 
To answer your original question, it comes down to two things.

1. They manufacture most of the components themselves (pump, res, fans etc) rather than having a 3rd party do it or used lisenced designs from the likes of Asetek
2. The focus is on performance and cost so they have less features than other more expensive AIOs like having RGB fans / pump screen

Take the fans for example, they are slightly modified P12's which you can buy for a fiver, so obviousily cost less than that to include in the product, compared to EK using Vardar fans which are 3x the cost.
 
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£46 shipped as I type this.

Arctics are not cheap. However, at the same time they aren't extracting the pee like most do. Defy - yes, most brands are ludicrously expensive. For reasons.

I see all of that ending quite soon, tbh.
 
ALXAndy said:
LKz2k7m.jpg


£46 shipped as I type this.

Arctics are not cheap. However, at the same time they aren't extracting the pee like most do. Defy - yes, most brands are ludicrously expensive. For reasons.

I see all of that ending quite soon, tbh.
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Agree.
Arctic is charging a fair price.
Thermalright is killing the competition. Don’t know about longevity but I don’t expect it to be bad. Their price is low because they manufacture the whole thing and selling on the rainforest without passing 10 middleman.
Most other brands will outsource the manufacturing and pay some fee if using an Asetek based design. All they do is choose the looks, slap their logo and that’s it. Similar to the gaming chair business. One factory manufacturing for 100s of brands.
But one thing that is shocking was a £499 AIO from ASUS. A LOT of money for a screen. I would expect Noctua/T30 push pull on pure copper 45/60mm thick radiator at least. And the screen, if we need to justify the price.
 
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