Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420 and Coolermaster HAF XB EVO

[Brutal-Force]

Well,

In an attempt to max out my system, I have pulled the trigger on a Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420. This will be my first foray into the liquid cooling world. I will be attempting to install this into/outside of my Coolermaster HAF XB Evo as a replacement for my Noctua NH-D15S with 2x 3000 rpm Noctua fans.

I will be installing the radiator first externally as a test to see how it compares stock to the NH-D15. Then I will be installing 3x Noctua 3000 RPM fans before finding a home inside/outside of my case.

If anyone has any videos or pictures of such an attempt being made (other than the easily searchable pictures/videos on youtube) any input would be helpful. I will now see first hand how the Noctua Air cooler stacks against a full 420mm radiator and then decide if it is even worth installing.

For the record, Amazon had one for $135 open box, so worse case scenario, I hold onto it only for benching.

 

[EarthDog]

Not sure how much more you'll get out of her (likely saving a few degrees C), but, I'm interested in the results!

That said, does your chassis fit 3x120mm rads? I thought it only does 2x 120/140?

 

[Brutal-Force]

Not sure how much more you'll get out of her (likely saving a few degrees C), but, I'm interested in the results!

That said, does your chassis fit 3x120mm rads? I thought it only does 2x 120/140?

Of course it doesn't. I will first test to see if there is any tangible benefit and just ghetto mount externally. If there IS a benefit, then I will probably mod the side of the case. Its a nice flat surface that is easily removable. I will cut the side panel of the case. It is only 427mm Long, but the 420 is actually 457mm long. So there will be about an inch of overhang (I will put toward the back). The cooler will ride side saddle. In theory, I could put in the front as well, but it would require a lot more cutting and modding to make it look presentable, or I would just pull the front off and it would look ghetto. Also, where I have my case sitting, there is less than 1/4" of clearance on both sides to pull the case out (sides have plenty of air flow though), so I don't think mounting in the front would work that well for me.

Again, I will make the modification for 24/7 use only if I see a tangible benefit of cooling, otherwise it will go back, get sold or go in my stack of computer spare parts.

 

[EarthDog]

Of course it doesn't.

Gotcha. You said 'into (or outside of)' in the first post, so I wasn't sure how that would work.

Can't wait!

 

[Brutal-Force]

Gotcha. You said 'into (or outside of)' in the first post, so I wasn't sure how that would work.

Can't wait!

 

[Brutal-Force]

Results:

Before

Noctua 2x 3000 RPM fans. Room Temp is 77 degrees F. Fans on max speed.



- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

After:

Arctic Freezer II 420. Stock Fans. Ambient 80 degrees F.



People will be asking what happened? Well, it turns out that my VR was throttling. I had too much voltage going to the VIN causing it to throttle down during testing the Noctua. Everything seems pretty even on water. I can hit 5Ghz, but my I am starting to throttle at 5Ghz so it doesn't make sense to run that high for testing. 4.9Ghz seems to be where I have landed, but this is just the first swing at bat. I still have to see where I am going to bolt it down and such. Either way, it is still a considerably better cooler and I am glad I tried it out.

This will give me less trepidation in the future to try out water cooling.

 

[MaddMutt]

I’m currently on a chezzy iPad so bear with me.. I got my i9-7980xe to 5.1ghz on 2 cores @1.485v and for got to reset the v before I enabled all 18 cores... so SHE WENT straight to fried :-(
I was able to hit 5.2ghz on my i9-10940x 6 cores and 4.9ghz with 14 cores on a h100i-v2 so that 420mm is Super Do’nt let a small case STOP you from water cooling later. It’s much/much easier with a BIG case to work in
Are you doing a review of that AIO for OCF??

 

[Brutal-Force]

I’m currently on a chezzy iPad so bear with me.. I got my i9-7980xe to 5.1ghz on 2 cores @1.485v and for got to reset the v before I enabled all 18 cores... so SHE WENT straight to fried :-(
I was able to hit 5.2ghz on my i9-10940x 6 cores and 4.9ghz with 14 cores on a h100i-v2 so that 420mm is Super Do’nt let a small case STOP you from water cooling later. It’s much/much easier with a BIG case to work in
Are you doing a review of that AIO for OCF??

No, I wasn't planning to do a review. That would have me switching back and fourth. I know a big case is easier to work with, but I have had my HAF XB for years and it fits perfectly where I have it. I am now just looking at how I want to configure this to get the most use out of it. I am going to mod my case, but don't really have a plan just yet. For now I am just testing it and it manages not only to get me to a higher top end, but much cooler temps at idle and full load with AVX set to 0.

Very much impressed. If I go water in the future, it will probably be a bigger case and probably have more than one radiator, but for now I am happy.

 

[MaddMutt]

A custom loop is not going to add anymore C’s/F’s to your equation without a chiller. That AIO is a Beast @ 420mm so later you will only need to grab a AIO for your gpu . If you need any more air cooling, just grab some Delta’s They are guaranteed to move some AIR.

 

[Brutal-Force]

A custom loop is not going to add anymore C’s/F’s to your equation without a chiller. That AIO is a Beast @ 420mm so later you will only need to grab a AIO for your gpu . If you need any more air cooling, just grab some Delta’s They are guaranteed to move some AIR.

I have some Deltas, but I think this is it for me. I have modded the front side of the case to take the radiator. I will probably do a cleaner job later or maybe migrate to a larger case. I really just wanted to see how big of a difference between this and the Noctua. I can without a doubt say that this is cooler than my Noctua with 3k Fans attached.

 

[Brutal-Force]

Well,

It looks like I can definitely overclock to 4.9Ghz, but technically its not stable. My VRM temps creep up to so I get Motherboard VR throttling.

I have learned a lot (and spent a few dollars) along the way. While my benching won't really be any better, my understanding of how the motherboard works with different temperatures and voltages on different components has exponentially increased. I never realized that there was more to "temperature throttling"

If I have any of this wrong, please do correct me.

- Thermal Throttle - Appears to be whenever the cores approach or exceed Tjmax. This was my general understanding of why a processor throttles. This seems to be what happens whenever Power Limit Throttles happen as well.

- Power Limit Throttling - PL1 or PL2 set too low? I am not sure this is a value I can set on my motherboard. Core Voltage could be set too low, or system does not have sufficient cooling and power delivery.

- Current/EDP limit Throttling - ICC, VR too low, or Motherboard cannot supply enough power to the processor.

- Motherboard VR Throttling - This appears to be when the VRMs exceed temps

If I have these all correct, I get PL and Motherboard throttling at 4.8, this throttles down and doesn't let me get better temps during benching. Cores do stay below 100 at 4.8.

It would appear I am no longer limited by cooling, but rather by motherboard power delivery and VRM temps???

Current state of my cooler: I've got 140mm Fan Grills on order. When I get a little more time, I will be cutting out the front a little larger (this does not appear to be affecting my air flow too badly at the moment.

For the record, if it matters, my idle temps went from 50 Degrees with fan speeds of 1000 rpms, to 37 degrees with fan speeds of 800 rpms. My load temps went to mid to upper 70s with no AVX.

 

[EarthDog]

Thermal throttling and power limit throttling are two different things. CPU thermal throttling is based on Tjmax.

Power limit throttling is based in PL1/2, correct.

Current/EDP throttling power related...for current. If the current is too much, this is the throttling reason you get.

Motherboard VR - typically vrm temps, yes.

I'd say at this point you are limited by the board, yes.

 

[Brutal-Force]

Final Overclocking results on water. This is as high as I can go, percore before I get either Power Limit Throttle, VRM Throttle or Core Thermal Throttle. Tested for 5 min. on Aida 64 as I believe this provides the most real world heat load. Does not exceed 100 degrees during all Cinebench Versions. All in all, not bad with a few Cinebench top scores.

 

[Nebulous]

Well,

It looks like I can definitely overclock to 4.9Ghz, but technically its not stable. My VRM temps creep up to so I get Motherboard VR throttling.

I have learned a lot (and spent a few dollars) along the way. While my benching won't really be any better, my understanding of how the motherboard works with different temperatures and voltages on different components has exponentially increased. I never realized that there was more to "temperature throttling"

If I have any of this wrong, please do correct me.

- Thermal Throttle - Appears to be whenever the cores approach or exceed Tjmax. This was my general understanding of why a processor throttles. This seems to be what happens whenever Power Limit Throttles happen as well.

- Power Limit Throttling - PL1 or PL2 set too low? I am not sure this is a value I can set on my motherboard. Core Voltage could be set too low, or system does not have sufficient cooling and power delivery.

- Current/EDP limit Throttling - ICC, VR too low, or Motherboard cannot supply enough power to the processor.

- Motherboard VR Throttling - This appears to be when the VRMs exceed temps

If I have these all correct, I get PL and Motherboard throttling at 4.8, this throttles down and doesn't let me get better temps during benching. Cores do stay below 100 at 4.8.

It would appear I am no longer limited by cooling, but rather by motherboard power delivery and VRM temps???

Current state of my cooler: I've got 140mm Fan Grills on order. When I get a little more time, I will be cutting out the front a little larger (this does not appear to be affecting my air flow too badly at the moment.

For the record, if it matters, my idle temps went from 50 Degrees with fan speeds of 1000 rpms, to 37 degrees with fan speeds of 800 rpms. My load temps went to mid to upper 70s with no AVX.



View attachment 213666

Wow, I wouldn't want to walk barefooted near that thing

 

[Brutal-Force]

Wow, I wouldn't want to walk barefooted near that thing

I have already 3D printed some fan covers until the ones I ordered, which match the top fan shroud, come in. She ain't pretty, but she will get the job done. I am researching cases that support 420mm radiators, but they are pretty slim pickings.

 

[MaddMutt]

That close to the floor :-( I hope you don’t have young kids or small animals.

 

[Zerileous]

Okay those are truly impressive 3d printed fan covers.

 

[Brutal-Force]

Okay those are truly impressive 3d printed fan covers.

Owning two 3D printers has always been a nice convenience.



Here is the acrylic design.