ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 - Multi-Compatible All-in-One CPU AIO Water Cooler, Compatible with Intel & AMD, Efficient PWM Controlled Pump, Fan Speed: 200–1800 RPM, LGA1700 Compatible - Black

The stock cooler on my PC died after just a year and I did a bunch of research before deciding on this cooler. I had never replaced one myself before and admittedly was intimidated by the process. I didn't like that the installation instructions live online but was able to get to them easily enough, and they weren't too difficult to follow. Arctic also has a very detailed installation video on YouTube that I followed as I went that was invaluable, so definitely look that up.The one thing I will say, especially if you don't have a lot of experience installing these things, is note that the mounting rails that go on the motherboard ARE DIFFERENT. When I was taking everything out of the box and separating it I completely didn't notice the round cutouts are different sizes/positions and the outer edges are rounded/squared to help you tell them apart (derp). The first time I put them on I did so backwards, and nearly attempted to mount the CPU block the wrong way. Take a minute to look at how these rails need to be installed for your CPU position and motherboard.I had also never had to remove or install thermal paste before and while it seemed intimidating it ended up being very easy. The first time I applied it I had it backwards and the good thing about taking it apart is I could see that the method I used (dot x) fully covered the plate on the CPU, so that was encouraging. Once I got things turned around I had just enough paste to do a second application and get it assembled.Assembly wasn't terrible; however I would suggest that you have another person assist so you have a second set of hands to help hold things in place while you are screwing them down. It took some fiddling to get the base mounting rails attached which would have been pretty tough to do alone, and the radiator in my case is positioned vertically in the front so it was invaluable to have someone to hold it in place for me so I could line up all the screws.Best of all, the entire works only needs one plug for the radiator fans. My previous cooler had four fans all with their own power supply cords so it was drawing a ton of power and they were loud (something I didn't fully realize until I had the Arctic installed). This made finishing installation super easy, and everything worked perfectly the moment I turned it on for the first time. I was shocked at how quiet the fans are, I have my case two feet from me on the end of my desk and I can barely hear them most of the time. Even when they're spinning up they don't get that loud and I certainly can't hear them if I'm wearing headphones.Best of all the cooling power has been nothing short of amazing. My CPU was pinning at 91C at startup with the old failing cooler and now it runs at a chill 38C on startup, and even when playing the most intensive games on Ultra settings with my RTX 3070 the max I've seen runs from 77-83C and those spikes are literally momentary before dropping down to an average speed of 65C, while only drawing 30-40W.Very, very happy with this cooler. Thanks for letting me see every single blade of grass in RDR2 again!

If you are looking for a very good AIO to cool your high-end CPU (as long as it's not Intel 12th or 13th gen i9 or an AMD 79xx) and you don't need the extra FPS that comes from RGB, this is a good option. The CPUs I mentioned before run too hot for this cooler to adequately manage in most setups.This is pretty easy to put together since the fans are already pre-installed for a top-mounted push configuration, which is the most common installation. Unfortunately, my case doesn't have *quite* enough room at the top of the case for an AIO if you have tall RAM like I do. Luckily, all I had to do was flip the fans to allow for a front-mounted pull configuration. The pump/block mounting hardware is a little complicated, but the pictures in the instructions (more on that) are very clear. The offset mount to allow for more direct contact over the CCDs on my Ryzen 9 3900X kept the CPU right around 70 degrees during a 30-minute Cinebench R23 run. Having the fan cables run down the sleeving on one of the tubes into the pump/block is a wonderful idea, and this allows for attaching a single cable to the motherboard. Some companies could take a lesson from ARCTIC in terms of customer-friendly cable pre-management.Unfortunately, ARCTIC does not include installation instructions in the box, so you either need another computer or smartphone to go to their website or you need to have already printed out the instructions. Viewing on the website allows you to see the GIFs they use to illustrate some concepts (such as flipping the fans on their diagonal axis to maintain the pre-management), which was very helpful at times. The lack of instructions in the box and relatively complex pump/block mounting hardware are the only blemish on this otherwise perfect product.NOTE: A while back, ARCTIC identified a defect with the gasket inside the block not being properly vulcanized, which could lead to reactions with the copper block and deposits of sulfur and other materials. All units manufactured after this defect was detected and resolved will have a "QC" sticker on the radiator. If you buy one that does not have this sticker, ARCTIC has a repair available where you can get a free kit to replace the gasket yourself or ship it to them for repair. GamersNexus has a very good video about this on their YouTube channel.