Arctic AIO's have been my favorite for a while now. They are the best, the numbers and tests don't lie. Even the Arctic 240mm AIO beats out some of the most popular 360mm AIO's. It's because the radiator is much thicker and the fans have much better static pressure than most because you need more pressure to push air through a thicker radiator effectively.
People don't realize how good the Arctic 280mm AIO is. The Arctic 280mm AIO is better than 360mm AIO's. It's been proven time and time again, and I'm not sure why, but the Arctic 280mm AIO beats even the Arctic 360mm AIO, and for the relatively low price you're paying for this 280mm AIO, you are getting absolutely insane performance.
I have 2 Arctic 280mm AIO's. One RGB and one Non-RGB. I also have a 240mm Arctic AIO, and I used to have an Arctic 360mm until I realized the 280mm is better than the 360mm. I've used the 280mm on the Ryzen 9 7900x and the Ryzen 9 7950x and the temps are awesome, even during benchtests. As long as Arctic keeps making AIO's, they will always be my first choice for a cooling solution. Also because of their Arctic MX-4 thermal paste. MX-4 is amazing, and well known as one of the best. They have Arctic MX-6 now and It's even better.
I love this AIO, and the only consumer CPU on the marker that it can't handle is a 13900KS, You would need the Arctic 420mm for that, but this 280mm can and will handle a 13900K just fine, even better than an Arctic 360mm will. This 280mm is an absolute beast and a god send for anyone wanting to cool their CPU the best they can without setting up a custom loop with multiple radiators.
It's also worth mentioning that their warranty program is awesome. I had a fan start rattling after 2 months once and when I got in touch with their warranty department, (it was easy and pretty fast) they just asked for my receipt and a video of it rattling. After I sent the email, I got a replacement fan in the mail 2 days later.
I have been building PC's for quite some time now and Arctic is top dog. 2nd to none... and this isn't just my opinion. This is fact.
Austin · 2023-04-27 · via amazon
★★★★★Reduced Noise & Temps from NH-D15
I upgraded from a Noctua NH-D15 Chroma.black to this AF II 280 ARGB. So far so good. I watched the GN reviews about the ~6c temp difference compared to the Noctua. My results were similar, possibly slightly more. This was my first AIO. I watched a YouTube video where someone mounted it on a LGA1700 platform. Not rocket science, but I preferred the video versus the manufacturer's instructions. For those wondering, both MX-5 paste and the LGA1700 mounting hardware were included. My order was in early March 2022. For the fan/pump (one wire), I used the "silent" setting curve as outlined on Arctic's website -- e.g., 0-60c at 20%, 75c at 50% and 85c at 100%. The pump/fan is quieter than the curves I had my Noctua set at.
Regarding thermals, I'm using an i9-12900K. With the Noctua, I had it overclocked to 50p/39e all cores, with 1.26v on Override Mode LLC6 (MSI Z690 Edge WiFi DDR4) which resulted around 1.18v to 1.186v load while running P95 Small FFT Non-AVX and CB23 multi loops. Wattage was upwards of 230w-260w depending the test program. The Noctua was good to cool around 230w or so. There was overclocking headroom left, but I needed better cooling. After installing the 280, I'm still tinkering, but easily cleared 51p/40e at 1.28v LLC6 which is around 1.206v load. I do have other cores set higher, but "all" 8 P and E cores are set as described. Max peak single core temp was 91c; the others stayed in the low-to-mid 80's. I looped CB23/P95 Small FFT In-Place (no AVX) test for an hour each.
My case is an older Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass. Yes, I still use an optical drive. The case does allow for this thicker radiator to work (yes, even tubes down) after removing the preinstalled hard drive cage and the front radiator insert cover. In the slim chance someone else is wondering about this case/AIO configuration, it can still accommodate one mechanic HDD. You have to buy the $9 Phanteks (ph-hddkt_01) accessory that allows for a single drive to be mounted. Very easy installation. The 2x140mm fans on the top for exhaust is a tight fit with the ODD, but it works. In my use case, with my computer being in a cubby space, I front mounted the AIO since I have minimal clearance along the top of case in this cubby space.
Very happy with the purchase. Recommended.
