Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme 280mm AIO Liquid Cooler Review

A Closer Look

In what I will admit was something of a surprise to me, the Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme comes (almost) entirely assembled out of the box. There is no need to fit fans, no filling of coolant, this is (for all intents and purposes) practically ready to go!

Although Eisbaers are already very distinctive in their appearance, there is some subtle branding located that what I can only call the radiator block. It does, however, suggest that Alphacool didn’t design this for looks, albeit it looks very solid and professional. This has a, very much, all business approach and, quite frankly, I love it.

Fans

Coming with 2 build-in fans, it is of course worth noting that these are both be quiet! designed ‘Silent Wings 3’ designs. We have seen these fans in the past and have never failed to be impressed with both their performance and (as the name would suggest) low noise operating levels.

Admittedly, the contained design does obscure what you can see of the radiator. On the whole, however, it all looks exceptionally well put together.

For more details on the fans, you can visit the official be quiet! website for them via the link here!

Custom-Loop Options

The Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme is ready to go out of the box. As such, if you intend to use this ‘as is’, the liquid coolant is already in place and topped-up to get you going.

One of the biggest key features of the design, however, is the option to incorporate this into a custom-loop system. You will note the ‘filling’ point is located on the actual radiator block itself via the abundantly clear labelling.

One of the main ways to achieve this is via the detachable pipes which are both easy to spot and also clearly labelled. The manual itself does go into further detail in this regard although a quick glance makes ‘how to detach them’ more than easy enough to figure out.

We didn’t, of course, actually do this. Specifically, because we wanted to keep the liquid in place for our review.

Giving you further options, however, both the tubing to the pump head and radiator block can also be detached and replaced. Put simply, in terms of customisation cooling options, this has you covered in practically every scenario.

Pump Head

The pump head design is perhaps the most notably ‘aesthetic’ part of the entire design. Featuring the Alphacool branding rather significantly, this is about as ‘brash’ as this cooler gets.

A look at the contact plate finds a fantastically large surface. This is, of course, in no small part due to the AMD Threadripper TR4 compatibility. In the likelihood, however, that you don’t have this particular CPU, getting excellent coverage is no problem at all.