I expect to get hit by rising costs somewhere when building a PC, but my favorite product this year stood out as one of the rare exceptions that didn’t demand more money.

Gear of the Year

(Image credit: Future)

Our annual Gear of the Year selections highlight the standout hardware of 2025.

Most of the major categories are already represented in our Gear of the Year picks, though I’ll be the first to admit we don’t currently hand out dedicated awards for PC cases or coolers. That’s a shame, because there have been plenty of strong contenders this year, from the impressive Havn BF 360 to the long-awaited return of Corsair’s Air 5400. Still, when it came time to choose my personal favorite, one product stood clearly above the rest.

In a market flooded with increasingly expensive components, one cooler managed to stand out for all the right reasons: the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro.

I first encountered the Liquid Freezer III Pro at Computex in Taiwan, the country’s largest tech showcase. After rushing between appointments in the humid heat, I arrived at Arctic’s booth slightly frazzled and far too warm. I lingered longer than necessary around the Liquid Freezer Pro display, partly to admire the design, but mostly to enjoy the welcome blast of cool air from its fans.

Improving on the original Liquid Freezer III was never going to be easy. Our own testing crowned that cooler as the top pick in our liquid cooling guide, and it achieved that status while undercutting much of the competition on price. Despite that, Arctic decided to refine an already excellent product.

(Image credit: Future)

The Pro version builds on the previous model with several targeted upgrades, including improved pump control, denser radiator fins, and a new generation of faster fans.

After reviewing the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 in depth, its strengths became obvious during testing. It handled even notoriously power-hungry processors with ease, keeping temperatures under control on high-end Intel chips while barely breaking a sweat on more efficient CPUs like AMD’s Ryzen 9000-series. The new P12 Pro fans also deserve praise, boasting an impressive 6.9 mmH20 of static pressure.

At full speed, those fans are undeniably loud, and Noctua’s latest offerings still edge them out at lower RPMs. However, with some tuning, the P12 Pro fans deliver excellent performance without excessive noise, retaining most of their cooling advantage even when dialed back.

What truly earns the Liquid Freezer III Pro my recommendation, though, is something far rarer than raw performance. It launched at roughly the same price as its predecessor, despite offering meaningful improvements across the board.

Fan specifications comparison

Arctic P12 Pro
Max RPM: 3,000
Rated airflow: 77.00 CFM
Rated static pressure: 6.90 mmH20
Airflow @ max RPM: 2.60 m/s
@ 1,200 RPM: 1.10 m/s
@ 800 RPM: 0.70 m/s
@ 450 RPM: 0.40 m/s

Hyte Thicc FP12
Max RPM: 3,000
Rated airflow: 105.80 CFM
Rated static pressure: 8.14 mmH20
Airflow @ max RPM: 3.20 m/s
@ 1,200 RPM: 1.30 m/s
@ 800 RPM: 0.90 m/s
@ 450 RPM: 0.40 m/s

Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM
Max RPM: 1,800
Rated airflow: 63.15 CFM
Rated static pressure: 3.14 mmH20
Airflow @ max RPM: 2.20 m/s
@ 1,200 RPM: 1.40 m/s
@ 800 RPM: 1.00 m/s
@ 450 RPM: 0.50 m/s

Corsair iCUE LINK QX120 RGB PWM
Max RPM: 2,400
Rated airflow: 63.10 CFM
Rated static pressure: 3.80 mmH20
Airflow @ max RPM: 2.20 m/s
@ 1,200 RPM: 1.10 m/s
@ 800 RPM: 0.70 m/s
@ 450 RPM: 0.40 m/s

NZXT F120 RGB DUO
Max RPM: 1,800
Rated airflow: 48.58 CFM
Rated static pressure: 2.42 mmH20
Airflow @ max RPM: 1.40 m/s
@ 1,200 RPM: 1.00 m/s
@ 800 RPM: 0.60 m/s
@ 450 RPM: 0.30 m/s

At the time of writing, the Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 is priced at around $90, with the RGB version costing only a little more. Both variants have dipped even lower in price at various points, but even at full cost, the value proposition is hard to ignore. There are very few coolers that offer comparable performance for anywhere near the same price.

In an era where many manufacturers are quick to justify price hikes with vague references to economic pressures, Arctic took a different approach. With the Liquid Freezer III Pro, it delivered a clear upgrade over an already excellent product without inflating the cost. No excuses, no marketing spin—just strong engineering and sensible pricing.

That’s why, among a crowded field of excellent hardware, the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro stands out as my personal pick for Gear of the Year.

The full list of PC Gamer Hardware Awards winners will be revealed on New Year’s Eve.