280mm is my favourite AIO liquid cooler size - cheaper than 360mm coolers while offering better performance per square inch - you just need a case that can accommodate the slightly larger fans. Normally getting a good AiO of this size costs around £100 to £180, but right now Amazon is offering the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 280R for half price: just £50. That's an awesome value for a high-performance CPU cooler that even includes RGB lighting.
So: why is this particular CPU cooler so heavily discounted? Basically, some early units had some reliability issues, and stopped working after a few months. MSI acted somewhat quickly to replace the affected units, but the negative press meant there wasn't much interest in the CoreLiquid 280R afterwards. MSI's since come out with a replacement, the C280 and the S280, but there are still a bunch of perfectly capable CoreLiquid 280R coolers sitting around doing nothing. Now, those units have been discounted to clear the shelves - and you can take home an underrated CPU cooler that should perform as well as models that cost twice as much.
Amazon is normally pretty good when it comes to returns and replacements, so if you do run into issues then you should be well catered for. Of course, you may well prefer to go with a model that doesn't have a spotty early history, in which case I have a few pocket picks to recommend - but of course, they do cost a fair bit more.
So there you are - bit of a different one here, but I hope you liked it regardless. Thanks for joining me, and let me know about these sort of slightly riskier deals - for me, I think the annoyance of potentially having to do a return is outweighed by the strength of the deal, but you now have the facts to make your own mind up.
Will Judd is a journeyman from the forges of Digital Foundry, here to spread the good word about hardware deals and StarCraft.
Subscribe and get access to supporter-only articles, an ad-free reading experience, free gifts, and game discounts. Your support helps us create more great writing about PC games.
Please enable JavaScript to see comments.
This 850W ThermalTake power supply is down to £60 at AWD-IT
An awesome price for an 80+ Gold modular PSU.
Get a Gigabyte RTX 3060 graphics card for £330 (was £390)
Want double the performance of a GTX 1060 or RX 580? Get this.
Get the HP Reverb G2 VR headset for $399 after a $200 discount
Comparable to the Valve Index for 40% of the price.
Get a good CPU + motherboard combo for less than £180 with these deals
Intel Core i3 12100F or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, you choose!
Today's Wordle answer (Saturday 25 June)
Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word
Extraneum is a bit Doom, a tiny bit System Shock, and a huge bit fun
Bring your slaughter to work day
An extremely thorough grading of the best rain in video games
According to sound, intensity, and even wetness
The best Genshin Impact Kuki Shinobu build
Learn how to put together the best possible Shinobu build in Genshin Impact
Extraneum is a bit Doom, a tiny bit System Shock, and a huge bit fun
Bring your slaughter to work day
Starfield's big reveal helped suppress my inner skeptic
Can't take me anywhere
Fear my tiny undead minions in Necrosmith
Necrosmith was actually the name of the scientist
Musical puzzler Sonority blends the logical and intuitive
We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes
Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes
Copyright © 2022 Gamer Network Limited, a ReedPop company.
All rights reserved. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder.