Arctic Cooling Freezer 7
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Introduction
This is my first review so don’t be harsh. The Freezer series comprises of the latest HSFs offered by Arctic cooling. These new heatpipe coolers are currently available in 3 versions – The Freezer 4 (for socket 478 Pentium 4s), the Freezer 7 (for LGA 775 Pentium 4s) and the Freezer 64 (for socket 754/939/940 Athlon64s/Opterons ). In this review, we will be concentrating on the Freezer 7.
Despite its name, this isn’t a sub-zero cooler but is a somewhat large (if not heavy) HSF.
Arctic Cooling also claims that the Freezer is near silent in operation, as it uses their patented fan holder which practically eliminates the buzzing heard from conventional fans.
Specifications
Heat Sink: 92 x 72 x 120 mm
Fan: 77 x 77 x 42 mm
Overall Dimensions: 92 x 114 x 120 mm
Rated Fan Speed: 2500 RPM
Power Consumption: 0.16 Amp.
Air Flow: 36 CFM / 65 m3/h
Weight: 516 g
Noise Level: 1.2 Sone
Thermal Resistance: 0.19°C/Watt
So, is it any good? Lets see….
The cooler
The freezer 7 employs the use of 2 heatpipes to transfer heat away from the CPU. The heatpipes are surrounded by more aluminium fins than you can shake a stick at – 40 to be precise. These fins give the cooler a massive surface area, and combined with the heatpipes, should offer some serious cooling.
The base of the cooler is made from copper. The base itself is smooth, but isn’t shiny which should mean good thermal conductivity. The 2 heatpiipes are soldered to the base rather untidily – This wont affect its cooling, but ruins the look of it.
In the box
The box contains the cooler, an Arctic Cooling case badge, a tube of Arctic Cooling MX1 thermal compound and an instruction leaflet
Installation
Installing the cooler is so easy – even your granny could do it!! It employs the same mechanism used by the stock Intel heatsink. Firstly, clean off any thermal material present on the top of the CPU after removing the stock heatsink – A little lemon juice and vinegar helps. Apply a pea-sized amount of thermal compound onto the centre of the CPU and try so spread it into a thin even layer. Align the pins on the HSF with the holes in the motherboard (make sure it is positioned so the fan will blow air out the back of the case) and press down on them firmly until you hear a load “click”. Make sure this step is done properly as it takes quite a bit of force to secure the pins properly – if done incorrectly, you may end up with a fried CPU.
Performance
A review is never complete without some benchmarks and results!! Read on….
Test Rig
• Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz overcclocked to 3.904 GHz
• Abit AG8 ‘3rd eye’ motherboard
• 512 MB DDR400 RAM
• 300 GB Maxtor Diamondmax10 Hard drive
• Nvidia GeForce 6600GT
• Antec Plusview 1000AMG case
• 2 case fans blowing air out the back of the case
The cooler was installed with the Arctic Cooling MX1 thermal compound supplied with the cooler.
To test the cooler, we measured the temperature of the CPU and the RPM of the coolers using the Abit uguru ™ software under idle and load conditions. The idle temperature was measured 5 minutes after windows loads up – no applications running. Load temperatures were measured 5 minutes after running a single client of Folding@Home.
The Freezer 7 was up against the Intel stock HSF, which was running at its maximum speed (~2700 RPM). 2 readings were taken for the Freezer 7 – The first at its maximum speed (~2500 RPM) and the second, at the speed at which the cooler was virtually silent, which we found to be at 70% of its maximum speed (~1500 RPM).
The room temperature was kept constant at 22°C.
The results aren’t disappointing ….
When idle, the Freezer 7 managed to cool the CPU down to 38°C at full speed and 40°C when silent, compared to 43°C achieved by the stock HSF at maximum speed.
However, the Freezer 7 really shined under load - 51°C at full speed and 53°C when silent – That’s an astonishing 17°C cooler than the stock HSF which was struggling to keep the temperature under 70°C!!
The Freezer 7 is very quiet too – At full speed, it is quieter than the minimum speed of the Stock HSF and is practically silent at 70% of its maximum speed, while only compromising 2°C. The same can’t be said about the stock HSF – It is hardly capable of cooling and makes my PC sound like its got a turbo installed!! Its like the nutters you see around town on a weekend, with 1 litre Fiestas with a loud exhaust!! – All show, no go as I like to call it!!
Conclusion
The Freezer 7 does exactly what its name implies. At just £20.68 including p&p from
http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk , it’s a steal. Its near silent at full speed and can be made silent while only sacrificing 2°C. Its so good, that it even holds its own against some water cooling setups. Recommended.
Ashish Mohanty
© 2005
http://www.cpcff.co.uk
Just one thing - isn't this the Pro version?
