Superb Budget Cooler (Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro)

Member Name: nemesis2004

Product:	Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Date:	27/08/08 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very quiet when idle, comes with thermal paste, good conductivity

Disadvantages: Quite noisy at higher RPMs, tricky to install

Cooling fans are one of the more important components in any modern computer but at the same time are commonly overlooked by people looking at building a new computer. Long gone are the times when a centimeter slab of metal could be dropped onto your CPU, and you wouldn't have to worry about cooling; instead you're looking at strapping a block of carefully constructed aluminium that sits like a skyscraper on your motherboard and a huge fan just to stop the little silicon chip beneath it exploding. Think of it like the radiator in a car.

The reason CPU heatsinks and fans are usually overlooked is because any modern CPU comes with one bundled when you buy it - known as a 'stock unit'. These units are usually cheaply made and designed to ensure that the chip stays stable, with little regard to the noise they produce. However they allow you to install the CPU out of the box without having to buy any additional parts. Thankfully, there is an alternative.

What does it do?

The Freezer 7 Pro is designed to replace that stock unit with an alternative heatsink and fan which is more effective at cooling your system. It's going to do a better job at conducting the heat away from your CPU and dissipate it using the heatsink. The design of the unit allows for a better airflow at a higher rate (measured in CFM - Cubic Feet per Minute), and because of this the fan does not need to spin as fast as a stock fan usually would, resulting in less noise being produced.

Why would I want one?

This product should be attractive to anyone who is looking to reduce the noise output from their system or improve the cooling of the CPU. If you own a PC built from a major company such as Dell or Acer, you're probably going to find that your current unit does a very good job and this product will not be much of an advantage to you, as they're usually well designed to match the case the computer is housed in and the typical operating temperature of the chip underneath. If however, you're looking at the prospect of having to use a stock fan bundled with a CPU, you should seriously consider buying one.

On first inspection

Wow! It's big. It's much bigger than the stock fan, and it's a completely different design to the stock fan. Instead of the heatsink being pressed against the CPU with the fan on top, the Freezer 7 Pro has heatpipes to conduct heat away from the CPU and the fan lies to the side to blow the air towards the back of the case.

The unit also has conductive paste (sometimes called thermal paste or thermal glue) already attached to the bottom, which saves a lot of bother as it's really easy to forget to buy a tube with a new fan! The conductive paste make sure there's a clean contact between the cooler and the CPU.
There's some bent pins at the bottom, which the box claims blows air onto the transistors and voltage regulators on the motherboard.

And finally: a crumpled piece of paper which is meant to be an installation guide, although it's not very clear.

How easy is it to install?

The Freezer 7 Pro fits any Socket LGA 775 motherboard and processor. This includes, but is not limited to, the Celeron D, Pentium 4, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors. There's some advantages and disadvantages to the Socket 775 design which affects the Freezer 7 Pro, so here's some tips I learnt whilst installing mine that may be helpful:

Firstly, unlike some other coolers, you'll find that you won't need any additional clamps, frames or attachments to get the unit on your motherboard. There are 4 clips which are to be pushed into place when the heatsink is in place, which will clamp the unit to the board.
Secondly, the fan is designed to unclip from the heatsink to make it a bit easier to get onto your board. Make sure that you've got it facing the right way, the fan should face the FRONT of your case.

Thirdly, if you haven't installed one of these before, you'll probably find it's a little tricky to make all four feet attach at the same time. It's best to attach them in diagonal pairs - you're also less likely to put excessive strain on your board or components like this.
Finally, DON'T twist the clips! The way it comes in the box is the way it should be installed. You only twist the clips when you want to take it off your motherboard. It's an utter nightmare trying to fix it to the board if you accidently twist the clip - it usually involves having to take the whole thing off again!

If you haven't installed one before, you're probably going to find it quite difficult. There certainly is a technique to it. What you should be wary of is that even if it feels fairly secure, if one of the pegs is slightly loose, the unit will have a very minimal effect. If you find that your computer shuts down suddenly after installing it, it's probably because it's not secured properly and the chip has overheated.

How does it perform?

After finally getting it in place, I turned on my computer expecting the drone of my old fan. I knew I needed a new fan when I could hear my old one through my headphones - with music on! - but I couldn't even hear this one at all. I needed to take the side off my case to be convinced that the fan was actually spinning! Needless to say, the fan is quiet... really quiet! By using the program SpeedFan (available free, search Google), I was able to determine that the fan idles at about 925 RPM and my CPU temperature was 56c - with the stock fan it was 60c. Without a doubt, the Freezer 7 Pro is more effective at cooling the processor.

I was seriously impressed with the noise level when the computer was idle but the real test would be how well the cooler performed when under stress. To test this, I ran a game without the sound and listened to how much the noise output changed. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed. As the fan used four pins, it can use PWM to adjust the fan speed based on the processor temperature and the fan gets quite noisy when it goes about 1500 RPM, but still a lot quieter than the stock fan. I never noticed the fan speed reach it's upper limit of 2500 RPM, yet it still managed to keep my CPU below 70c.

Some advertised statistics and specifications

Heatsink Dimension: 104 (l) mm x 58 (w) mm x 126.5 (h) mm
Fan Dimension: 107 (l) mm x 43.5 (w) mm x 96 (h) mm
Cooler Dimension: 107 (l) mm x 96.5 (w) mm x 126.5 (h) mm
Fan Speed: 900-2500 RPM
Air Flow: 45 CFM
Bearing: ARCTIC Ceramic Bearing
Weight: 520g
Noise Level: 0.9 Sone
Thermal Resistance: 0.17 degrees c/w

Conclusion

Whilst maybe not suitable for overclocking, if you're looking to make your computer a lot quieter, you should really consider the Freezer 7 Pro. In comparison to similar products, it's relatively cheap but really does perform as well as units twice the price - especially when you can pick this product up from as low as about £12 if you shop around.


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Summary: For the price it is astronishingly good. Highly recommended.