Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme (Rev.2) CPU Cooler Review

1. Introduction2. The Cooler3. Installation4. Testing Methodology and Performance5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

The push-pin mounting mechanism that Arctic Cooling have used makes the installation process very simple indeed.  But we do feel that a cooler of this size should probably have a more substantial mechanism which includes a backplate to prevent too much strain on the motherboard.

The first step requires us to remove the fan from between the towers by squeezing the clips on either side.  Next we fixed the mounting bracket to the motherboard using the four push-pins.  The push-pins are supplied separately from the mounting bracket so they can be used for socket 775, 1156 or 1366.

Then it is a simple matter of screwing the tower down to the mounting bracket using the two provided screws on each side.  The final step of the process is to reinstall the fan and plug it into the motherboard header. Overall the installation process takes no more than a few minutes.

As the cooler doesn't require a backplate, it is perfect for use with cases which don't have cutouts in the motherboard.  It also saves us from removing the right side panel during installation, saving precious time.  Despite having two towers and a fan sandwiched inbetween, we experienced no compatibility issues with tall ram heat spreaders like we did with the Freezer 7 Pro.

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