Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Rev.2) CPU Cooler Review

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

Here at KitGuru we spend a lot of time looking at high end  products so it's easy to forget about the cheaper products at the other end of the market.  Many people aren't interested in how many megahertz they can squeeze out of their top-end i7-980X CPU with the mammoth Noctua NH-D14 cooler and simply want a cheap alternative to a stock cooler to improve longevity and possibly achieve a modest overclock.

Arctic cooling is renowned for producing some of the finest cooling kit on the market. They are often the choice of companies such as Sapphire to cool their top-end Radeon 5970 graphics card (modified Accelero Xtreme).  Additionally, Arctic Cooling's MX-3 thermal compound is widely regarded as some of the best on the market and is the choice of enthusiasts across the globe.

Today we are going to look at the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU cooler which can be bought for a modest £16 – almost a quarter of the price of the Noctua high end NH-D14 ‘Austrian Sandwich' cooler.  This price sets it up to be a perfect companion to those looking for a budget friendly CPU cooler but we shall see how it performs in our tests before we give a definitive verdict.

Features

• Compatible with Intel Core i7 and Core i5, as well as AMD sockets
• Excellent cooling performance – 130 Watts
• Ultra quiet 92mm PWM fan
• 6 heatpipes and 42 fins for efficient heat dissipation
• Patented vibration absorption to eliminate buzzing sounds
• Pre-applied ARCTIC MX-2

Specification

Dimensions	104 x 58 x 126.5mm (LxWxH)
Fan	92mm
Fan speed	900 – 2500 RPM (PWM Controlled)
Airflow	45 CFM / 77m3/h
Max. cooling capacity	130W
Bearing	Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Weight	520g
Warranty	6 Year

The Freezer 7 Pro is supplied within a modestly-sized clear plastic packet that is moulded closely to the cooler's form.  This would give us an idea of the size, shape and design of the cooler if we were looking at it on a shelf in a retail outlet.  On the front of the packet there is a rather lonely looking list of compatible CPUs and sockets.

On the reverse of the packaging we find some more detailed information about the cooler within. This packaging is unlikely to provide much protection to the cooler but this isn't a massive issue as most etailers will ship it inside an outer box.

Inside the packaging we find some mounting accessories alongside a brief installation sheet and an Arctic Cooling case sticker.  The Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal compound is preapplied to the block so there is no need for a sachet or syringe.  This will also speed up the installation process and minimise the margin for error in application of thermal compound.

The Freezer 7 Pro consists of a stack of 46 aluminium fins and three 6mm U-shaped copper heat-pipes with a copper block at the base of the cooler. Part of the mounting mechanism comes attached to the block for ease of installation.

The 92mm Arctic Cooling fan fits onto the front of the cooler with what looks to be a unique mounting mechanism.  Aside from the fact that 92mm fans are a lot less plentiful on the market than the more standard 120mm fans, this unique mounting mechanism will make it very difficult to upgrade the fan at a later date.  Also, the rear of the cooler is curved so there is no chance that an additional 92mm fan could be added for a push-pull configuration.

Installing the Freezer 7 Pro isn't a very cumbersome task at all.  As the cooler is quite lightweight in construction, Arctic Cooling have used a push-pin mounting system, similar to the Intel stock coolers.

First of all we are required to install the retention bracket onto the motherboard.  This is a simple matter of aligning the bracket over the holes, inserting the push-pins and then clicking them into place.  As the cooler supports both 775 and 1156 as well as 1366, the push pins aren't pre-attached which can make installation a little fiddly if you put the pin in the wrong hole accidentally.

Next we have to unclip the fan from the front of the cooler so we can screw it down to the retention bracket.  Two screws later and the fan is ready to be put back on.  The last step is to plug the fan into the motherboard header.

Even though the Freezer 7 Pro is a very small cooler, the fan protrudes quite a long way which could interfere with RAM on some motherboards.  On our Asus P6T we found that the RAM (in the outside slot) touched the fan guard and consequently the RAM stick didn't sit quite upright in the slot.  This said, mounting the cooler vertically rather than horizontally should rectify this problem.

Although the Freezer 7 Pro is supplied with MX-2 paste pre-applied, we replaced this with MX-3 for our testing to ensure a fair comparison with the Intel reference cooler.

Test System:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
Intel Reference Cooler
Arctic Cooling MX-3 Thermal Compound

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (D0)
Motherboard: Asus P6T Motherboard (3x 2GB)
RAM: 6GB Corsair DDR3-1600 Coolit ECO A.L.C.
PSU: Corsair HX850W PSU
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm Samsung F3 (HD103SJ)
Case: Cooler Master 690 II Advanced

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Prime 95 (64-bit)
Everest Ultimate

Room temperatures were kept at an ambient 22c which mirrors realistic temperatures for a wide range of room environments.  We left our test system idling on the desktop and after 30 minutes the idle temperatures were recorded. The CPU was then loaded for 30 minutes using Prime 95 and the load temperatures were recorded.  The temperatures were recorded using Everest Ultimate and the displayed values were the average of the four cores.

The results we achieved with the Freezer 7 Pro really support it as a viable upgrade from the Intel reference cooler recording a 3.5 degree improvement when idling and a staggering 16.5 degree improvement in load temperature.  We were also able to achieve a modest overclock of 3.4 GHz with the cooler, achieving similar temperatures to the standard clocked CPU with the Intel Reference cooler.

Our tests show that this cooler is a decent option to reduce your temperatures to increase the longevity of your CPU but will also allow you some headroom for overclocking.

The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Rev. 2) performed very well in our tests for a cooler at this price point and it certainly does make a strong upgrade option when compared to the Intel reference cooler.  It will be perfect for users who want a little extra performance out of their system with a mild overclock or for users wanting a cooler running processor.  The devilishly simple installation process also makes it appropriate for less-advanced users who may not have installed a CPU cooler before.

Unfortunately we weren't able to test the noise produced by the cooler quantitatively but it was almost inaudible over the rest of our test system and is certainly among the quietest of coolers we've tested.

The combination of impressive performance and decent build quality is a steal as it can be had for a mere £16 in the UK right now. The Freezer 7 Pro certainly isn't going to break the bank and is within reach of even the most budget-minded customers.

KitGuru Says: The Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is a great cooler for the price and is a worthwhile upgrade from the standard Intel cooler.

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