This, as the name suggests, is the second coming of the freezer xtreme. This is a dual tower design cooler, though you can not really tell this from the size of the cooler. Between the two towers sits a 120mm fan –which is a departure from the 92mm fan seen on the freezer pro series. The cooler weighs an almost anorexic 608 grams with a fan and measures 130x100x131mm (LxWxH). It will fit into almost any mid tower casing with a clearance of about ~135mm from the motherboard. The cooler has 4 “double sided” heat pipes and is rated for processors with a thermal profile of up to 160 Watts.
PACKAGING
The cooler comes in an all plastic case. This is something that has been seen before (e.g. Xigmatek’s Achilles’ cooler). There is little or no protection provided to the cooler in the plastic shell. Though unlike the Freezer 7 Pro, the fan is protected by the cooler itself, it is possible for the Aluminum heat plates to get bent or damaged during shipping.
The plastic case has a paper inlay that lists the features (cooling performance and noise generated) and the specs of the cooler at the back of the packing.
The base lists the features in languages other than English.
As I have already mentioned, the packing is mostly to prevent the contents from falling out. It serves little or no protective function. Even though this is cooler is not exactly a bank breaker, a little protection will probably result in fewer RMAs.
THE COOLER IN PERSPECTIVE
The Freezer xtreme rev 2 is a dual tower design cooler that is compatible with almost all Intel and AMD processor that currently exist. This includes all Intel LGA 775, 1156 and 1366 and AMD S754, S939, AM2, AM2+ and AM3 socket based processor. This means that this cooler can be used with processors as old as the original Athlon64 and the Intel Pentium 4 (beyond Northwood). That is certainly an exhaustive list. An even greater achievement is that the cooler supports all these processors this with a single mounting frame (for Intel processors; for AMD processors it uses the default mounting mechanism already installed on the motherboard) which can be installed on the motherboard without removing it from the case. This is due to the cooler being extremely light weight and hence does not require installation of a back plate to support its weight.
The dual towers are pierced by 8 heat pipes (arranged in pairs of 4). The fan is in center, just like the Noctua NH-D14 and Tuniq Tower. The heat sink base, made of pure copper comes pre-applied with Arctic Cooling’s own MX-2 thermal paste.
Two large “X” logos adorn the sides of the cooler. The fan holder also has large “X” logo on the top. You can say the fan is “X” rated!
THE COOLING TOWER
The cooling towers are each made of up 46 large and 5 small Aluminum plates. Thus there are a total of 102 plates. The smaller plates at the bottom of the cooling tower allow air to pass over voltage regulation circuitry and other components around the motherboard processor socket. The large plates have an area of 40.3cm2, while the smaller plates have an area of 29.5cm2. Each tower thus has a heat dissipation area of 4555cm2. Thus the two towers have a combined area of about 9019cm2. This is nearly double the heat dissipation area offered by the Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2.
The sides of the plates facing the fan cavity have serrated edges. This is a common feature among many modern coolers and is designed to minimize air turbulence as it passes through the heat plates. This reduces noise and improves cooling efficiency of the heat sink.
The sides of the cooling tower have a large “X” logo. This is mostly ornamental and probably serves no thermal function. There is a small cavity for the fan to lock onto at top of each of these plastic plates on the inside. It does look nice though!
THE HEAT PIPES
The unit has 8 heat pipes arranged in pair of 4s. Strictly speaking there are thus only 4 heat pipes. Each heat pipe has a diameter of 4mm. They are made of Copper and are not Nickel plated. They are soldered to the heat sink base and run in line through the heat sink. Each tower gets one set of 4 heat pipes.
They are not staggered as they pass through the heat plates, which might have improved heat dissipation.
HEAT SINK BASE
The base is comes pre-applied with Arctic Cooling’s MX-2 thermal compound. The base is made of pure copper and again is not Nickel plated.
Removing the compound reveals a super flat, “sanded” base. Though it doesn’t have a mirror finish it is relatively shiny. At the top of the base are the clips for installing the cooler to the mounting mechanism.
FAN
The cooler comes with a custom made 120mm fan. It consists of a round impeller inside of which the propeller is placed. The entire fan is black in color. The fan bears no air direction arrows, thus novices might insert the fan in the wrong direction within the cooler. As a general rule the labeled side always points towards the side where the air exits the fan.
The fan has a lock-on clip mechanism on the top. The holder, as has been mentioned before, has a large “X” logo.
As this is a custom made 120mm fan, it is not possible to slide in a traditional 120mm, without adding some form of support on the sides. The clip mechanism is molded onto the bundled fan. This is a pity as the cooling performance can easily be improved by adding a more powerful (albeit noisier) fan.
Rather than specifying the noise generated by the fan and the subsequent airflow in the traditional dBA units, Arctic cooling chose to use the lesser known “sone” unit. At its maximal rotational speed of 1500rpm the fan generates about 0.5 sone according to Arctic cooling. The stock Intel fan generates about 1.8 sone at 2850 rpm. .8 sone correspond to about 37 dBA.
The fan has 4 wire PWM speed control. It is rated for 37.5 cfm flow at its maximum rpm of 1500. It is rated for 800-1500 rpm operation.
For some odd reason Arctic Cooling decided not to sleeve the fan cable as they did on the Freezer 7 Pro. As the fan cable passes through the heat sink it is more liable to get damaged. I am not sure why AC took this decision.
COOLER IMPRESSIONS
The fan has a very basic construction like its main competitor the Cooler Master Hyper 212plus. No Nickel plating, visible solder joints. Unlike the hyper 212plus this is not a heat pipe direct touch cooler. Also unlike the hyper 212plus there are heat plate surface modifications to reduce noise and improve air flow. The construction quality is what you would expect for a budget product. The heat plates have “soft” edges, so one doesn’t get abraded fingers during installation.
ACCESSORIES
The cooler ships with a standard accessory package, which allows installation onto virtually all available Intel and AMD processors.
For Intel processors a mounting plate is included. For AMD processors, pair of lugs is provided which help latch the cooler on the standard AMD mounting mechanism. Simple yet effective.
The mounting plate for Intel processors is installed onto the motherboard from the front rather the usual back of the board. This is definitely welcome as it is not necessary to remove the board from the case to install the fan.
The plate fixes to the board by using a system of push pins. A push pin is inserted first which is then supported by a plastic unit.
The fan needs to be removed to mount the cooler on the base. A set of screws is used to fix the cooler onto the base. Once that is done the fan can be reattached to the heat sink.
As the unit comes pre-applied with thermal paste, one is not included in the accessories bundle.
There is also a nifty Arctic Cooling sticker in the package.
The accessories bundle is “sparse”, but that does not take anything away from the cooler. It gets the job done and gets it done well. The mounting system is definitely a welcome change from the usual remove the board before installation that is common place for most after market coolers.
INSTRUCTIONS
The unit ships with an instruction leaflet with diagrams and text. The diagrams are self explanatory. Most users, even novices will find that the cooler can installed by following the visual instructions provided by the diagram.
ONLINE RESOURCES
The web pages for this cooler follows the traditional Arctic Cooling website design lay out. There are 5 pages dedicated to this cooler. They are for the main features, specs, support, picture gallery and reviews/ rewards.
I can’t fault the web pages for their content, layout, grammar or comprehension. They are properly written and get the message across. Since the cooler will have minimal issues during installation I do not see many turning to online resource for help regarding installation. The support tab does list a series of spare parts including the fan and the entire accessory package. These can be bought from Arctic Cooling’s web-shop. This is a very good addition. Not only is Arctic Cooling cutting the middle man out thus increasing their margins, they are also providing a one stop shop for their customers.
OFFICIAL SPECS AND FEATURES
These are taken from Arctic Cooling’s Website
- • Unmatched cooling performance – 160 Watts
• Unique twin tower 102-fin heat sink design
• Effective heat dissipation via 4 double-sided heatpipes
• 1 ultra quiet 120mm PWM fan
• Patented fan holder eliminates the buzzing sounds
• Voltage regulators and north bridge cooling
• Pre-applied MX-2
• 6 Years Warranty
Heatsink 130L x 100W x 131H mm
Fan 120mm x 1
Fan speed 800 -1500 RPM (Controlled by PWM)
Air flow 35.7CFM / 60.7 m3/h
Maximum Cooling Capacity 160 Watts
Weight 608g
INSTALLATION
The cooler will be installed in a LGA 1156 based board and will be tested using an Intel Core i7-860 and a Core i3-530 processor.
*The images taken are from an installation on a Core i3-530 processor. Since the motherboard used in both the test systems the same, the installation process is similar as well.
THE MOUNTING MECHANISM
It is very easy to fix the mounting plate on the motherboard. After installing the processor, the mounting plate is placed over the mounting holes.
The mounting plate has pre-cut holes for all 3 contemporary Intel platforms: LGA 775, 1156 and 1366.
Once that is done the cavitated pushpins are inserted in the holes. Finally the plastic pushpins are used to fix the mounting plate to the motherboard.
HEAT SINK INSTALLATION
The fan is taken off the heat sink and is screwed onto the mounting plate.
Finally the fan is reinstalled and plugged into the motherboard PWM or 3 pin fan connector.
TEST SYSTEMS
The cooler was tested at default frequencies in addition to over clocked settings.. Arctic Cooling advertises this cooler as a “silent” replacement for the stock cooler, rather than a unit for high speed over clocking. Rather than running the heat churning Linpack test the standard OCCT test was run.
†There was 1C difference between testing with pre-applied MX-2 thermal paste and Arctic Silver 5 (AS5). As the AS5 result was better, it was used to benchmark this cooler.
RESULTS
Core i3-530
At stock speed the Xtreme just edges out the Freezer 7 Pro Rev2 (F 7P R2). Considering that the cooler is not really meant to compete against the big guns its performance is just okay. The almost similarly priced Hyper 212+ performs better, but is relatively more difficult to install.
At 3.60GHz the cooler is again at the back of the pack. It is able to complete the test though.
Core i7-860
The results pretty much follow those of the Core i3. Remember that the results are from the standard test, rather than the Linpack test. All the coolers are able to keep the cooler within thermal specifications.
CONCLUSIONS
The coolers strong points are its ease of installation and near silent operation. It is not audible at all over the default case fans in both builds. If the case fans are disconnected, the fan is still hardly audible, even if you sit right next to the case. The cooler costs about a 3500 PKR.
You won’t be breaking any over-clocking records with this cooler and neither is the product designed to do this. It is meant to be a near silent replacement for the stock solution while providing some room for maneuverability.
PROS
- Compact Design
- Silent operation
- Extremely easy to install
- Pre-applied Arctic Cooling MX-2
- Excellent for HTPC
CONS
- Not a cooler for those looking for a significant over clock
- Not very competitive on price performance with the Freezer 7 pro rev 2.
WCCF would like to thank PC Xtremist for sending in the review unit. For those who are not unaware, PC Xtremist is a hardware accessories on-line store operating out of Pakistan. They are local distributors for many well known brand names including Arctic cooling, Xigmatek, Lamptron and Antec to name a few. If you are looking to jazz up your PC with CCFLs, LED lights, fan controllers, fans etc be sure to look em up pcxtremists.
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