Arctic Cooling Duo: Alpine 7 & Freezer 7 Pro Attack Value
by Wesley Fink on January 29, 2008 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
The Arctic Coolers
Both the Alpine 7 and the Freezer 7 Pro use a frameless 92mm fan, but the output and bearing design differ by model. The frameless fan is a design feature that distinguishes Arctic Cooling designs.
The fan mount is also a trademark feature. AC coolers use elastomeric mounts to isolate the fan and reduce noise levels. This is true even on the $12 entry-level Alpine 7 (with PWM) cooler. The frameless fan with elastomeric mounts is a similar design on both coolers, but there little else is the same. The Alpine 7 is a one-piece aluminum block; it uses a traditional down-facing fan, much like the Intel retail cooler and other entry-level coolers.
The Alpine 7 consists of several models. Our test unit is the Alpine 7 (with PWM), which is basically an Alpine 64 with a custom cage for mounting on Socket 775. This model will mount on any current AMD or Intel socket. Other models are the Alpine 64 Pro for Intel 775 only and the Alpine 64/Alpine 64 (with PWM) for AMD only. All these variations use a heatsink that is basically the same and a down-facing fan with the same fan specifications. Performance should be the same across these coolers. Arctic Cooling also has a smaller cooler with a smaller 80mm fan where small size is important, the Alpine 7 GT.
The midrange Freezer 7 Pro is a side-mounted heatpipe tower. Three vertical heatpipes are looped through a heavy base and support horizontal aluminum cooling fins. Airflow exhausts toward the rear fans in the case. All the top performing coolers tested in recent months at AnandTech use a heatpipe tower design.
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vailr - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
The "photo gallery" from CES (Jan. 2008) included a photo of Arctic Cooling's "Freezer Xtreme". Any idea when that CPU cooler will be available?I have a screen capture of the photo, but can't locate it on Anandtech.com for posting the link.
It's an "8-pipe cooler that only weighs 600 grams".
vailr - Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - link
Found the link:http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=521">http://www.anandtech.com/GalleryImage.aspx?id=521
Cardio - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
"In fact, they are so good at stock performance that it is easy to recommend one of these coolers as a way to extend your CPU life even if you have no intention of overclocking."Really, has anyone ever had to extend the like of a stock cpu?
I have never even seen a stock cpu that failed due to age. They last lots longer than their useful life.
teohhanhui - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I've been using the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for about half a year now. It's mostly quiet and cool, even with my Pentium D 830. Recently, the dust collecting in my Cooler Master Centurion 5 case has caused the CPU to overheat under 100% load(and that powered off the PC). Anyhow, I 'd definitely recommend it to anyone using a stock Intel HSF, especially for the extremely hot Pentium D's.I'm glad that AnandTech finally reviewed it. Why didn't you highlight the fact that the Freezer 7 Pro beats every other coolers tested so far at AnandTech at stock speed(at both idle and load, in both aspects of temp. and noise)?
Tuvoc - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
At long last you tested the Freezer 7 Pro !!These are simply outstanding coolers for the price.
My Q6600 at 3.0GHz stays under 60C on all cores at full load per Coretemp, in total silence with fan rpm barely breaking 1,000 rpm. There is simply no need for a cooler any better for this level of CPU performance.
My QX6700 is a different story - there the Freezer 7 Pro kept the cores at a within-spec 70C but with the fan at 2,600 rpm and with associated noise. I replaced that with a Thermalright 120 Extreme, and that CPU now runs at 3.0Ghz with core temps under 60C. At least a 10 degree drop compared to the Freezer 7 Pro.
So, Freezer 7 Pro does have it's limitations, but for all but extreme overclocking, or the B3 core quads, it is all 99% of people will ever need.
Glenn - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I have a Freezer Pro over top of a E6750 at 3.3ghz. Runs very cool and quiet. I also have the alero on the vid card and use Artic fans to cool the case. Overall a very quiet system. The only noise I get is from the Earthwatts 380 power supply which is comparativly quiet to other PS's.Interestingly, I used the Artic Freezer on my other system with a Q6600 Quad Core running at 3.4 prior to replacing it with a Tuniq Tower! I really spent the extra $ for the tuniq for nothing! Although the temps were down by about 3C across the board, it didn't allow for any higher overclock! Plus I pick up more noise to get those lower temps!
My first experience with Artic came with the imported coolers for the original Slot A K7 CPUs and I have always been impressed with their engineering and quality. The keep a very high standard and I doubt I will venture far from them in the future as long as that continues!
imaheadcase - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
You should mention in article this is also good for OC. This is the cooler most get to overclock the 1.86ghz c2d over 3ghz.Not sure why you said it was good for just stock cooling..its great for OC.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
We also tested and reported overclocking on page 8, and the coolers are fine for moderate overclocking. It is just that neither cooler comes close to the top overclockers we have tested. The Alpine 7 dissipates 90W, and the Freezer 7 Pro dissipates around 130W. The top Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme performance shows it is dissipating around 165W. Most of the top air coolers we have tested dissipate 150W or more.Polynikes - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
This is a pretty old product to be reviewing... I've had my Freezer 7 for well over a year, and I'm sure it had been around a bit before that.That said, it is by far the best bang for the buck HSF you can get. Those giant towers may cool better, but they're huge and are hard to get in even some fairly large cases, and are much more expensive.
Manch - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I have the Antec 900 case with the giganto fan up top can it be mounted to blow upwards? I wonder if the freezer pro 7 would even better? Either way