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
Cooling at Stock Speed
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. We compile all temperature benchmarks with CoreTemp, a public domain utility that is quite stable with reproducible results on the Intel platform. This required retesting a cross-section of the best coolers evaluated so far at AnandTech. To better document performance in the large speed gap between 2.93 GHz and 3.73 GHz, we added the intermediate value of 3.33 GHz to all test results during the retest of the coolers.
Performance at stock idle is amazing for the Alpine 7 - a cooler that costs less than $15. The Freezer 7 Pro does slightly better, but both perform much better than you might expect at this price point. Where the very good Intel stock air-cooler keeps the X6800 at 31C at idle, the Alpine 7 reduces that to 25C and the Freezer 7 Pro is one degree lower at 24C. This compares to the top Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme at 24C, Corsair water-cooling at 24C, Swiftech water-cooling at 27C, and ZEROtherm Nirvana at 23C. In comparing results, please keep in mind the test results from the new cooling bed using CoreTemp are not directly comparable to earlier cooling results.
It is more difficult to simulate all the various stress conditions a computer may encounter in different operating environments. For most home users, contemporary gaming is one of the most demanding CPU (and system) applications. Therefore, our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. We loop the Far Cry River demo for 30 minutes and capture the CPU temperature with CoreTemp's "logging" option. We report the highest temperature during the load test. We ignore momentary spikes and report a sustained high-level temperature that you are likely to encounter in this type of scenario. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT, another respected program for thermal measurements.
We next compare cooling efficiency of the Arctic Cooling HSFs under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently retested CPU coolers.
The Freezer 7 Pro turns in an outstanding performance under load at stock speeds. CoreTemp results are 35C, which is one of the best air-cooling results tested so far at AnandTech. The Alpine 7 is also a terrific performer under load at 40C. This sub-$15 cooler is a significant improvement over the stock Intel fan, which reaches 50C under load at stock speed in our cooling test bed.
If you do not plan to push overclocking to the extreme, the Freezer 7 Pro is an outstanding choice. The stock performance at idle and load is among the best we have tested - matching or coming in a bit better than the Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme. The Alpine 7 is frankly cheap to buy, but it still significantly outperforms the stock Intel cooler at stock speeds. These reasonably priced coolers from Arctic Cooling are great choices if you want better cooling at standard CPU speeds.
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spidey81 - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I was looking into the Freezer 64 Pro for an AM2/AM2+ build and was wondering if anyone knew if the performance for the AMD version performed similarly. I noticed the specs seem to be slightly different as the 64 Pro fan maxes out at only 2200 rpm pushing 40 cfm where the 7 Pro maxes out at 2500 rpm pushing 45 cfm. They appear to be of the same design varied only by the mounting hardware. Any input would be greatly appreciated.Martimus - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I have a Freezer 64 Pro. It dropped the temps on my CPU by 10C instantly from a Zalman 7000. It now runs 20C cooler after the Thermal compound cured. It is definitely a nice heatsink, although it is difficult to attach unless you remove the MB from the case.mixim - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
The design is exactly the same, only the fan circuits differ to reduce the max fan rpm, this because AMD has put out low-watt CPU's for a couple of years now , when the Intel version should still be able to cope with Pentium 5/D's and so on...The lower maximum RPM will help with the fans longevity, but actually in my C2D system it has never went up to full speed anyway...
dlock13 - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I cannot find the Freezer 7 anywhere under $25. I can't find it anywhere under $30. I checked Newegg and their price is $32.I am really in need of a new heatsink, and this is just perfect.
Spanki - Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - link
It's $24.99 here: http://www.svc.com/acfzp7.html">http://www.svc.com/acfzp7.htmlor.. you can save some bucks and get the Cooler Master Hyper Tx 2 (same or better performance than the Freezer Pro 7 - slightly larger, quieter, slower spinning fan) for $9.99 at the same place: http://www.svc.com/rr-pch-s9u1-gp.html">http://www.svc.com/rr-pch-s9u1-gp.html
BladeVenom - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
Newegg has it on sale for $21.99 quite often. It can also usually be found for $21.86 on sale at eWiz.75below0 - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I understand there's a new test bed and temp utility, but +7C for the Ultima 90 w/SFLex under load compared to last review seems inordinately steep...Anyone have any comparisons of CoreTemp vs. NVIDIA Monitor and/or Intel TAT (Thermal Analysis Tool) ?
whatthehey - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
The motherboard and BIOS change among other things so the fan speeds may not ramp up as soon but when they ramp up they might do so to a larger amount. Look at the Intel stock cooler which drops from 56C to 50C with the new testbed. They covered a lot of the changes here:http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...">http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...
If you look at the results you'll see that TAT and CoreTemp both register higher than the old EVGA board by several C. Meanwhile the Ultra 120 X goes from 36C to 42C idle and 47C to 59C load. Obviously there are lots of variables. I'm not sure what margin of error is with CoreTemp and such either but it may be several C.
The important thing IMO is to look at noise levels and max OC along with temps. Nothing exists in a vaccuum so don't focus on one metric.
phaxmohdem - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
I just ordered the Freezer 7 yesterday night... before this article came out. I feel WAY better now about my decision... though it is going onto a Pentium-D which may insult it :PRamarC - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - link
freezer 7 pros are great for pentium Ds. i've got a 3.4ghz pd945 that it keeps in the mid 50s. warm? yes, but quiet since the mobo only asks the freezer to spin at 500rpm.i can't believe it took anandtech this long to review the freezer pro 7 considering mine is pushing 2 years old now.