Unlike many computer component categories,
there is not much room for gimmicks with CPU coolers. The good coolers help
processors run longer than the lifespan of it. The cooling devices help it run
cooler under load and at a rate significantly higher than capital. But the best
cooling devices achieve all above goals without making your system shout as the
carrier during a military exercise. ARCTIC Freezer i30 is in the last category,
and we'll show you why.
When comparing a cheap cooling with a
cooling device designed for overclockers and computer enthusiasts, the first
thing you'll notice is the copper wire. ARCTIC deployed 4 8mm copper heat pipe
with U-shaped cross with 48aluminum grilles. Freezer i30 also includes a 120mm
PWM fan. At first glance, Freezer i30 looks like any other cooling equipment
that we have evaluated. Thing is much less common in the Freezer i30 is the
direct-touch heat pipe. Instead of using a separate piece of copper (or worse,
aluminum) between the CPU heat sink and heat pipe, ARCTIC has machined by the
heat pipe into a nearby flat surface, allowing thermal energy to move around a
single gap before the draw from the CPU. In the cooling fan uses the same basic
design but runs the heat pipe through a solid contact with the CPU, heat has to
make two transfers prior to the most effective part of the fan.
Freezer i30 is compatible with Intel
socket: LGA1156, LGA1155, and LGA2011. Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard
uses in our test system has 4 strips of memory layout on the east side of the
CPU socket, and the result is that the Freezer i30 fan is not cooling them.
Fortunately, the ARCTIC mounting hardware enables you to direct the heat (and
so is the fan) in any direction, so we chose Freezer i30 set to push air up the
chassis top, where a fan in the upper panel supports it to dispel heat.
ARCTIC 120mm PWM fan is capable of
operating at very low noise, thanks to the quiet impeller, the rubber vibration
damping stick fan with fan clamp, maximum speed 1350rpm is quite slow. Inherent
fan of Intel Core i7-2600K is equipped with a much smaller fan and have to
shoot at speeds above 2000rpm to keep up. Although we have checked Freezer i30
with 95W processors, this cooler has cooling capacity up to 320W; it will be
enough to cool your overclocking Intel Core i7-3960X.
To test Freezer i30, we installed it on
Core i7-2600K and using heat sink the MX-4 of Freezer i30 for inherent Intel
and Freezer i30 cooling devices. We ran Prime95 and POV-RAY on all 4 cores and
record the temperature by using RealTemp. In idle mode, two coolers keep the
processor at temperatures below 40 degrees C, on average. Under load, Freezer
i30 is really shine, 20 degrees C cooler than inherent cooling device. If that
is not enough impressive, Freezer i30 also do it while reducing a few decibels
noise.
When you consider the incredible 320W
power, nearly silent operation, 6 years warranty, and very accessible price,
Freezer i30 is bargain whether you consider it in any way.
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Freezer i30
Price: $49,95
Driver: Forceware 280.26
Specifications: Socket compatibility: Intel
LA1155/1156/2011; materials: copper (heat pipes), aluminum (grille); size:
6.3 x 5.5 x 3.9 inches (HxWxD); fans: 1 120mm PWM (200 to 1350rpm); air flow:
74cfm; noise: 0.3 Sone (at a speed of 1350rpm)
Specifications of the test system: Processor:
Intel Core i7-2600K (at 3.4GHz clock) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X68X-UD3H-B3;
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 580; RAM: 16GB Patriot Division 4 DDR3-1600;
storage: 128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; PSU: FSP Group Aurum CM 750W.
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Test result (°C)
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Inherent cooler Intel Core i7-2600K
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ARCTIC Cooling Freezer i30
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Intel
Core i7-2600K
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Idle
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Download
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Idle
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Download
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Core temperature 0
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37
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73
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41
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54
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Core temperature 1
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43
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77
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38
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58
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Core temperature 2
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36
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73
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34
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53
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Core temperature 3
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39
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72
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36
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54 |
