TechRadar Verdict
Pros
- +
Compact and efficient
- +
Good value
- +
Quiet fan
Cons
- -
Mediocre fittings
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The Revision 2 nomenclature for ARCTIC's Freezer 7 indicates that LGA 1156 compatibility has been added, alongside pretty much every other standard.
On paper, it should cope with our i7 920 test system, despite the cooler's relatively diminutive size. It has three 6mm heat pipes and we did wonder if it was really up to the task.
The 9cm PWM fan fits neatly over one side and is mounted on rubber springs, a patented technology apparently. Its most obvious rival is the popular Hyper 101 from CoolerMaster.
The Freezer 7 boasts a "unique mounting system", which is no great loss to the rest of the world because it's nothing special. It includes a mounting bracket that fits onto the board.
This is secured by little plastic push-pins that don't look like the most robust of fittings. They certainly don't like being removed much, although you probably won't be taking it off again unless you change coolers altogether.
The cooler itself then screws down onto this with two inadequate-looking screws. This does at least make it easy to get at your processor again if required. It all held together well enough, but wasn't the best-engineered system we've seen.
Despite our misgivings, the Freezer 7 coped with our i7 920 system perfectly adequately, so it's certainly an efficient design.
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At idle it ran at 49.5 degrees, which rose to a little over 65 degrees under full load. The much bigger Tranquillo managed 45 and 58 degrees by comparison, whilst the similarly-sized CoolerMaster Hyper 101 lagged behind at 51 and 73 degrees.
It goes to show that you don't necessarily need a great tower of fins. In all but the more extreme overclocking applications, this should be plenty good enough.
The Freezer 7 is good value, lovely and quiet, and has a solid reputation. Its size counts against it for more demanding applications. If that's your path then you'll need to go bigger and badder. Otherwise the Freezer 7 is the pick of the compact designs.