ARCTIC Freezer 33 - 124mm Tower CPU Cooler for Intel & AMD, PWM Fan, New Fan Controller

Review for the Arctic Freezer 33 CPU CoolerBACKGROUNDI have an old Dell T1600 (Xeon E3-1245 CPU; Intel socket LGA1155 ) that’s used as a media server and like almost every Dell computer ever made, it runs very warm/hot. I replaced the stock case fan with a Noctua NF-A8 FLX Fan and also added a fan in the front. Those changes helped a lot but the CPU was still hovering around 150F with additional heat spikes when HandBrake was in use and the CPU was running at 100%. The spikes were still well below the CPU’s thermal throttle, but when Summer rolls around the temps will jump in my warm office - so it was time to try an aftermarket CPU cooler.Note the stock CPU cooler was functioning and the thermal paste had recently been replaced. Also, the 150F temp was duplicated on a second T1600, so I knew the problem was not a one-off. (Common issue. It's a Dell.) I monitor temperatures using Open Hardware Monitor and sometimes CPUID HWMonitor, which are within 2 degrees of one another on this computer.I read somewhere on the web the Freezer 33 just barely fits inside a T1600 case and was an easy install and that it screwed directly into the existing MB posts with, with no backplate needed. Since most CPU coolers will not fit in a Dell tower case, I decided to give it a try. -- Many thanks to whoever posted that tip.INCLUDEDThe Freezer 33 comes with (1) 120mm fan that can be used in either a push or pull orientation, with wires included for adding a second fan for a push\pull configuration. It also comes with MX-4 thermal paste, three sets of screws to adapt to various motherboards, some rubber spacers – and a 5-year warranty. There was no instruction booklet in the box, but none was necessary for my install. (It appeared that mine was an open-box\return)INSTALLATIONInstallation of the Arctic Freezer 33 cooler was dead simple. Clean the mating surfaces with alcohol, add a pea-sized amount of the included MX-4 thermal paste to the top of the IHS, attach the Freezer to the MB with the included screws and you're done except for connecting the power lead. For that I needed a 4-pin to 3-pin adapter. (Thanks Dell) The included backplate was not needed. [IHS=Integrated Heat Spreader, which means the metal case surrounding the silicon CPU chip.]Eazy-Peezy. Turns out the tip I read somewhere on the web was spot on, as the T1600 case cover fit back on with no room to spare. Much more time was spent worrying about the install than was needed for the actual install. If you watch some YouTube videos, you'll slap yourself on the forehead because the basic process is so darned simple.Complications with individual PC cases are what can make it interesting. But assuming the cooler will fit the CPU socket and the case, the most common mistakes are using too little or too much thermal paste with too much being the worst of the two, by far. A pea sized blob is all you need. If you over-do it, thermal paste will seep out all around the CPU, possibly with disastrous results. If you want to play it safe, you might want to try an Innovation Cooling Graphite Thermal Pad. As I recall, tests found on the Interweb show there’s only a 3 to 4 degree difference between one of those thermal pads and a good thermal paste. But really, there’s no need to buy a thermal pad, as a pea sized blob of the included paste will be fine.Tip:Old thermal paste should be completely removed. Use 91% alcohol and a (clean) coffee filter for cleaning those mating surfaces. The coffee filter is lint free and it has enough texture to help remove that old thermal paste. Neither the coffee filter or the 91% alcohol will leave any traces behind.RESULTSWith the CPU running at 100% on all cores, the Freezer 33 brought the temp down from ~150F to under 120F. That drop was completely unexpected and I'm sure is not the norm. But it does illustrate the inadequate stock CPU cooling provided by some mfr's. (thanks Dell) On top of the drastic temperature drop, the fan is very quiet – as in the computer sits on the desk next to me and I can’t hear it.WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS COOLER?Absolutely! It’s easy to install, with excellent results. Just be sure it will fit your CPU socket, and measure the clearances you need in your computer case. You might also search the web to see if anyone has installed this cooler in a computer with your model #. You may find confirmation on whether the cooler fits your computer, along with tips relevant to your installation.

I had planned to just use the stock 2600 cooler but the fan, while effective enough, was small and had to run at higher RPM a lot of the time, including during light browsing/video watching. After a few days, I installed the vanilla Arctic Freezer 33 and immediately noticed benefits in fan RPM and temps, not just with my CPU but also with my GPU and the rest of my case.Stock 2600 cooler:Idle/light load temps and RPM: 35C, 1,000 RPMFull load temps and max RPM: ~60C, 1,800 RPMArctic Freezer 33:Idle/light load temps and RPM: 28C, 600 RPMFull load temps and max RPM: ~52C, 1,200 RPMMy GPU temps also seemed to drop from about a max of 69C to ~65C once I installed the 33, I believe because this fan helped to push air through to the back cooler in a more direct, efficient manner.My PC is now significantly quieter and cooler. Overall, the 33 was absolutely worth the $28 purchase.

This CPU heatsink is great, really cool temps. Easy to install. The fan has a connector on the cable that you can plug another fan into and use a push pull on the heatsink if you add another fan. The fan is very quiet. Would highly recommend and the price is great. This is made for Intel and Ryzen, so you need to pay attention on how you hook it up depending what your CPU is. Don't worry if it doesn't run all the time, it is a passive fan and only runs when temps get hot, which also extends the fan life. Great job ARCTIC...

I have a HP OMEN 880-150t i7-8700. With the stock cooler, the CPU would hit 95C and thermal throttle. So I definitely needed to upgrade the cooler, but the problem is there's already a backplate apparently stuck to the back of the motherboard and there's no access cut out. I didn't want to risk damaging the motherboard to install a cooler that requires its own backplate like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Also, the case is only 7.5" wide and I estimate the CPU cooler clearance to be around 156mm, so a lot of other coolers probably won't fit. Fortunately, the backplate screw holes are standard Intel Socket LGA 1151 75x75mm M3 screws, which is what the Arctic Freezer 33 uses so it just screws straight in.My CPU temps now hit a max of 75C when playing games, so no more thermal throttling. The fan is quiet even at max 1350 rpm. It looks like an Arctic F12 PWM PST fan, but it has a feature where it doesn't start spinning until 40% PWM for semi-passive silent cooling at low load. However, my OMEN doesn't let me adjust fan speeds and it even gives a BIOS warning on startup that the fan is not spinning and it will shut down in 15 seconds unless you press enter to continue. So I will probably change to a different fan.Unfortunately, the first Freezer 33 I received had a dent in the fins, and on the replacement, the heat pipes were not machined flat on the base, so I deducted 1 star for these quality control issues.