Arctic Freezer i13 X CO

Introduction

Arctic is a familiar name in the PC cooling solutions business. Four models of the Freezer 13 X series have replenished the range of processor cooling systems in the Arctic. As you can understand by the name of the series, it is the successor of the Freezer 13 model introduced in 2010. The series includes Freezer A13X, A13X CO, i13X, and i13X CO models, the first two of which are designed for use with AMD processors, and the second two with Intel processors. The presence of CO characters in the model name indicates Continuous Operation. By the way, the original Freezer 13 also had a Freezer 13 CO variant. In addition to the standard versions with hydrodynamic slide bearing fan, the CO versions come with double ball bearing fan which we will test today. According to the manufacturer, this CO version is particularly well suited for continuous operation. The coolers are equipped with a black plastic cover, which hides the cooling fins. The heat sink supports TDP up to 150 W.

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The new Freezer 13 CO CPU cooler is available for Intel processors.

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Packaging & Contents

The cooler is packaged in a blue cardboard box. The front side is occupied by an overview image of the cooler, a reference to the 6-year warranty, while on the upper left corner there is the manufacturer's logo. On the lower side there is the name of the cooler.

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The back side of the box presents the main features of the cooler and the included fan.

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The sides of the packaging presents the full specifications of the cooler in seven different languages alongside a color diagram of the installation process of the cooler.

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Inside the packaging is another smaller brown cardboard box as well as the cooler itself.

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Included accessories are sparse but everything that you actually need, is included. Many manufacturers opt to bundle items that many users just don't need or want and this simply adds to costs. As you will see below, Arctic supplies a QR code with a link to the installation guide, a backplate, an Arctic compliments card, Intel mounting bracket plus screws for all of the supported Intel sockets.

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A Closer Look

The dimensions of the CPU cooler are 137 mm x 109 mm x 86 mm.

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The filigree body of the cooler has a total of 44 aluminium fins, each 0.4 millimetres thick.

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Moving back a bit we can now see that the sides of the fins are all closed keeping every last bit of air flow inside the cooler to maximize the heat transfer.

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The fins behind the fan are jagged. This design should make it easier for the fan to move the air through the fins.

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The cooling system comes equipped with a 92-mm fluid dynamic double bearing PWM-controlled fan. The fan runs at speeds between 300 and 2,000 rpm. The 92mm Arctic Cooling fan fits onto the front of the cooler with a nice shroud to ensure airflow. Aside from the fact that 92mm fans are a lot less plentiful on the market than the more standard 120mm fans, this unique shroud will make it very difficult to upgrade the fan at a later date.

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Inside the frame there is the five, sickle shaped, blades around the ARCTIC logo in the centre hub. A look inside the shroud shows the ARCTIC 90mm fan nestled inside.

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The connection is made using a 4-pin PWM cable.

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The black shroud uses a set of clips on both sides of the cooler to get its grip on the aluminum. The shroud is form fitted and can only go on the cooler in one way, so if you do have the need to clean the fan - it's really easy to do.

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The upper part of it is closed by the shroud. At the center of it we can see an Arctic logo.

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The Freezer i13 X CO uses three 6mm direct touch heatpipes. This ensures that the heat to be dissipated is transferred directly to the heatpipes without an additional material layer, and transported into the heatsink via the pipes. As the pipes make gentle sweeping bends from the bottom fin into the base, ARCTIC did it without deforming the pipes. At the base of this cooler the pipes are mated with the aluminum plate for mounting.Part of the mounting mechanism comes attached to the block for ease of installation.The contact to the CPU is established via a direct-touch surface. The heat-conducting paste MX-2, which is already applied ex works, is used here.

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Installation Process

When installing the Freezer i13 X CO, users will need to first prepare the backplate. Since the Freezer i13 X CO is Intel specific, there isn't any other back plate provided. Slide the screws into the right slot on the backplate to then use the rubber o-rings to secure them. At this point, you can position the backplate on the motherboard.

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Next, use the standoffs to secure the backplate to the motherboard. Then secure the mounting arms to the standoffs.

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Two centrally threaded holes are provided for spring-loaded screws on the cooler mounting bridge. With this, the heatsink itself is now properly secured.

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The final and easy bit is to attach the fan and plug it into the fan header. That's it, all done. Memory clearance is exceptional.

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Test System & Methology

Test System:

Cpu:Intel Core i7-6700K@4.4 GHz using only the multiplier and no extra volts
Motherboard:Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z170
Memory:16Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2666Mhz
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNova 1200 P2
Storage Drive: 3TB Seagate Barracuda
Boot Drive: SSD 850 PRO 2.5" SATA III 2TB
Chassis: Dimastech Bench Table Easy V2.5
Windows 10 64-bit


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Software:

Speedfan
CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
AIDA64 Engineer

I am testing the performance as follows:

Ambient temperatures are kept at 23C throughout my tests.
The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
Load temperatures are obtained after running AIDA64 Engineer′s for 30 minutes.



Temperature

Below is graph with comparison. The Intel 6700K has a TDP of 91W, so it's not really a cooker, but all performances are relative. As we compare those results against the crowd, the stock results are very respectable, and that is what ARCTIC intends for this cooler. This is made to be a stock replacement cooler, but with some potential left in it for those who may want to tinker a bit.

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Overclocked performance next and we have pushed the i7 6700K to 4.4Ghz. At 4.4Ghz, the i7 6700K is overclocked by 10%, so the test subjects will be worked hard compared to the stock results. The Arctic Freezer i13 X CO drops down a little here, though 78 degrees load is still a good score. Compared to other cooler we tested, the Freezer i13 X CO performed as a 120 mm-grade air cooler. It outperformed most 120 mm coolers by 1C to 3C, like the Raijintek Themis and Alpenfohn Ben Nevis. While playing the most demanding games you still shouldn't see as high temperature as we've achieved in AIDA64 Engineer test. Most games are balancing at about 50-70% processor load. Simply prepare that Arctic Freezer i13 X CO will let you overclock CPU above 4.2GHz.

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Noise Level

With the 90mm fan running right around 300 RPM I was able to get a reading of 35 dB.

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Once I got the fan spinning over 2000 RPM I was astonished to not see a bigger jump in the sound levels.


Final Thoughts

I wasn't sure what to expect from Freezer 13 X CO but at the end I'm really satisfied. Arctic's Freezer 13 already surpassed Intel's stock CPU cooling solutions, but with the Freezer 13 X CO, end users can enjoy even lower thermals without spending a huge amount of money. The Freezer 13 X CO hasn't topped any charts in our review, but it hasnt been at the bottom either. It's an uncomplicated CPU cooler, and has performance to offer for most Intel CPUs. With an installation height of 137mm, this CPU cooler will fit within all standard PC cases and will not restrict the height of your RAM in any way. The cooler comes with pre-applied MX-2 thermal paste to facilitate the mounting process.

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The Freezer 13 X is available in different versions, which should definitely be considered when buying. The Freezer A13X coolers are compatible with AMD AM4 sockets, while the Freezer i13X coolers are compatible with Intel LGA 115x, 2066, and 2011(-3). The Arctic Freezer 13X series is backed by a 6-year warranty and is available, starting at €22.99 for the Freezer A13X, €23.99 for the Freezer i13X, €24.99 for the Freezer A13X CO, and €25.99 for the Freezer i13X CO. The manufacturer warranty is six years. In the budget segment, tower coolers like the Freezer 13 X are a sensible consideration: They are inexpensive, but thanks to a 92 mm fan they are comparatively flat and therefore fit in almost any midi tower. Three heat pipes ensure that the cooling performance is better than that of the standard coolers supplied by the processor manufacturer, which enables quieter operation. Arctic kept these parameters with the Freezer 13 X CO.

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