Custom PC - UK (2020-03)

A

s efficientasAMD’s7nmZen2 architectureis,

packing 24 coresundera Threadripper

heatspreaderis stillgoingtodemandsomehefty

cooling.If you’respendingupwardsof£1,350ona CPU,

you’renotlikelytobeshortofa bobortwoofcourse.Inwhich

case,whileAMD’sThreadripper3960Xand3970Xdishout

plentyofheat,you’lllikelyhavethefundstofinda powerful

andexoticliquid-coolingsolutiontodealwithit. However,not

allofusarekeenonoptingforliquidcooling.

AIOliquidcoolerscanhavepumpsthatarewhiny,andtheir

longevityis oftenbroughtintoquestiontoo,evenif leaksare

extremelyunlikely.Meanwhile,customwatercoolingis even

morenicheandexpensive.Sojustwhatareyouroptionsif

liquidcoolingisn’tforyou?

Well,thereareinfactsomeair-cooledoptionsforAMD’s

SocketTR4andTR4Xprocessors,suchasthisARCTIC

Freezer 50 TR,whichthecompanyclaimscandealwiththe

new 24 and32-core3rd-genThreadripperCPUs.There’s

evenbetternewstoo– it costsjust£60.

Forthatcomparativelysmallamountofcash,yougeta

monsterCPUcooler,equippedwithsnazzyRGBlighting,

one1,800rpm120mmfanandone1,700rpm140mmfan,

thelattertwoofwhichbothsportfluiddynamicbearings.

It’scloseto15cmwideanddeeptoo,but

sits165mmtall,soit’scompatiblewithall

butthemostheight-limitedATXcases.

Thewidthisa problemthough.There’s

only37.5mmmemoryclearance,which

meansmostRGB-equippedmodulesare

outofboundsandthere’sonly5mmorso

clearanceaboveultra-shortmodules

suchasCorsair’sVengeanceLPX.

Onefanis fixedatthefrontofa pairoflargeheatsink

stackswhiletheotherslotsintothemiddleofthem,once

you’veinstalledthemountingplatestotheCPU socket and

securedtheheatsink.Theplatesaresimpleto install, but

you’llneeda longscrewdrivertoreachthecooler’s mounting

screws.Theamountofthermalpasteincluded is

questionabletoo– it’sbarelyenoughtoensure proper

coverageoftheenormousCPUheatspreader. Also, the first

timeweinstalledthecentrefan,thebladeswere touching

theheatsink,withanensuinggrindingnoise.However,

reseatingit fixedthis.

WhenpitchedagainstourThreadripper3960X, the

Freezer 50 TRmanageda deltaT of60°C,with 82°C

reportedinAMD’sRyzenMastersoftwareafter a ten-

minutestresstest.OurTRX40customwater-cooling

systemwitha 360mmradiatormanageda delta T of just

48°C.Atfullspeedthecoolerwascertainlynot quiet, but

fromwithintheconfinesofa PCcase,it’snot unpleasant,

althoughif you’llbedealingwithhoursofheavy CPU

workloadseveryday,it’smaybenotthebest option. At low

loads,though,it wasinaudibleabovethethrum of the rest

ofthefansinthesystem.

Conclusion

TheARCTICFreezer 50 TRisn’t

particularlyquietwhenpushed,it’sa

littletrickytoinstallandoffersnextto

nomemoryclearance,soitsappeal

mightberatherlimited.Fora general-

purposestockspeedThreadripper

system,though,it’sa reasonable,and

veryaffordable,choicethatwilljust

aboutkeepyourmonsterCPUin

check,evenduringlengthymulti-

threadedworkloads.

ANTONYLEATHER

REVIEWS / CPU COOLER

VERDICT

A very affordable heatsink that just about

tames AMD’s new HEDT CPUs.

OVERALLSCORE

80 %

COOLING

31 / 40

FEATURES

16 / 20

DESIGN

15 / 20

VALUE

18 / 20

SPEC

CompatibilityAMD:SocketTR4,

SocketTR4X

Radiatorsize(mm)(withfans) 148 x

150 x 165(Wx D x H)

Fa ns1 x 120mm,1 x 140mm

Statednoise0.4sones

SNOWMAN
+Copeswith
AMD’s3rd-gen
ThreadripperCPUs

+Veryaffordable

+Quietbelow
mediumloads

SNOWSTORM

• Limitedmemory
  clearance


• Nolong
  screwdriver
  included


• Noisyatfullspeed.

SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

ARCTIC FREEZER 50 TR

/£60 inc VAT

DUALTOWER CPU COOLER FOR AMD THREADRIPPER

TEMPERATURE RESULTS

AMD SOCKET TR4X

ARCTICFreezerTR 50 60°C

Custom liquid cooling 48°C

0255075100

One fan is fixed at the front of a pair of large heatsink

R