Freezer 7 Pro, Overclocking, and dBa...

[hyprxtension]

So I have a new system I put together recently:

Core 2 Duo E6420
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P5K Vanilla
Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC2-8500 5-5-5-15
eVGA 7800GT (with Arctic Cooling X1)
Corsair HX520 PSU

and it's fairly quiet with everything on stock, much to my chagrin. Started pushing up the FSB and turned off QFan to push the Freezer 7 Pro to max RPM and have it stable now at 3.25 ghz (8x406) at 1.35 vcore, but I'm very concerned about the temps. Everest/Sandra are saying my temps are the following:

Mobo: 53C (what!)
CPU: 42 idle / 64 load (Orthos/OCCT)

And this thing is pretty loud (by far the loudest component in my system) when going full speed. Now I know the Freezer 7 Pro isn't exactly the highest performing cooler out there, but I read all these random forum posts around the web where people report low 30s idle and 50s load OC'ing on the same HS. I want to call bluff on some of these reports that I hear (especially when the source is Newegg review who tell you to remove the MX-1 paste... sigh) but should I be concerned?

I've been looking at the Big Typhoon VX -- it's the usual dilemma, OC'ing and keeping noise down... I've already tried remounting the Freezer 7 a few times but those stupid plastic pins don't look like they want to take any more punishment. Is quiet and high performing air cooling nearly impossible on these C2Ds?

Any guidance would be fantastic here. Thanks!

 

[Bill Kunert]

I have the AMD version of this cooler and found the heatsink to be concave and not making good contact with the center of the heatspreader which was also concave. I lapped both and lowered my idle temps from about 35-38 degrees to under 30 degrees. My load temps were appreaching 67 degrees. They are now well under 60 degrees. My processor is an AMD X2 3800+@2.65GHz

 

[swtethan]

On a 90 degree day, in a air conditioned room (cold cold cold) I got my big typhoon (with a 110cfm silverstone) to idle 32c. I have the cpu and hsf lapped to a mirror finish and the intake and exhaust fans at low speed (very quiet) even the AS5 has not had 200 hours yet to set. The BT is a very good cooler, but not with its stock fan .

 

[swtethan]

Right now the ambient room is 77F (damn I didnt know it was this warm in here) but the cpu is 37c on lowest speed (800rpm) with TAT load, im sitting at 68c, but thats more than anything could stress this cpu.

 

[hyprxtension]

How's the Scythe Ninja Plus? I looked at the Tuniq/Ultra-120 but I don't know if I want to drop 60-70+ on a quiet HS/FAN...

 

[swtethan]

ninja needs a better fan, anandtech has a review with the ninja included, one of the more recent cpu cooler reviews

 

[hyprxtension]

Also considering the Noctua NH-U12F for what it's worth...

 

[Zardnok]

I used the Freezer 7 Pro in a recent build for my cousin and was considerably underwhelmed. The temps were high, even though the CPU was lapped. I decided since it was for my cousin, I would replace the F7P with a Ninja. I am trying to decide if I want to swap out the fan on the Ninja with a Yate Loon High Speed...

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I have to agree w/ Zardnock. I received an Freezer 7 Pro RMA replacement from eWiz.com (now that was an ordeal, btw, & I won't buy from them again); the replacement didn't have the MX-1 paste! So, I pulled out the trusty AS5 and applied the goop in a thin straight line on the heatspreader per AS's instructions. Currently idling @ 34c/33c, load temps are in the low 60's, E4300 @ 2.85, 1.33v. Hoping the temps will drop a bit once the burn-in is complete, but I suspect the crappy push pin mount system is the real issue.....

 

[hyprxtension]

...which is also why I'm looking to replace it; it's better than stock for sure, but not by much, and I'm sure for the price it's probably got most other competitors beat.
But... I will never trust NewEgg reviews again. Since when is this thing quiet on full speed?!

 

[Raider1284]

most people dont disable qfan, so they are never running it at full speed. Agreed though it is damn loud at full speed. Drop it to ~60% though and its quite quiet.

for reference:
e6400@ 3.2 1.38v
idle ~42-45
load 60-64

those temps are with the fan running at 60%

 

[Tullphan]

Just how accurate are temperature monitoring programs like Everest?

 

[Fallengod]

Yeah the thing about the freezer 64/7 pro's is they are budget heatsinks. To really get the most out of them you need good airflow. That is where they strive. They are definitely not quiet though at full rpm's. Id recommend running them at 70%-80%. I feel your pain though. I just got my system together with a E6400 and Abit quadgt. My IDLE temps with stock heatsink are about 50C and load is around 65C. That thing is a POS. I have an Ultra90 coming but I have a feeling that will not suffice either.