Review Arctic Freezer 34 Esports Duo Cooler Review: A Twin-Fan Triple Threat

Soaptrail

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Can I ask a noob question. In the first graph what are the CPU PWM lines for? They are blue and green. Is that how much power the CPU is drawing from the motherboard?
 

kep55

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Interesting how often a device gets panned because it doesn't have RGB or other power wasting add-ons. As my pappy often said, those are just one more thing to go wrong and ruin the whole kit. Personally, not having these superfluous additions should be a positive.
 

rubix_1011

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Can I ask a noob question. In the first graph what are the CPU PWM lines for? They are blue and green. Is that how much power the CPU is drawing from the motherboard?

Temperatures over ambient for the motherboard's power delivery heatsink. I have a thermal probe that sits right in the middle of the cooling fins to measure this since the effectiveness of a CPU cooler also depends on the ability to help maintain airflow over other components in the system, not just keeping the CPU cool.
 

tazmo8448

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Have an Arctic Freezer A32 for AM3+ with a push-pull configuration and it is without a doubt the best budget cooler I've ever used, temps barely get in the 40 C gaming; the main thing was the air flow can be directed out the back, whereas a lot of these things has you going north or south with the air flow.
When I move to AM4 you can bet your bottom dollar one of these jewels will be on it.
 
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rubix_1011

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To some, not having RGB can be an issue, but I personally can do without it. I guess it would be more along the lines of 'not having the ability to turn RGB off when you don't want it, but have it on when you do'.

Either way, RGB needs to grow up and be more than just over-used fan lighting. We need devices with well-designed accents and cases with integrated, but SUBTLE lighting.
 
the black and red color scheme should match many mobo designs. looks like a solid budget choice if you have the room in the case. nice looking cooler for $40
This cooler is also available in green, yellow and white accent color options, which should cover just about everything.

One thing I would like to see Tom's do in their reviews for these coolers would be to test them in a single fan setup, seeing as the Freezer 34 is also available in that configuration. This was something I suggested for their previous review for the Freezer 33 as well. Typically, a second fan doesn't have a big impact on the thermals of mid-size tower coolers like this, and a single fan has the potential to be a little quieter.

Of course, it's probably worth getting the DUO version with the second fan either way, seeing as it typically costs less than $5 more than the single fan variant. Still, if the acoustics are better with a single fan without having a significant impact on cooling performance, it could potentially be worth putting the second fan in storage or just using it as a case fan.
 

Soaptrail

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Temperatures over ambient for the motherboard's power delivery heatsink. I have a thermal probe that sits right in the middle of the cooling fins to measure this since the effectiveness of a CPU cooler also depends on the ability to help maintain airflow over other components in the system, not just keeping the CPU cool.

If i understand you correctly it is the temp of the motherboard. Thank you.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
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The coolers are tested as-is from the packaging from the manufacturer. I test them in the same configuration as they would be if purchased and installed by a typical end user. Removing a fan creates a scenario where a product is being limited by the testing community (i.e. 'ME') and would provided a skewed representation of the cooler outside of their (product manufacturer's) expectation.

If I am provided a cooler for review which includes 2 fans, I test with both fans. Likewise, if a cooler ships with only 1 fan and does not perform well, I am not going to supplement another fan just to see what happens. The results of my testing includes unit pricing in the formula, so modifying the hardware being reviewed changes this formula (technically).
 

gecko_30

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Are liquid metal pastes good with this type of cooler where heat pipes are in direct contact with a the CPU? Wondering if the very thin layer of liquid paste acts differently than with mirror finished cooler base plate.

Thank you!
 

dorianh94

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There's also a gray version, but it's not easy to find. I just ordered one ^^
freezer_34_esports_duo_grey_g00_1.jpg
 
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I have the single fan 33 eSports Red version. Its the best performance/$ cooler. Arctic Freezer are the best budget coolers, I still have an Arctic Freezer 7 on my OCed Q9550 that I got for 25$CA new back then.

My single fan 33 eSports keeps my 1800X@4.1Ghz at 28C idle and 60C max during Prime95, Cinebench max at 55C, gaming is around 50C which is amazing.
 
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