Test setup and results …
Cooler test setup …
The following system was used as test system:
Intel Core i5-10500 CPU Default @ 4200 MHz at approx. 1.10 Volt
ASRock Z490 Steel Legend Intel LGA 1200 motherboard
2x 4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400 memory modules
With ASRock Radeon RX 5700 Challenger D 8G OC and without graphics card
Cool Master Silent Pro M 600W power supply
Cooler Master Testbench v1.0
Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
The following programs were used for the measurement: Prime95 and Intel XTU
Thermal compound: Arctic MX-4
The room temperature during the test was about 21°C.
The following picture shows a thermal image of the ASRock Z490 Steel Legend LGA 1200 test system with the Arctic Freezer 7 X cooler, where under extreme thermal load one can see very nicely how the heatpipes shine through even under the upper plastic cover.
And here is a picture of the back for a better view of the heat distribution – by the way again with strong thermal load at about 100°C CPU core temperature, so that the heat distribution becomes even better visible.
We first tested the Intel Core i5-10500 CPU without overclocking in idle at low, medium and maximum speed. Thus the TDP was only 7 Watt!
But we are here at OCinside.de and wanted to test the cooler with CPU overclocking despite the locked CPU. Therefore we overclocked the locked Intel CPU so that we increased Primary Plane Current Limit, Short Duration Power Limit and Long Duration Power Limit to reach about 100W TDPc at maximum load (Small FFTs).
So after that we loaded the Intel Core i5-10500 CPU with Prime95 Small FFTs, so that with Base Frequency Boost about 100-102 Watt TDP is reached and notes the temperature at low, medium and maximum speed.
The fan volume is measured with a sound pressure level meter in dB from a distance of 100cm. Additionally we determine the respective speed.
Arctic Freezer 7 X test results …
In the following Arctic Freezer diagram you can see from top to bottom the results of the Intel Core i5-10500 CPU in idle with 100% speed, i.e. approx. 2089 rpm, below with 60% at approx. 1422 rpm and finally with 20% speed at approx. 525 rpm. After that, these three speed ranges follow again with identical volume at Prime95 Small FFTs full load.
You can see very nicely how the package temperature of the processor can rise to over 100°C in extreme cases, whereby Intel throttles down (thermal throttling) to protect the CPU from about 100°C. So the Arctic Freezer 7 X easily manages the 65W TDP (Thermal Design Power) and even the 100W TDPc with Base Frequency Boost can be handled by the Arctic Freezer 7 X with medium to maximum speed. The noise level stays just under 40 dB and is still completely within the green range.
Which differences there are in measuring the CPU temperature and how to overclock, we have explained in detail in the Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and Intel Core i9 overclocking guide.
Arctic Freezer 7 X Result and general impression …