Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro

Cool'n'quiet. Just like the scary kid at school.

Far from an ice machine, the Freezer 64 Pro is an upright air-cooled heatsink, with a side-fan that blows through the heat-piped aluminium fins. This model is specifically for socket 939, but keep your pants on; it's also available for Socket T (775) systems -- known as 'Freezer 7 Pro'.

Unlike the myriad other heatsinks that require you to install a custom retention mechanism, this unit lets you use the existing retainer. This means installation is the sneeze it was intended to be.

For the fan, rather than opting for the usual screwed-on connection, Arctic Cooling ingeniously hung it from the heatsink using soft rubber connections. Testament to this, the only audible noise is a gentle breeze passing through the unit.

Of the 42 aluminium fins, three at the base have been designed to focus a small amount of air on the area where you'd normally find the processor's MOSFETs.

Low key being the style of this unit, it isn't equipped with a fan potentiometer, though this is hardly necessary, as it's a wonderfully stealthy ninja at full speed.

Clipped to Chernobyl (set to 80W) in an ambience of 23°C, it managed to clean up at 43°C. An efficiency rating of 20°C is far from over the top, but it isn't bad for a silent, active unit.

Given the mere reasonable performance, is it worth the asking price? Absolutely. It's no earth shattering performance pimp, however if you don't intend on overclocking the potentially high-end system this would call home, the Freezer will not only maintain The Chill but lower the usual racquet to a whisper.