CoolIT Systems Freezone

Pack every conventional plus esoteric cooling tech into one package and what do you get?

The Freezone is CoolIT’s first crack at the CPU cooling market, and it’s definitely unconventional. The Freezone is an all-in-one, zero maintenance, pre-filled liquid cooling kit that uses air-cooled thermoelectric coolers with an in-built pump and 92mm fan to help cool the CPU. It comes with pre-installed tubing with coils attached to the CPU block, which CoolIT has dubbed the Fluid Heat Exchanger.

In the box along with the Freezone is a Thermal Control Module to power and control the fans, various retention bars for compatibility for all current Intel and AMD CPUs and a nifty little tool to help you install the Freezone inside your case. A 120mm fan adaptor kit is also included for those that have 120mm exhausts inside their case.

For those with AMD Socket 939 motherboards that are mounted upside-down or other unconventional case layouts, there may be problems with the installation due to the short tubing, which can’t be modified thanks to the nature of the unit.

Putting the Freezone up against Chernobyl gave a temperature of 35°C in an ambient of 24°C on high setting using the pre-applied Freezone thermal paste, with the cooling temperature and fan controlled via thermostat on the TCM. As the cooler is controlled by thermostat, this means that below ambient temperatures are not possible with the Freezone.

Once Chernoybl got hot and toasty, the fan did get loud, although not to the point of insanity. An allen key is required to replace the stock fan, so if you’re after silence you’ll need to get a little creative with tools or set the thermostat to a higher tolerance, which will inevitably increase temperatures.

CoolIT also has control centre software in the works that will allow you to adjust power and fan settings via Windows. However at US$119 from its website the value of such software is questionable.

The Freezone is an ambitious attempt at fusing together thermoelectric cooling in a simple-to-use package. While managing to deliver excellent temperatures, the Freezone’s price is prohibitive to all but the most crazy of cooling freaks, leaving the rest of us to invest our cash in high-end air-cooling, such as the Ultra eXtreme above. After all, an extra four degrees isn’t worth $400.