Arctic Cooling has unleashed its new Freezer 36 series as part of the brand’s 23rd anniversary. These will compete with the best CPU coolers on the market. Consisting of nothing less than five different variants, Arctic Cooling has a little something for everyone.
The Freezer 36 supports Intel’s existing LGA1700 socket and the upcoming LGA1851 socket for Arrow Lake processors. This is as expected, since LGA1851 retains compatibility with current LGA1700 coolers, even though the new socket has more pins. This is according to documentation from another vendor, though Intel hasn’t publicly said anything on the subject. The Freezer 36 supports AMD’s previous AM4 and current AM5 sockets, which AMD has committed to supporting at least through 2025.
Arctic Cooling claims that the Freezer 36 is around 11% better than the Freezer 35. The Freezer 36 reportedly also performs better than the Noctua NH-D12L and the Deepcool AK400 DZ Plus. Arctic Cooling conducted the tests with a Core i9-13900KF with a 200W PPT (Package Power Tracking), running Prime95 small FFT at an ambient temperature of 23 degrees Celsius.
The Freezer 36 measures 4.09 x 4.96 x 6.26 inches (104 x 126 x 159 mm), which isn’t the most compact CPU cooler but isn’t too intrusive. It’s a single-tower CPU air-cooler with a heatsink that features a stack of 59 aluminum fins. Arctic Cooling opted for a unique contact frame to minimize mechanical stress on the processor and improve thermal performance. The heat travels to the heatsink through four 6mm copper heat pipes. The Freezer 36 employs a side-flow design with two 120mm cooling fans in a traditional push-pull configuration.
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Arctic Cooling offers the vanilla Freezer 36 and four other derivations. The Freezer 36 Black, as its name implies, is the black version with a complementing black heatsink and heat pipes. The Freezer 36 A-RGB model comes with RGB fans and is available in black and white. The Freezer 36 CO is designed for continuous operation and features a fan with Japanese ball bearings.
The Freezer 36 and Freezer 36 Black employ the P12 PWM PST fan with a maximum speed of 1,800 RPM. It provides a static pressure of 2.20 mmH2O at a noise level of 0.3 sone (10.64 dB). The Freezer 36 A-RGB has a slightly lower-performing fan than the P12 PWM PST A-RGB. Despite maxing out at 2,000 RPM, the RGB-light fan only supplies a static pressure of 1.85 mmH2O with the same noise level as the P12 PWM PST. As for the Freezer 36 CO, Arctic Cooling pairs it with the P12 PWM PST CO, which shares the exact same specifications as the P12 PWM PST but leverages those Japanese ball bearings for 24/7 operation.
All Freezer 36-series CPU coolers come bundled with a syringe (0.8g) of Arctic Cooling’s latest MX-6 thermal compound. They also enjoy a limited six-year warranty from Arctic Cooling. The Freezer 36 SKUs are available at Arctic Cooling’s Amazon and eBay online stores right now.
The Freezer 36 sells for $25.40, while the Freezer 36 Black will set you back $28.48. Meanwhile, the Freezer 36 CO retails for $27.71. The RGB versions carry a slightly higher premium, with the Freezer 36 A-RGB White and Freezer 36 A-RGB Black selling at $33.87 and $33.10, respectively.
