Freezone idle temperatures oscillated over a range of five degrees. At stock speeds, the idle temperatures see-sawed from 16°C to 21°C. Overclocked at 2.94Ghz, the readings gradually shifted back and forth between 23°C and 28°C. Load temperatures didn’t fluctuate as much, staying within a degree or two.


The yo-yo effect of the idle temperature is probably a product of the temperature control module (TCM). Its function is to keep operating temperatures within a safe range based on feedback from the cooler’s built-in sensor. During periods of high activity, the Peltiers and fan are turned up all the way for maximum cooling. Under light load or idle, cooler performance is throttled to prevent condensation, unnecessary power consumption, and excess noise.

For fine tuning the cooler, there’s a manual potentiometer adjustment on the TCM. With a small screwdriver, you can customize performance for extreme overclocking or quiet operation.

One of the potential drawbacks of the Freezone is its integrated exhaust fan design. Airflow through the heat exchanger is restricted, so cooling for the memory and chipset could be improved. If you’re having issues with high chipset or PWMIC temperatures, consider adding an extra fan.

Living with the Freezone

The Freezone’s fan/pump combo emits a constant low hum we found very tolerable. Unlike some air coolers that get louder as fan RPMs increase, operation is quiet both at idle and under load. In 37.5dB ambient conditions, we measured idle noise output at 44.1dB. Under load with the potentiometer turned all the way up, noise output increased slightly to 44.5dB.

Some liquid cooling systems require periodic refills or coolant flushes. Because the Freezone is totally self-contained, it’s basically maintenance-free, save for the occasional fan dusting. If you’re constantly changing memory, tweaking jumper settings, or swapping PC parts out, you might get annoyed with having to frequently maneuver your hands around the cooler to access the motherboard. Depending on your motherboard layout, you might need to unmount the cooler completely to perform a particular task. But for most of us, it won’t really be an issue. Continued…