11.4.2019

Arctic makes great fans for cheap, and their coolers can be good too. This one is good for the (low) price, with some caveats. It's not that easy to install. I'm familiar with push-pin LGA 115X cooler mounting, but this particular cooler's pins were lower than usual (due to the increased height of the heatsink) and a little harder to push in.Also, they didn't arrive fully rotated clockwise (the position ready to install) so I twisted them a little to get them seated, but apparently not enough (I assumed it was mostly in position, but I was wrong) so 2 of the pins didn't seat fully, and I had to go through the hassle of twisting them counterclockwise, and pulling them out,then twisting them clockwise back into mount-ready position and pushing them in to get all the pins fully seated.I had to do all this more than once, because there was one pin that just wouldn't seat correctly, and I even had to take off the other side of the case to physically inspect the mounting holes to see if the clips were going through them properly. Eventually, after some effort, I was able to get the last pin in securely, and boot my computer up. The installation of this cooler is similar to installing a stock cooler in theory, but in practice it's more of a hassle due to the push-pins being more finicky and harder to reach and turn. Not something that'll stop an experienced computer builder, but people new to doing it may have some trouble. At least the cooler has some arctic MX-2 thermal paste pre-applied so you don't have to worry about that (so long as you don't have to take the the cooler completely off after you put it on in order to install it) but that's of small comfort when the installation itself can be so tricky.The cooler itself has an all-aluminum heatsink (no copper baseplate or core) but surprisingly does really well, especially with the included 92mm fan. The temperatures of my CPU (an Intel i5-9400f) dropped 10 degrees, and the fan is a LOT quieter than the stock intel cooler that came with my CPU, and it isn't buzzy. The buzzing of the stock CPU I had was so bad, that I could hear it over speakers or even with headphones on, so I replaced it just due to the noise itself, as the temperatures (while not great) were actually tolerable.Despite all the bad things I had to say about the installation, the performance of this cooler is actually quite good. Solidly good, and a great replacement for the crappy stock Intel cooler. The box that this thing came in gives temperatures and noise for an i7-8700, and I honestly believe that this cooler can actually work with even a CPU of that level of power. Basically, anything with a 95w TDP on down should be fine, so long as you don't plan on overclocking. So this is not a good Heatsink+Fan for a "K" series overclockable CPU for instance, but almost any normal non-k CPU will be fine.As for how it performs, it does well, actually. The fan is fairly low RPM for a 92mm one, and maxes out at 1167 rpm (58% of the max 2000rpm) with the CPU at 64 Degrees C during heavy gaming. It's around 1000rpm (50%) with the CPU at 60 degrees during most games (the ones that aren't graphically intensive or don't tax the CPU much), and around 580 rpm (29%) with my CPU at 33 Degrees when I'm just browsing the internet or just doing general desktop stuff.All in all, if you don't like your stock Intel Cooler because it's hot and noisy, and don't want to pay a lot for a replacement, the Alpine 12 is a good choice as long as you're actually reasonably experienced with replacing CPU coolers. If you are, it's not THAT hard, just finicky, so long as you remember to be careful and gentle, as this cooler's made of cheap plastic parts aside from the aluminum heatsink, so it seems like if you used too much force or dropped it, that those parts might bend or break.Essentially, it's good for the price, but you get what you pay for. Maybe not in terms of performance and noise (which is solid) but rather in part quality and ease of installation. That said, I still recommend many of Arctic's other products, especially their fans, and to a lesser extent their thermal paste, which admittedly don't work as well on GPU's as they do on CPU's.

26.12.2019

In my PC, I have an Intel Core I5-7500, it doesn't get too hot, but I did want to get a cooler that was better than the Intel one. (I love having a quiet computer) I first tried Noctuas slim cooler which was very quiet, but it didn't provide any better thermals than the stock cooler. I then stumbled upon this cooler after looking around Amazon for a cheap alternative to the Intel one. While this cooler doesn't seem to have much of a different in terms of thermals, it is MUCH quieter than the stock Intel cooler. Even when I turned the fan up all the way, you can barely hear the cooler. (The fan is also PWM!) I will say though that with this cooler, the mounting system kinda sucks.

16.3.2019

I recently upgraded my computer and the i7 CPU came with Intel's stock fan, which I didn't mind having used them previously, but this time round I was not happy with the fan at all. The noise level was crazy high from what I had been used to and the fan just seem to intermittently make an awful whirring sound too, even when running on silent, so I decided to upgrade the fan to the Arctic 12 LP and it's the best decision I could have made.The fan was very easy to install, took me about 5 minutes in total to do and comes with pre-applied thermal paste as well, making it even easier and as soon as I switched my PC back on I could instantly notice the difference.

27.8.2019

I like the brand and have purchased there product before I had a issue the first one that turned up I plugged it in and turn on my tower to find the fan not spinning i loaded some software to tell me pc temps and wait for it to get up to temp the fan still didn't spin so I shut it down and test both header with both my case fan and my old cpu fan to found they both work I ordered a replacement and amazon sent me another one the next day which was a Sunday so big thanks to to them going the extra mile I got the replacement plug it in and it works I replaced the original one that game with the pc cus it was a unbranded cooler that had a noisy cpu fan and small heat sink the replacement dropped

17.12.2019

Alpine 12 CO - Initial impressions were not great. The mount is flimsy and mounting was not very firm. I do this stuff a lot and it feels about the same as a stock cooler. Line it up well and it will probably clip in. If you have a problem, lift the black pins, push down on the rim of the white part with a screwdriver. The white clips snap into the holes, then you can the lock off. My first try on a i5 2400 ran idle at about 35 degrees, increasing to highs of 80 under Intel's Extreme Tuner. Later, I swapped motherboards, cleaned up and fitted with NT-H1 paste. I think the first setup was not fully in contact, leading to poor performance. Now, with a mild overclock the temp sits close to 30 at idle,

3.10.2019

This is a fantastic fan for the money. I have it on an i5 9400F to replace the horrible Intel stock cooler. The mounting system is the same as on the stock cooler, so you have the plastic pins that push and twist, takes literally 30 seconds to mount. It already has a thermal paste patch on the bottom , so you don't even need to mess about with that. Performance-wise, at stock settings, it had my CPU temp down to 37c, which is pretty great and it was relatively quiet, much more quiet than the Intel cooler at least. I messed with my fan profiles however, and have them running at the slowest settings until temps get higher and it makes my case essentially silent whilst doing light tasks,

12.11.2020

Started years ago with a i3-4360 and the stock intel fan. After 2-3 years it was noisy so got the Arctic 12 (non OC version) and was installed in minutes.Recently upgraded to i5-4690K and although the Arctic 12 was still going strong, the OC version supports a higher max TDP and the cost of the new heat sink and fan (HSF) was not far of from a tube of decent thermal interface material (TIM) so opted for the Artic 12 OC.Both versions are easy to mount and install as no back plate is needed. Just mount over the processor whilst lining up the pins. When you are sure it’s right push them down one at a time until they click. Plug in the 4 pin wire to the CPU FAN header and job done!!Quiet,

25.10.2019

I bought this to replace my intel stock cooler which was allowing my CPU to run to 100 degrees when playing games.This is a very good cooler for its price. Its much quieter than a stock fan and gives much better performance.However, although on paper its easy to install I actually had some trouble with it. The push pins didn't seem to all want to click down, only about 2 did. The other 2 went down but didn't click. I had to rotate the cooler trying different positions but I still couldn't get all 4 pins to lock. You may need to remove your motherboard when installing the cooler to make sure all the pins go through. I just pushed all the pins down as hard as I dared and the cooler stayed in place,

12.6.2020

I had an old i7-2700k and when I moved it into another case the artic freezer pro 13 snapped off the mounting brackets. I was only using it as a TV theatre computer so bought this cheap replacement. Well the idles actually went down, old freezer pro though like 7 years old and I never replaced the thermal compund on it. I did clean case a lot as well. Overall It is quiet enough and works well. I did 1 hour of prime 95 (I know it is not long enough but it was long enough for me to know I would never have issues at all given my work load on it) and it maxed at 70 degress but I do have excellent air flow in case and I do not have a powerful graphics card in it.Installation took me 10 seconds,

8.12.2020

I'm running a 9900K CPU. My AIO had been sent in for RMA. This obviously meant I couldn't use my computer! So, I took a shot in the dark and ordered the Alpine 12 CO as a temporary solution until my AIO was replaced. Bear in mind, I had to disable the turbo functionality of the CPU, limiting it to 3.6GHz on all cores, but hey this heatsink / fan combo did the trick. It's rated up to 100w TDP and I believe the 9900k's TDP is 95w (without turbo). I was able to use Premiere to edit video and play Borderlands 3 at max settings with no issues. I ran it successfully in this configuration for almost 2 months.I wouldn't recommend this for a long term 9900k heatsink / fan, but hey as a spare this works great.

3.3.2019

Bought this to replace a malfunctioning Thermaltake CPU cooler for my Mom's HTPC. (It's lasted for 5 years running continuously, so no complaints). I have a larger model on my own HTPC, so I was familiar with the brands quality. Installed easily. Ran great on first boot up. Only problem is that it has a variable speed that sometimes shuts the fan down when not needed, which leads to an error when restarting. The motherboard (an older model) doesn't see the fan and you have to click F1 to get it to start. No biggie but sometimes pairing new tech with old tech can cause some glitches. The fan is super quiet and keeps the CPU 8 degrees cooler (Celsius) than the old fan.

8.6.2020

Bought this to replace the Intel stock cooler that came with my CPU.I was looking for something quiet when my PC isn't under a lot of strain (just watching Netflix etc...), as I find the noise (any noise) distracting.Having just installed this, I can't notice a huge difference when nothing is running (I *think* it is a bit quieter). But for £6, I can't really complain.Playing with the fan settings, I turned it up to full speed and it is *definitely* quieter than the Intel stock cooler at this level.So, if you're looking for a silent machine, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a quieter cooler than the Intel stock cooler (particularly at higher loads), this seems a perfectly fine choice.

6.8.2020

I bought this because I couldn't find the one I had.The moment it arrived I found the old one. Did the returns procedure "No longer need it" and it's "No worries, doing a refund now, you don't need to send it back"Faultless service, even though I feel a twinge of guilt.The fan is scary to fit, you have to press each lug down so hard you think you'll snap your mobo in half.When it is fitted and you've mopped all the sweat off your brow it works well, nice and quiet (running on an unencumbered I3 though).I'd prefer a screw mounting system, but otherwise this is a solid product.Oh, and save yourself some money; it comes with thermal paste already on it.

14.8.2019

Heard different things about whether or not this cpu cooler was worth it but decided to take the risk for only $12. Definitely worth it, swapped out for the default intel cpu cooler, it has the copper circle, newer models don't and run even worse. This fan runs about 5 degrees cooler on idle (37 vs 42) and about 15 degrees on load (75 vs 90) on my intel i5-4690 while also producing about 1/3 of the noise.Definitely buy if you want a better cpu cooler than the default intel one without having to take out the motherboard or you don't have much room in the desktop case. Easy to swap out with the push pin model and comes with the arctic silver mx-2 pre applied.

16.4.2019

I have one at home for several months on a Z370 MB running an I7-8700K. Keeps it cool and nice to look at.So.... for my office I just bought this one for an i9-9900K CPU to run on a Q370M MB.Keeps it cool and I also tested an expensive gamer CPU Cooler and a Supermicro Xeon Server CPU Cooler both at several times the price and the Artic kept the i9 cooler! Sure when the machine off it not look as awesum.Yes the intel that comes with many of these CPUs works well too but pricier if not included for free and not have that frosted white look when it spinning cooling the machine and the CPU. Buy one for a back up at this price. Around $11 as I recall.Roe5685

Arctic Alpine 12 CO - Reviews

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