Akasa Freedom Tower Mini-Review

[MadduckUK]

Want some fries with that Freedom Tower?

correct, stupid name

[kmac]

And i've jsut been looking at these on Scan :S I NEED A DECENT 1156 COOLER :3

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Proli...-1366-(Fanless)

This is a decent 1156 Cooler. Need to pay extra for a fan though but any decent £5 fan (e.g. Yate Loon 120mm fan) will do the job

With a decent 120mm fan, this will be super quiet as well. See review here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/prolima-megahelams although this is the Socket 1366 version ( but essentially they are the same beast as the 1156 version)

Extremely easy to fit, comes with thermal grease. Clips for fans can be fiddly if not installed prior to installing graphics card etc

[ta2]

Well iv'e ordered one and it should be here tuesday. I'l post some pics of installation and let you know my experiences of it.

How did you find it? Wouldn't swap my Corsair H50 back for one of those in a million years, and it was only an extra £15.

[LaxBlade]

Well iv'e ordered one and it should be here tuesday. I'l post some pics of installation and let you know my experiences of it.

I looked up the AKASA Freedom tower - seems fine..

Have a look at this Professional link to see the latest Temps of my 2 coolers FREEZER PRO 7 Rev.2

(Very impressive beats the Zalman by 1c) QUOTE:

http://hi-techreviews.com/index.php/...ev-2?showall=1

Let me know what ya think buddy...

[Terbinator]

As far as i can tell the CPU they used isn't mentioned in the article, in addition to no mention of overclocking. Having owned a F7Pro and used it with a Q6600 (95W @ stock) I can say from first hand experience that you need to run it at full fan speed for it to cool to reasonable settings with a mild overclock.

This review proves nothing other than that its better than the stock heatsink (not hard) but once you use it with a high-performance CPU it is useless. Go for a cooler with a 120mm fan and also one that requires a backplate - usually results in better contact with the CPU and therefore better cooling!

[LaxBlade]

Quote:

http://hi-techreviews.com/Reviews_20...v2/Index.2.jpg

Zalman CPNS10X idle 35c Max 63c
Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 idle 34c Max 63c (BEST BANG for Buck in my book anywayz)

Please have a brief look at the other coolers it was up against... cheers!

I know you're not that keen on the Freezer Pro 7, but give it a look....

[Terbinator]

Quote:

http://hi-techreviews.com/Reviews_20...v2/Index.2.jpg

Zalman CPNS10X idle 35c Max 63c
Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 idle 34c Max 63c (BEST BANG for Buck in my book anywayz)

Please have a brief look at the other coolers it was up against... cheers!

I know you're not that keen on the Freezer Pro 7, but give it a look....

Unless you just missed my above comment while you was posting, its not that im not a fan of the F7Pro or that i hate it - its just not worth it when your using a 95W CPU and upwards - once you start overclocking a i5 750 they're still going to be pushing 130W and the F7Pro can't deal with that at the same as sounding like a jet engine.

I originally used the F7Pro with a Core 2 E6550 and it's probably the best £15 i'd spent in my life, 3.3Ghz and still idling @ 30c going no higher than 60c - this was with a low TDP CPU though!

[LaxBlade]

Ok, Terbinator.... woops!, ya got me quicker than I had time to refresh the page lol...

Noctua heatsink cooler NH-U12P SE2 - what do you think of it on the this top notch cooler

compared with your FAV "AKASA Freedom tower".... I've bought a New i7 860 & MSi GD80 Board...

I was thrilled to bits with my Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 and Im sure you know why... £18 ebuyer.com

I was gonna wait till the GD85 dropped - sorry, just could not contain myself.... lol

Once my Rig is built and CPU & Cooler is bedroomed in, I really wanna go for a serious overclock, and from what folks that have more experience than me say Air coolers are the Best for P55 i5 & i7. Ive witnessed a 4.2Ghz 24hr clock, however that may be over-ambitious for me...

Please, give me more info as I'm all ears...

Bought Corsair DDR3 4GB Kit 8-8-8 24 - ebuyer.com and I agree that when I o/c'd my i5 750 to 4.2Ghz the Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 sounded like Concord ..lol

anywayz what's your opinion on the top of the range Zalman or the
Noctua heatsink cooler NH-U12P SE2 LGA1156 coolers....

Cheers! Lax.

[Terbinator]

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1196/6/

This chart says it all ^

[tonschk]

I like how the blades of this AKASA fan are made , I am studing those computer fans and as far as I am aware , one way to reduce the noise frequency of the fan is to reduce the amount of blades on the rotor and at the same time to increase the surface area of such blades , the NIDEC with just five blades is a example of what I am talking about

[LaxBlade]

Ok, you have helped me make up my mind my case (is another HAF 922 - this time with window)

2x large intake and 2x Large output.... coolermaster's own fans

Yep: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan Quiet CPU Cooler - seems to be the best however it is a brute.!
Masssive.... how does the Zalman X-treme in your book fit and look once inside the case...?

Seen a Youtube Video and the Zalman X-treme has plenty of nice design with blue LEDs. with remote control. +Cheaper than da Noctua NH-U12P SE2 (which looks dull)...

If they were both the same price what would you go for considering I have a nice big window, and looking for something attractive, the Zalman X-treme ticks those boxes....

I know it'z down to me at the end of da day, however, I would value your input.!

Thanks for you're help... Lax.

[Pob255]

If you're after a decent & cheap cpu cooler, I can fully sugest the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus
For the grand total of £18 from play.com http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/117187...k/Product.html
I'm just testing it now on my i5 750, outside a case, on a motherboard tray.
so far at cpu default speed, fan on PWM set to 12.5% minimum speed and target 50c
Just run intel burn test, 10 runs, max core temp was 50c, fan speed idle 820rpm fan speed rose to 835rpm at the max.
I'm very impressed so far
Going to run some overclocing tests see what I can do with it.

[LaxBlade]

If you're after a decent & cheap cpu cooler, I can fully sugest the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus
For the grand total of £18 from play.com http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/117187...k/Product.html
I'm just testing it now on my i5 750, outside a case, on a motherboard tray.
so far at cpu default speed, fan on PWM set to 12.5% minimum speed and target 50c
Just run intel burn test, 10 runs, max core temp was 50c, fan speed idle 820rpm fan speed rose to 835rpm at the max.
I'm very impressed so far
Going to run some overclocing tests see what I can do with it.

Thanks for adding your 2cents, its always great to get feedback, however, When I go to the trouble of screwing on a back plate on the rear of the motherboard it will be an Akasa Tower, or a Zalman X-Treme... for a definate stable over clock, I'm well aware of the CM 212 and its not too bad.

However, for a mere £28 Quid the New "Akasa Tower Cooler" will trash it.... in o/c cooling...
my Freezer 7 pro rev.2 will even beat the CM 212 in o/c benchmarks, but its horses for courses I guess...

Good luck with your test, be a decent chap and post those figures when you have them ready... add me to your list if you like....

[Pob255]

Well the back plate on the hyper 212 plus is very good, heck the whole mounting is pritty good.
The fan that comes with it is exellent.

I doubt the freedom tower will trash it, they are both basically the same, a 4 DTH heat pipe tower cooler with a 120mm fan.
The Freedom tower is slightly larger, 95mm wide rather than 77mm, so does have a bit more surface area

Have a look at the frostytech review
http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=2419
It's currently sitting at number 10 of their top 10 coolers, which is very good for a cooler that you can get for £12

After a bit of overclocking, I had it up to 3.33ghz and it's still damn quite, just trying out the msi OC genie, it's auto overclocked it to 3.44ghz

Although I've found an issue (with the motherboard), looks like the temp sensor for the PWM control is not directly fed by the cpu sensor, it's reacting slowly and not reading as high as the core temps are.

EDIT:
Here's the numbers for you.
Hyper 212 Plus & i5 750 on a msi p55-GD65, OC genie settings
Vcore 1.392
fbs 202, multiplier x17 = 3.44ghz
memory 607 cas 7 (not bad seeing as the memory is only 533 stock)

Idle-
Msi Control center, cpu 36c, fan 826rpm
Core temp, 37c - 35c - 38c - 34c
Load- (10 runs of intel burn test, highest numbers)
Msi Control center, cpu 51c, fan 970rpm
Core Temp, 69c - 65c - 67c - 64c

Room temp 22c
Open test, ie on an exposed motherboard tray not in a case, only fan involved is the cpu fan.

As you can see the MSI control center is giveing number about 15c below that of tha actual core temps, it's also rather slow to react. My guess is a probe below the socket.
Actually makes sense for a PWM controller as the core temps very quickly raise and drop when going under of off load, the slower reaction smooths put the fan changes.


I'm not saying the freedom tower is bad, it's not, just not sure it's worth £10 over the Hyper 212 plus.
and for £18 the hyper 212 plus really puts the ACf7p to shame.

[kellyharding]

i find the stock cooler method (plastic pins) a right pain, but it does vary a bit between boards i find.

Although i probably should of put the heatsink on before putting the board in the case thinking about it lol.

[LaxBlade]

Well the back plate on the hyper 212 plus is very good, heck the whole mounting is pritty good.
The fan that comes with it is exellent.

I doubt the freedom tower will trash it, they are both basically the same, a 4 DTH heat pipe tower cooler with a 120mm fan.
The Freedom tower is slightly larger, 95mm wide rather than 77mm, so does have a bit more surface area

Have a look at the frostytech review
http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=2419
It's currently sitting at number 10 of their top 10 coolers, which is very good for a cooler that you can get for £12

After a bit of overclocking, I had it up to 3.33ghz and it's still damn quite, just trying out the msi OC genie, it's auto overclocked it to 3.44ghz


Although I've found an issue (with the motherboard), looks like the temp sensor for the PWM control is not directly fed by the cpu sensor, it's reacting slowly and not reading as high as the core temps are.

EDIT:
Here's the numbers for you.
Hyper 212 Plus & i5 750 on a msi p55-GD65, OC genie settings
Vcore 1.392
fbs 202, multiplier x17 = 3.44ghz
memory 607 cas 7 (not bad seeing as the memory is only 533 stock)

Idle-
Msi Control center, cpu 36c, fan 826rpm
Core temp, 37c - 35c - 38c - 34c
Load- (10 runs of intel burn test, highest numbers)
Msi Control center, cpu 51c, fan 970rpm
Core Temp, 69c - 65c - 67c - 64c

Room temp 22c
Open test, ie on an exposed motherboard tray not in a case, only fan involved is the cpu fan.

As you can see the MSI control center is giveing number about 15c below that of tha actual core temps, it's also rather slow to react. My guess is a probe below the socket.
Actually makes sense for a PWM controller as the core temps very quickly raise and drop when going under of off load, the slower reaction smooths put the fan changes.


I'm not saying the freedom tower is bad, it's not, just not sure it's worth £10 over the Hyper 212 plus.
and for £18 the hyper 212 plus really puts the ACf7p to shame.

NOT bad Temps for a Budget Cooler... and such low Fan speed (Is it 12cm? da fan....?)

Considering ESIT is off and all other stepping off thats NOT bad... however, the Noctua Cooler, can cut those temps in half - however, its more than x3 times da price....

I consider those temps to be geniune, as they are NOT far away from my Freezer Pro 7 rev.2

The Freezer Pro 7 rev.2 (new model) has cut Temps from Volume rev.1 please google them...

I will add you as a pal, if thats alright... thanks for your efforts... Kudos.. Lax...