Test system:

Intel QX6700 (4x2.66GHz/quad core CPU)
XFX 680iLT Motherboard
2x1Gb DDR2-1066 (5-5-5-9)
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT
Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 Soundcard
WD Raptor 134GB SATA HD
Hitachi 80Gb SATA HD
BenQ DVD Writer
Enermax Galaxy 850w PSU

Cooling:
2x12Cm Case fans (1 front, 1 rear)

Intel Stock Cooler
Intel Stock thermal Compound
CoolerMaster thermal Compound (HTK-001)
Arctic Cooling MX-1 Thermal Compound
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 

We are testing the MX-2 with two different coolers today, the stock Intel cooler which arrives with a retail quad core CPU and Arctic Cooling's own Freezer 7 Pro. We took a detailed look at the F7P previously however feel it is worth revisiting the product to see how it performs on the QX6700 and in conjunction with the new MX-2 Paste.

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Our first test lets us check the temperatures achieved under various conditions with stock voltage and bios default thermal settings (variable fan, EIST and so on). In these conditions there is quite a difference between each of the cooling combinations. With the retail (stock) Intel set-up we see temperatures of 46c idle and 65c load registered. This falls slightly by changing to a compound from CoolerMaster. Use of the MX-2 compared to the Intel applied material shows a 5c gap at idle and 7c decrease in temperature at load which is impressive. However it when the MX-2 is applied in conjunction with Arctic Cooling’s Freezer 7 Pro that we really see great results, there is an overall drop in temperature of 10c at idle and 15c at load with the full AC setup.

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Disabling the various thermal technologies supported by Intel CPU’s and increasing the fan speed to its maximum allows us to take a look at a different aspect of the test systems thermal performance. In this scenario we see that the overall gap between the Intel supplied cooling and the AC setup increases to 12c Idle and 18c under load.

1.45v/Full Fan speed	Load	Max OC
Intel Cooler/Intel Compound	73	13x266 – 3458MHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro/MX-2	59	14x266 – 3724MHz

We would not be doing our job correctly if we did not look at the impact the Arctic Cooling products have on overclocking potential of our test CPU and so shown above are the results from some brief overclocking tests. What we see is that the AC set-up allows us to increase our multiplier one further step past the stock Intel cooler resulting in a CPU speed of 3724MHz.