• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Hardware Secrets

Hardware Secrets

Uncomplicating the complicated

  • Case
  • Cooling
  • Memory
  • Mobile
    • Laptops
    • Smartphones
    • Tablets
  • Motherboard
  • Networking
  • Other
    • Audio
    • Cameras
    • Consumer Electronics
    • Desktops
    • Museum
    • Software
    • Tradeshows & Events
  • Peripherals
    • Headset
    • Keyboard
    • Mouse
    • Printers
  • Power
  • Storage
Home » GlacialTech Alaska CPU Cooler Review

GlacialTech Alaska CPU Cooler Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The Alaska from GlacialTech is a CPU cooler with a tower design, six heatpipes, and one 120 mm fan. Let’s see if whether this is a good product or not.

The Alaska box is made of cardpaper, with no openings or transparent window.

GlacialTech AlaskagFigure 1: Packaging

In Figure 2, you can see the Alaska and the accessories that come with it: fan, manual, installation hardware, and a tube of thermal compound.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 2: Accessories

In Figure 3, you can see the heatsink of the GlacialTech Alaska.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 3: The GlacialTech Alaska heatsink

In the next pages, you will see this cooler in detail.

[nextpage title=”The GlacialTech Alaska”]

In Figure 4, you see the front of the heatsink.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 4: Front view

In Figure 5, you see the side of the heatsink. Note the fin design: they are not straight, having "steps" that help to create the "breathing effect" that the manufacturer claims to be the big feature of this cooler.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 5: Side view

In Figure 6, you can check the top of the cooler. The holes in the fins are part of the "breathing effect".

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 6: Top view

[nextpage title=”The GlacialTech Alaska (Cont’d)”]

In Figure 7, you can check the shape of the six heatpipes. They are soldered to the base of the cooler.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 7: Heatpipes

In Figure 8, you can see the base of the cooler. It is plain, with no mirrored looks.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 8: Base

In Figure 9, you can see the fan that comes with the Alaska. Even though it is blue, it doesn’t come with LEDs. The connector has four pins, which means this fan is compatible with PWM automatic speed control.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 9: Fan

[nextpage title=”Installation”]

Before installing the Alaska, you need to attach two clips to its base. You also need to install the metal wires that hold the fan. In Figure 10 you can check the Intel clips in place.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 10: Clips attached to the base

After that, just put the backplate on the solder side of the motherboard, put the cooler in place and fasten the four screws (with springs) that hold the cooler in place.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 11: The heatsink installed

In Figure 12, you can see the Alaska installed in our case, with the fan installed.

GlacialTech AlaskaFigure 12: The Alaska installed in our case

[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]

We tested the cooler with a Core i7-860 CPU (quad-core, 2.8 GHz), which is a socket LGA1156 processor with a 95 W TDP (Thermal Design Power). In order to get higher thermal dissipation, we overclocked it to 3.3 GHz (150 MHz base clock and 22x multiplier), keeping the standard core voltage (Vcore), which was the maximum stable overclock we could make with the stock cooler. Keep in mind that we could have raised the CPU clock more, but to include the stock cooler in our comparison, we needed to use this moderate overclock.

We measured noise and temperature with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to get 100% CPU usage in all threads, we ran Prime 95 25.11 (in this version, the software uses all available threads) with the "In-place Large FFTs" option.

We compared the tested cooler to the Intel stock cooler with a copper base (included with the CPU), as well as with other coolers. Note that in the past, we tested coolers with a socket LGA775 CPU, and we retested some "old" coolers with this new methodology. This means you can find different values in older reviews than the values you will read in the next page. Every cooler was tested with the thermal compound that accompanies it.

Room temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer. The core temperature was read with the SpeedFan program (available from the CPU thermal sensors), using an arithmetic average of the core temperature readings. During the tests, the left panel of the case was open.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the case and video board cooler fans so they wouldn’t interfere with the results. This measurement is only for comparison purposes because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

  • Processor: Core i7-860
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD6
  • Memory: 4 GB A-Data AX3U1333GB2G8-2G (DDR3-1333/PC3-10700 with 9-9-9-25 timings), configured at 1,200 MHz
  • Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB
  • Video card: Zotac GeForce GTS 250
  • Video resolution: 1680×1050
  • Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
  • Power supply: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
  • Case: 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX Cool

Operating System Configuration

  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Software Used

  • Prime95
  • SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2 °C error margin, meaning temperature differences below 2 °C are considered irrelevant.

[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]

The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on all coolers listed below. Each measurement was taken with the CPU at idle and at full load. In the models with a fan supporting PWM, the motherboard controlled the fan speed according to core load and temperature. On coolers with an integrated fan controller, the fan was set at the minimum speed on the idle test and at full speed on the full load test.

 

Idle Processor

Processor at Full Load

Cooler Room Temp. Noise Speed Core Temp. Noise Speed Core Temp.
Intel stock (socket LGA1156) 14 °C 44 dBA 1700 rpm 46 °C 54 dBA 2500 rpm 90 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 G1 14 °C 47 dBA 2050 rpm 33 °C 56 dBA 2900 rpm 62 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme 14 °C 45 dBA 1400 rpm 27 °C 53 dBA 1950 rpm 51 °C
Thermaltake Silent 1156 14 °C 44 dBA 1200 rpm 38 °C 49 dBA 1750 rpm 69 °C
Noctua NH-D14 14 °C 49 dBA 1250 rpm 27 °C 49 dBA 1250 rpm 53 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Performa 14 °C 46 dBA 1500 rpm 28 °C 52 dBA 1950 rpm 54 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems 14 °C 40 dBA 750 rpm 27 °C 60 dBA 2550 rpm 50 °C
Thermaltake Frio 14 °C 46 dBA 1450 rpm 27 °C 60 dBA 2500 rpm 50 °C
Prolimatech Samuel 17 14 °C 40 dBA 750 rpm 40 °C 60 dBA 2550 rpm 63 °C
Zalman CNPS8000A 18 °C 43 dBA 1400 rpm 39 °C 54 dBA 2500 rpm 70 °C
Spire TherMax Eclipse II 14 °C 55 dBA 2200 rpm 28 °C 55 dBA 2200 rpm 53 °C
Scythe Ninja3 17 °C 39 dBA 700 rpm 32 °C 55 dBA 1800 rpm 57 °C
Corsair A50 18 °C 52 dBA 1900 rpm 33 °C 52 dBA 1900 rpm 60 °C
Thermaltake Jing 18 °C 44 dBA 850/1150 rpm 34 °C 49 dBA 1300 rpm 60 °C
GlacialTech Alaska 18 °C 43 dBA 1150 rpm 36 °C 51 dBA 1600 rpm 60 °C

In the graph below, at full load you can see how many degrees Celsius hotter the CPU core is than the air outside the case. The lower this difference, the better is the performance of the cooler.

GlacialTech Alaska

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main features of the GlacialTech Alaska CPU cooler include:

  • Application: Socket LGA775, 1156, 1366, AM3, AM2+, AM2, 939, and 754 processors
  • Fins: Aluminum
  • Base: Copper
  • Heat-pipes: Six 6-mm copper heat-pipes
  • Fan: 120 mm
  • Nominal fan speed: 1,600 rpm
  • Fan air flow: 55.7 cfm
  • Maximum power consumption: 4.32 W
  • Nominal noise level: 30 dBA
  • Weight: 1.6 lbs (740 g)
  • More information: https://www.glacialtech.com
  • Average price in the US: We couldn’t find this cooler being sold in the US

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

The Alaska has a very innovative fin design, called "breathing effect" by GlacialTech, based on holes and slopes on the fins. This design probably increases the airflow turbulence, improving heat transfer.

The cooler is simple and looks nice. The installation was not a breeze, because we didn’t remove the motherboard from our case and the springs insisted on falling from the screws. However, it was not too difficult.

Thanks to its good cooling performance and a low noise level, we are giving the GlacialTech Alaska the Hardware Secrets Silver Award. We hope it won’t arrive on the market costing too much, otherwise it will lose its good cost/benefit ratio.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, this site may earn from qualifying purchases. We may also earn commissions on purchases from other retail websites.

car service

Why Is Fleet Maintenance Important?

If you have a fleet of vehicles you use within your business, it’s crucial you keep up with their

Playing Fifa on Play station 4

Tips for Recycling Your Gaming Consoles and Devices

These days, it seems like almost everybody is gaming. As great as this is, it’s also creating a

Business planning

How to Develop Your Venture Capital Business

Venture Capital (VC) is a type of private equity investment in which investors provide funding to

Footer

For Performance

  • PCI Express 3.0 vs. 2.0: Is There a Gaming Performance Gain?
  • Does dual-channel memory make difference on integrated video performance?
  • Overclocking Pros and Cons
  • All Core i7 Models
  • Understanding RAM Timings

Everything you need to know

  • Everything You Need to Know About the Dual-, Triple-, and Quad-Channel Memory Architectures
  • What You Should Know About the SPDIF Connection (2022 Guide)
  • Everything You Need to Know About the Intel Virtualization Technology
  • Everything You Need to Know About the CPU Power Management

Copyright © 2023 · All rights reserved - Hardwaresecrets.com
About Us · Privacy Policy · Contact