Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET X7 Air Cooler Review

David_Schroth

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,292
Points
113
Introduction



banner-1024x450.png
Image Credit: Iceberg Thermal



Today marks the second time we will be using our new Air Cooling test platform. This platform is built around a Ryzen 7 2700X processor with a manufacturer claimed TDP of 105W. This should provide a reasonable usage case that we are likely to see with some of today’s most demanding air-cooled CPU coolers. So, on the bench today is the Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET X7 Dual which is part of Iceberg Thermal’s IceSLEET series.



Iceberg Thermal IceSLEET X7 Dual Overview...
Click to expand...

Continue reading...
 
Wow.

I just really don't care for that shroud. At all. But that's a subjective opinion - to each their own. Looks like it performed well, if a bit loud. A bit pricey in my opinion if it's going to be noisy, but again, that's subjective.

Good review!
 
I have one of their 120mm fans - loud but effective. This cooler is not my cup of tea looks wise, I wish there was a way to mount a fan without the shroud. Thanks for the review!!!!
 
That looks like some random item from a 90s 3D game without textures. But I don't care how my cooler looks, I want it to perform and be silent. Too bad there is no noise normalized comparison. I'd also be interested to see how it performs without the shroud, whether it hurts or helps cooling. It most certainly adds noise.
 
MadMummy76 said:
That looks like some random item from a 90s 3D game without textures. But I don't care how my cooler looks, I want it to perform and be silent. Too bad there is no noise normalized comparison. I'd also be interested to see how it performs without the shroud, whether it hurts or helps cooling. It most certainly adds noise.
Click to expand...

For the X7, it's not really possible to operate without the shroud. The top of the shroud includes the middle fan and the sides help hold it in place. I'd also suggest that if you're interested in this cooler, it's probably due to the looks and not because of the maximum performance that you can extract from it. My kids think it looks awesome.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the "noise normalized comparison" stuff piles too many assumptions into the equation to be useful to anyone. Realistically, no one is going to strap their cooler on and set it for a static fan speed (or max it out). They're going to run it on a fan curve that's either set by their motherboard bios/software or that they configure themselves. As that's a variable that's impossible to properly test for, we're testing performance at a specific set of fan speeds, so if anything, you know the relative performance of the cooler at those fan speeds (i.e. on many coolers, min fan speed at about 600rpm is not viable for anything but idle speeds).

Back to the X7, here's my normalized assessment: The droning sound that the fans make cuts through the ambient noise levels far more than the decibel levels would indicate, especially compared to other coolers at the same measured decibel level.
 
David_Schroth said:
Maybe I'm wrong, but the "noise normalized comparison" stuff piles too many assumptions into the equation to be useful to anyone. Realistically, no one is going to strap their cooler on and set it for a static fan speed (or max it out). They're going to run it on a fan curve that's either set by their motherboard bios/software or that they configure themselves. As that's a variable that's impossible to properly test for, we're testing performance at a specific set of fan speeds, so if anything, you know the relative performance of the cooler at those fan speeds (i.e. on many coolers, min fan speed at about 600rpm is not viable for anything but idle speeds).
Click to expand...
You set them to have the exact same noise level instead of rpm. I don't see what is the difficulty in that. That would give a more precise idea on the actual cooler design and efficiency. Than comparing them at full speed where the one with the fastest fan will win, not revealing much if it's just brute forcing it or actually an efficient cooler.

Maybe it's only me but to me the actual heatsink is 1000 times more important than the included fans, that can be easily replaced on most coolers.
 
MadMummy76 said:
You set them to have the exact same noise level instead of rpm. I don't see what is the difficulty in that. That would give a more precise idea on the actual cooler design and efficiency. Than comparing them at full speed where the one with the fastest fan will win, not revealing much if it's just brute forcing it or actually an efficient cooler.

Maybe it's only me but to me the actual heatsink is 1000 times more important than the included fans, that can be easily replaced on most coolers.
Click to expand...
Couldn’t you also just test the sink itself by turning off the fan entirely and see how it handles? The better sink will limp faster than a worse sink. Would get into issues with shrouded coolers that way though.

Tuning for “same” noise is subjective - even at the same dB level different tones will sound different.
 
David_Schroth said:
Realistically, no one is going to strap their cooler on and set it for a static fan speed (or max it out).
Click to expand...
Well, I do...

Then again I have been known to be called peculiar a time or two. Besides, hearing fans spin up and down annoys me a hell of a lot more than a static humming noise in the background which is typically easy for me to ignore. And I have tinnitus so the steady background noise is a benefit to me.
 
Last edited:
SmokeRngs said:
Besides, hearing fans spin up and down annoys me a hell of a lot more than a static humming noise in the background
Click to expand...
I understand this 100%. My wife's computer drives me crazy when the fans ramp. I need to go in and try to adjust the curves, or just set them static. Even just light work they spin up and down almost ceaslessly.
 
Fans ramping like that are indeed quite obnoxious, but still, our testing results show you the performance and noise expected for a given RPM level.

For the ramping, there's usually a delay in the curve you can set to keep it from being that sudden.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Become a Patron!
Back
Top