MSI Core Frozr L CPU Cooler Review: Frozr Goes Vertical
MSI’s Core Frozr L may be the motherboard company’s first CPU cooler product released but this is not in any way an amateur attempt. Frozr coolers have been used on MSI’s graphics cards for almost a decade now, with their Twin Frozr thermal design currently in its sixth generation used on the latest NVIDIA 10-series graphics cards. The MSI Core Frozr L is simply a vertical adoption for the CPU of what MSI has been doing horizontally to GPUs for the past few years.
Aside from enjoying plenty of success with their motherboard and video card sales lately, MSI also successfully branched out to offering pre-assembled gaming systems in addition to their gaming laptops. In the course of designing and building these gaming systems, MSI has seen firsthand what kind of CPU cooling requirements are needed inside a high-performance gaming desktop. Naturally, the Core Frozr L came about from this knowledge, with gamer aesthetic and gamer cooling requirements in mind.
[sc:sponsor sponsor=”MSI” product_link=”https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/CORE-FROZR-L.html” product_name=”CORE Frozr L” product_price=”$49.99″ ]The MSI Core Frozr L is packed in a 185 x 110 x 245mm box, emblazoned with MSI’s Dragon Gaming logo and red on black color scheme. The front cover has a 3/4 view of the silver-top Frozr L with the fan installed while the measurements and feature-list is printed on the back. A side view of the heatsink is visible on the left side while, the specifications table is listed on the right side of the box.
The contents inside are in two compartments: the accessories in a smaller box and the heatsink itself sandwiched between two pieces of form fitting plastic.
The 120mm fan is already pre-installed on the CORE Frozr L heatsink body and each of the accessory content is organized inside the box. A label guide inside the user manual is provided for cross referencing which of the numerous mounting components are which.
The accessories aside from the pre-installed 120mm fan, PWM LED Y-cable, a pair mounting fan clips and default silver top plate are:
- 1x Fold out documentation for installation for Intel and AMD systems
- 1x Thermal compound in a small tube (MSI Chill Factor X1 thermal compound)
- 1x Universal metal backplate
- 1x Anchoring mount
- 1x Black top plate
- 2x Extra fan clips
- 1x Backplate cap (for LGA775 only)
- 1x Rubberized block with adhesive backing (splits into multiple smaller pieces)
- 4x screw nut
- 4x AMD insulating washer
- 4x Intel insulating washer
- 4x M3 L8 screws
- 4x M3 L12 screws
- 2x M4 L14 screws (silver)
- 2x M4 L14 screws (AM4 only, black)
- 4x LGA2011 screw mounts
Specifications:
| Weight | 960 g (w/ single TORX Fan) |
| Dimensions | 140mm x 155mm x 55mm (w/o Fan) 140mm x 155mm x 84mm (w/ single TORX Fan) 120mm x 120mm x 25.6mm (TORX Fan) |
| Socket Intel | LGA 2011-3/ 2011/ 1366/ 1156/ 1155/ 1151/ 1150/ 775 |
| Socket AMD | AM4/ FM2/ FM1/ AM3+/ AM3/ AM2+/ AM2 |
| Bearing Type | Hydro-Dynamic Bearing |
| Rated Speed | 500 – 1800 ±15% RPM |
| Air Flow | 19.79 – 71.27 CFM |
| Static Air Pressure | 0.16 – 2.09 mm-H20 |
| Noise Level (Fans) | 17.2 ~ 33.6 dBA |
| Connector | 4-Pin PWM/DC |
| Life Expectancy | MTTF 150,000 Hours (25℃) |
| Thermal Grease | Premium thermal compound X |
