MSI Core Frozr L Review: The king of budget CPU coolers

The MSI Core Frozr L is the budget CPU cooler that has been designed to provide superior cooling performance at an affordable price. It features a 120mm PWM fan with a maximum speed of 2200 RPM and three heat pipes, which allows it to cool your CPU efficiently.

The msi core frozr xl is a budget CPU cooler that is designed for high performance at low cost.

MSI has just begun manufacturing CPU coolers and has produced a fantastic CPU cooler for both Intel and AMD platforms, including AM4. The cooler is a $50 mid-range cheap CPU cooler with excellent looks and a different heatsink design than its Cooler Master competitors. Let’s see whether this heatsink with its unusual design can provide some decent performance.

SPECS:-

Based on its specifications, it seems to be a good CPU cooler with a broad variety of fan speeds and a typical noise level range. The cooler is compatible with Intel and AMD sockets of all types.

The packaging for an Air cooler was the finest I’ve ever seen, and everything was neatly organized. The CPU heatsink arrived with a pre-installed fan in one plastic packet, while the brackets, screws, thermal paste, instructions, and other supplies came in a separate package. A foam container with specific compartments for each substance was included in the accessories package. Even the screws were in their rightful locations. The package included the following items:-

1. 1. 1x AMD/Intel socket mounting kit
   2. 1 sheet of Mylar film for the mounting kit
   3. 1 backplate made of metal
   4. 1x Plate for mounting
   5. 1x top cover (in black)
   6. Fan clips (12cm)
   7. 1x Plate Cap (Black)
   8. Rubber (eight)
   9. MSI chill factor thermal paste (one tube)
   10. 1 fan for the CPU
   11. All of the required screws and washers are included.

In a nutshell, the accessories supplied were adequate, and there was no room for improvement. Additional features such as a separate top black cover for the heatsink and two additional fan connectors are needed to install a second fan simply.

I’ve previously stated the heatsink’s measurements in the specifications table, but here’s a close look at how the CPU cooler and CPU fan appear from all angles. The cooler is somewhat broader on one side, and the heatsink is a cross between a budget and a full tower heatsink. Because of its size, it seems to be a mid-tower. The fan is held in place by two metal clips that may be moved slightly upwards or downwards. It may be adjusted according to the RAM installed on your motherboard. However, if you leave the fan in its original position, the height from the ground is insufficient to put a tall memory stick in the first slot. However, after the installation procedure is complete, we will notice this problem. 

The top features an MSI GAMING G Series LOGO in the form of a shield in the center of the silver-colored plastic cover, which is fastened with four screws. The aesthetics are excellent, and I will show you the naked heatsink in the near future. But first, let’s look at the relationship. 

The fan seemed to be linked to a separate cable splitter that emerged from the top of the heatsink and to which the fan’s 4 pin power connection was attached when I looked at it. The primary connection was left over, and it was used to attach the motherboard. I wondered why I was doing this until I dismantled everything. 

So there were four of them. One was a heatsink, while the other three were decorative top coverings. The top cover is composed of plastic that, due to its appearance, may be mistaken for aluminum or any other metal. To complement your theme, this cover may be swapped out with the black cover included in the accessories package. However, I did not change it in order to match my white RIG. There was a cover with an MSI LOGO on it that could be seen from the outside, and it was attached to the heatsink with four long screws and a plexiglass inlaid with LED with eight tiny screws. To provide Red lighting, the plexiglass is black on one side and entirely red on the other. The LED is powered by a cable, which is why there is a cable splitter: to power both the LED and the fan from one port. 

The heatsink is definitely something to appreciate. This is the best heatsink money can buy. It’s extremely sturdy, and unlike other cheap air coolers, the fins aren’t readily bent. As stated by MSI, the fins are straight and are designed to give optimum airflow to the heatpipes, and there are a total of four 8mm thick heatpipes flowing through the heatsink to various locations to disperse maximum heat to the heatsink. Rubber pads are also found on the sides of the heatsink. I believe they have some function, such as regulating the Fan vibration or something like.

The base is nickel-plated copper, which is found in the majority of excellent heatsinks. Most cheap heatsinks, like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Turbo, have aluminum heatsinks with copper pipes visible at the base. Because copper has greater conductivity and offers a smooth foundation, the cooling of a copper base with copper pipes embedded within is better than the latter. The base isn’t entirely smooth, and there are a few minor flaws, but that’s where the thermal paste will come in handy. Overall, I can’t say enough good things about the heatsink. 

The fan is 120mm in diameter and, as the blades indicate, is designed for high air pressure. They are conventional, with no innovative airflow design, but a total of 14 fan blades is more than enough to produce enough air pressure. Like any other static pressure fan, the fan blades are somewhat bent, and the mounting frame has rubber pads to reduce vibrations. The MSI Dragon LOGO in the center, with silver and red accents and red rubber pads, completes the MSI appearance. According to MSI, this fan should run at a speed of 500-1800 RPM (+ or 15%), which we shall witness in testing. The fan is designed to provide 71 CFM of airflow and 2.09mm-H20 of air pressure. That’s an excellent specification for a static pressure fan.

[nextpage title=”Setup & Test Rig”]

This cooler requires a little different setup. There are a lot of screws and washers, and I was puzzled before I read the instructions, so I had to refer to it many times to get it installed correctly. Installation is more difficult than with other cheap CPU coolers, and you’ll need a handbook to get started.

The rear plate must be accompanied with the Mylar film sheet, which I believe is for the purpose of preventing any sorting. I’m not sure whether this is correct, however that is what the handbook instructs us to do.

It’s now time to attach the bracket after screwing from the opposite side. The screw holes for Intel are larger to make installation easier, however the screws will be positioned on one side of each screw hole rather than in the center or at the edge. It’s strange to me since it’s not the usual or the ideal answer. After the bracket has been installed, a tiny clip should be used to secure the heatsink to the bracket, which should be inserted into the screw holes on the bracket’s left and right sides. It was also a tough task since the clip could not be screwed to the heatsink. On one side, it featured two extended metal circular pieces that could be temporarily connected to the heatsink. As a result, correctly positioning it requires considerable expertise.

So, as usual, I used isopropyl alcohol to clean the CPU and the heatsink base before applying the thermal paste that included with this CPU cooler. So, here’s the final product. 

There is just enough room for a small heatsink memory to be installed in the first slot, but don’t anticipate to put anything larger since there isn’t enough room. Instead, since the cooler only has room for one DIMM slot, you won’t have to worry about memory compatibility on the three slots; however, you’ll have to use a shorter memory stick in the first slot.

As most of us will do, I powered the heatsink using the CPU FAN header. The end product was satisfactory. With the fans running at their normal pace, the MSI LOGO lighted up beautifully.

Here’s the RIG I used to test the cooler (I use the same rig for all of them so the results are consistent):-

Check out the Intel Core i5 6600K on Amazon.

Amazon has the Asus Z170 Pro Gaming.

Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x 4GB DDR4 2400Mhz: Check Amazon

Amazon has a 320GB WD HDD.

Check out Amazon for the TP-Link N300 Wifi PCI Card.

Check out Amazon for the Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 500W.

Check out Amazon for the Cooler Master 690 III.

1x 120mm Corsair AF fan: For further information, see the Amazon link at the bottom of the page. 1x DeepCool TF120 120mm fan (from radiator): Look into Amazon.

[nextpage title=”Benchmarks and Summary”]

Testing was carried out at 31°C room temperature, and since various coolers are tested at different times of the year, I’ve included the Delta T standards to make the comparison fair. After benchmarking, subtract the ambient temperature from the temperature of the CPU to get Delta T. So, if the room temperature is 25 degrees Celsius and the CPU temperature after benchmarking is 60 degrees Celsius, Delta T equals 60 degrees Celsius minus 25 degrees Celsius equals 45 degrees Celsius. This will be done in order to create a fair comparison of different CPU coolers evaluated throughout various seasons.

After turning off all fans in the case save the PSU’s, noise testing was conducted in a quiet environment using an LCD noise tester. The CPU cooler fan was kept about 1 inch away from the tester.

I appreciated how the cooler, like the Hyper 212 Turbo at idle, was able to maintain the CPU temperature at ambient temperature. The outcomes, however, are not quite what you’d anticipate. Heavyload was used to stress test the CPU for 15 minutes for each benchmark, after which the CPU cooler was allowed 5 minutes to cool down at full speed until the temperature returned to its original idle temperature. I use CPUID HWMonitor to monitor CPU temperature and fan speed. I utilized the ASUS AI Suite 3 software to automatically create a fan profile for fan speed management, however the fan speed was still recorded by the HWMonitor because of its precision.

The heatsink is excellent, but the cooling system is inadequate. The fan operated at approximately 610 RPM in the quiet profile, up from 490 RPM due to the excessive heat. I didn’t want to set the quiet profile fan speed to a certain speed; instead, I wanted to observe how the fan worked automatically at various temperatures. The temperature reached 70C after 15 minutes with the i5 6600K overclocked to 4.5GHz with fans spinning at 610RPM, but when the fan speed was increased to maximum 1850RPM, the temperature dropped to 59C, which is much better. This indicates that the low fan speed is insufficient to remove heat from the heatsink, and if you overclock, you should never go below 1000 RPM. Despite the fact that the temperature rose too quickly at low fan speeds, this is an excellent CPU cooler for overclocking since a single fan can regulate the temperatures at maximum power.

Because the heatsink can accommodate an extra fan, two fans in a push-pull arrangement will provide much better results, even when the fans are operating at low speeds, and I didn’t have one to test with. However, the heatsink is capable of efficiently drawing heat from the CPU, producing results comparable to those achieved by the Hyper 212 Turbo with two fans.

It was acceptable in terms of noise. At the quiet profile, there is no noise at all, however at full speed, the noise is audible due to the fan’s speed. It made more noise than the Hyper 212 Turbo, and adding a second fan would make it much louder.

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–Understand the significance of these honors

The cpu cooler is a CPU cooling device that is designed for use in personal computers. It uses heat pipes and a fan to cool the processor.

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MSI Frozr l is a good air cooler.”}},{“@type”:”Question”,”name”:”What is the best budget CPU cooler?”,”acceptedAnswer”:{“@type”:”Answer”,”text”:”
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The CPU coolers that come with the CPUs are sufficient.”}}]}

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MSI Frozr l good?

MSI Frozr l is a good air cooler.

What is the best budget CPU cooler?

The best budget CPU cooler is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

Are the CPU coolers that come with the CPU good?

The CPU coolers that come with the CPUs are sufficient.

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