It’s fair to say that the overall theme at this year’s Computex seems to be ‘forget the economy, spend big’ when it comes to new PC hardware. Fortunately, not every company is thinking along these lines, and when it comes to keeping your CPU and your wallet even cooler, Arctic has got you covered.
Simply called the Freezer 61, the new air cooler has a neat feature that should make it stand out in the vast sea of models on the market. While it’s ‘just’ another twin heatsink and fan combo, with six heatpipes running through the copper base plate, the two fans aren’t quite identical and for a good reason.
One is an Arctic P12 Pro Reverse, whereas the fan nestled between the two heatsinks is a P14 Pro Reverse. Why? The smaller fan helps to ensure that the cooler doesn’t clash with the memory sticks installed in your motherboard’s DIMM slots. Both fans are reverse models, for aesthetic reasons, but given that we highly rate the standard P12 Pro, these will do the job very nicely, no matter how they’re orientated.
Large and lumpy CPU coolers can be a problem to fit in some rigs. For example, I use a Thermalright PA120SE on one of my test PCs, but no matter what memory sticks are fitted in that system, the height of the DIMMs means that I have to push the front fan ‘up’. That reduces the airflow through the heatsink a touch, something which shouldn’t be an issue with the Freezer 61.
The non-RGB version just comes in black, but if you prefer a fully white aesthetic for your gaming PC, then you’ll be pleased to see that this is an option with the RGB version of the Freezer 61.
Finally, the truly best part: Arctic’s new CPU coolers start at around 50 euros ($58), and while you can spend less than that on an air system, the deal is sweetened here by the inclusion of Arctic’s premier MX7 thermal paste and a six-year warranty. The company already makes the best AIO coolers around, so we’ll be sure to let you know how the Freezer 61 fares when we get our hands on it.
Best CPU coolers 2026
