Arctic (ARCTIC) is reportedly working on a new air cooler for the AMD Threadripper / TR4 platform according to AnandTech who spotted a prototype on display during a gaming convention in Germany. The currently named "Freezer 50 TR" is a massive dual tower air cooler wrapped in a black shroud (with integrated addressable RGB lighting) and outfitted with two 140mm fans.
AnandTech spotted Arctic's prototype 0dB Freezer 50 TR air cooler.
Arctic claims that the Freezer 50 TR is a semi-passive cooler that hits 0dB under light loads as the dual fans stop spinning when the PWM signal gets below 5%. The company has not released the maximum noise levels or fan speeds though. Further, the company is not yet talking TDPs as the cooler is still a prototype, but with the massive air cooler having two large aluminum fin stacks and eight direct contact nickel-plated heat-pipes it should handle Threadripper without issue (though what noise levels will have to be is still a concern).
Looking on Arctic's website, the new Freezer 50 TR looks to fill in a large gap in their TR4 cooler lineup between the $48 Freezer 33 TR single tower cooler (up to 200W) and the $75 Liquid Freezer 120 all-in-one liquid cooler with 120mm radiator (250W). From there, Arctic offers a $85 240mm and a $120 360mm cooler. For enthusiasts wanting air cooling with more stable temperatures under load and maybe a bit of overclocking room, the Freezer 50 TR may be the option they are looking for. I would guess that the Freezer 50 TR will likely be priced somewhere around or just above the 120mm liquid cooler.
I agree with Mr. Shilov (AnandTech) that a Computex launch is likely for the new cooler which would place it just in time for AMD's new Zen 2-based chips which may include an announcement of or at least information on new Threadripper 3 parts (though actual shipping chips may not be until the fall) if the rumors hold true. Threadripper and Threadripper 2 should be supported, but whether it will be enough to cool Threadripper 3 processors which may well ratchet up the core count again (if 64-core 7nm EPYC parts are any indication) is still unknown.
In any event, more air cooler options for Threadripper is a great thing as there are not nearly as many options for TR4 as there are for Ryzen and other consumer-level AMD (AM4) and Intel (115x) sockets! Water cooling may well be your best bet with Threadripper and other HEDT parts, especially when overclocking, but I am interested to see how well the Freezer 50 TR does in reviews!
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