ARCTIC COOLING have given us the best cooling solutions on the market, today they enter a new field – notebook cooling.

Product on Review: ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC NC
Manufacturer and Sponsor: ARCTIC COOLING
MSRP: (excl. VAT): 21,90 € / US$ 31.50

In the Cooling market ARCTIC COOLING have quite a good reputation for supplying excellent products to the consumer. Not so long back Sahil reviewed the highly popular MX-3 thermal paste, this is a good example of how ARCTIC COOLING are leaders in this category. It’s not just CPU cooling that they excel in either, they have long been a supplier of aftermarket GPU cooling products, fans, cases and PSUs.

Today we take a look at the ARCTIC NC, a USB-powered notebook cooler with a 4-port USB hub. This is their first attempt at developing a product for cooling such a device, and so it will be interesting if their success in other sectors will similarly transfer over into notebook cooling.

ARCTIC COOLING on the ARCTIC NC

“The USB-powered ARCTIC NC is more user-friendly than other notebook coolers around. The two 60mm fans produce sufficient airflow in quiet operation. With the intelligent fan speed turn, you can adjust the fan speed to the most suitable level for your need.

Together with a 4-port USB hub and lightweight design, the ARCTIC NC is a perfect travel companion for your notebook computer.”

Features and Specifications

• 2 ultra quiet 60mm fans with PWM function
• Intelligent fan speed turn from 800 to 1,700 rpm
• USB-powered, no extra batteries / adopters are needed
• 4-port USB hub
• Compact, lightweight, protable, rigid
• Compatible to all notebooks from 12″- 19″

Dimensions: 278 (L) x 95.8 (W) x 31 (H) mm
Fan: 60mm x 2 fans
Fan speed: 800 – 1,700 RPM
Fan noise level: 0.1 – 0.3 Sone
Connector: USB 2.0
USB port: USB 2.0 x 4
Accessory: USB cable x 1
Weight: 250g
Warranty: 2 year

ARCTIC NC

The ARCTIC NC comes encased in a clear surround, the packaging is actually on the thin side – there is nothing wrong with this as the cost of the ARCTIC NC can then be kept quite low. Rather than having to tear away the plastic surround, ARCTIC COOLING have opted for a neat open/close system using the plastic itself which works well – I hate having to get the scissors out and risk damaging the product inside!

Inside we have the ARCTIC NC cooler, instructions manual, USB cable, fitting pads and ARCTIC COOLING sticker.

The fitting pads may be required later on when the notebook test is performed as some notebooks may slip off the edge of the ARCTIC NC.





On first look, the ARCTIC NC is rather small for a notebook cooler, and you would be more than justified to query its cooling capabilities. It comes in two flavours, black or grey. Our sample is black. The ARCTIC NC features two 60mm PWM fans that allow speeds of 900-1700RPM.

The surface looks and feels smooth, but has a matte finish. Unfortunately this marks quite easily, it could do with some protection because the notebook actually sits on top of the lip. The thing that stands out about the ARCTIC NC is that it can host notebooks 12” to 19” notebooks, which is very versatile. Most coolers for notebooks only offer support for up to 15” or a smaller range of size. So it’s great that the ARCTIC NC is able to cater for such a wide range.

Another thing to be considered is the weight of this cooler, it weighs in at just 250g, that’s half the weight of a tin of Baked Beans. Very lightweight indeed, its size and weight make it the ideal product for slipping into your notebook bag if you are on the move.





On the rear of the cooler is a 4-port USB hub, a female USB B slot (for plugging in the cooler via USB lead) and a fan controller wheel. The wheel allows you to control both fans from 900-1700RPM. Again, a nice range there offering even more flexibility. It’s good to see the USB hub giving you an extra 4 ports (3 if you subtract the one taken from your laptop for the ARCTIC NC).



The ARCTIC NC actually works by drawing in air through the top and pushing it underneath and against the underside of the notebook. Just looking at the cooler, you wouldn’t really guess that it works in this way. A little later on we will see how effective the two 60mm fans really are and if this method works.

Performance

To test the effectiveness of the cooling on the ARCTIC NC I will be testing the cooler with a Dell notebook. The temperatures of the CPU and HDD in idle and load state, with and without the cooler will be featured in the test. For arguments sake the ARCTIC NC, when used will be put at 1700RPM – full speed.

The system will be stressed using OCCT. This will also report the temperatures.

Dell Latitude D630
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz
Memory 2GB DDR2
HDD 60GB SATA-II
Screen 14.1″



Results





With the ARCTIC NC plugged in a blue glow can be seen from the LED just above the USB slot. To switch the cooler on the wheel needs to be moved, for the purpose of the tests full speed (1700RPM) is used. It’s really as easy as this to change the speed of the fans.

From the results its fairly obvious the ARCTIC NC offers substantial cooling performance over the absence of a cooler altogether. A massive 9 degrees during load is removed, the CPU here is loaded at 100% so this is the worst case scenario. Very encouraging results indeed. The HDD temperatures whilst not being as significant, have still dropped and so this is a thumbs up. The HDD on the notebook is actually positioned nearer to the front of the underside, so this would explain this.

Overall, the ARCTIC NC provides a good solution for keeping those degrees off the notebook. Working through the fan speeds, the noise is one of the most remarkable things about this cooler – those fans are barely audible. Even at full speed, only if you are close enough will you hear a slight noise.

Conclusion

Being their first notebook cooler, ARCTIC COOLING can be proud of the ARCTIC NC. It offers substantial cooling performance, is lightweight, portable and barely audible at full speed. All these attribute make it a clear winner.

Although I couldn’t find anywhere stocking this product yet, the MSRP of 21,90 € / US$ 31.50 translates into good value for money.

My only complaint with the ARCTIC NC is that the surface area the notebook rests on is easily marked; if ARCTIC COOLING could make the lip area softer and more robust this would improve this notebook cooler. The fitting pads, whilst they do improve friction by keeping the notebook more secure it’s still quite easy to have the notebook move around and out of place.

It’s my pleasure to award the ARCTIC NC the Gold award because it really is a brilliant product and sits in the 90% zone.

Pros
+ Excellent performance
+ Lightweight (250g)
+ Portable
+ 12”-19” notebook support
+ Affordable

Cons
– Surface marks easy
– Notebook can slip off

We would like to thank ARCTIC COOLING for providing the ARCTIC NC. Discuss this review on our forums