Wednesday, September 17th 2008

Thermalright Ultra 120 Cu Limited Edition up for Grabs Next Month

Famous for their fin-array based air cooling, Thermalright had earlier announced that they would be releasing a full-copper version of their popular Ultra 120 CPU cooler. Reports suggest that the cooler indeed will make it to the market next month, just that the company would be making only 3,000 of these coolers making it a limited-edition product. The cooler uses copper in all its parts, starting from the CPU contact base, the six heatpipes, and the 50+ fins. With copper being a heavier metal than aluminum, the heatsink tips the scales at a whole 3 kilograms (roughly 6 lbs). The thermal properties of copper along with an element of aesthetic appeal would sell this product, which will be priced at US $99 when it releases next month.
Source: Expreview
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83 Comments on Thermalright Ultra 120 Cu Limited Edition up for Grabs Next Month

#51
thebeephaha
You all need to shut up arguing about copper vs aluminum. Wait till the freaking cooler comes out and someone compares the two. If the all copper one wins or the aluminum one wins then you have your answer to which material is best as the two versions seem the same design minus material differences.
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#52
oli_ramsay
Yea, I can't wait to see some benchies. I doubt it'll make much of a difference, maybe like 1°C. Plus there's only gonna be 3000 made so the chances of getting one will be very slim. I bet they'll be about £75 here in the UK.
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#53
Beertintedgoggles
newtekie1Yes, but in other coolers the materials are not reacting with the air or going through any physical reaction or phase change.

And the water is reacting with the air. Actually, the water vapor in the air, is reacting with the liquid water. Evaporation is actually caused by a reaction of the material to itself. The molecules collide(react) with eachother and transfer energy, if one gets enough energy to change state, evaperation happens. Now, the water vapor in the air is also reacting with the liquid water. As the water vapor in the air collides(reacts) with the liquid water, it often takes the energy from a molecule that would normally have enough energy to change states. This is the reason that water evaporates more slowly when the air is humid. There are more water molecules in the air colliding with the liquid water molecules and preventing them from changing state.
I had a lot more written down then I noticed this is becoming more like a book than a thread, and yeah the statement that started this way back with chron about aluminum magically keeping things around it cooler than ambient.... well we just found a way to cure any thought of global warming :cool: So since the start I'm in agreement with you, there is no metal alone that you can place on your cpu that will take the temp below the ambient temp of the heatsink and air which is why I started with I was just being a smartass and showing a way of going below ambient with water and a fan. In a very simple way, it's just a poor man's phase change cooling system.
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#55
theJesus
I refuse to be impressed by any cpu heatsinks until I see one specifically designed to to fry food when under load. :roll: Then I can fully bring my girlfriend into the realm of computers because she loves cooking.
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#56
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
BeertintedgogglesI had a lot more written down then I noticed this is becoming more like a book than a thread, and yeah the statement that started this way back with chron about aluminum magically keeping things around it cooler than ambient.... well we just found a way to cure any thought of global warming :cool: So since the start I'm in agreement with you, there is no metal alone that you can place on your cpu that will take the temp below the ambient temp of the heatsink and air which is why I started with I was just being a smartass and showing a way of going below ambient with water and a fan. In a very simple way, it's just a poor man's phase change cooling system.
I know, I'm really just being a smartass back.:toast:
theJesusI refuse to be impressed by any cpu heatsinks until I see one specifically designed to to fry food when under load. :roll: Then I can fully bring my girlfriend into the realm of computers because she loves cooking.
www.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~htsu/humor/fry_egg.html
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#57
theJesus
newtekie1www.phys.ncku.edu.tw/~htsu/humor/fry_egg.html
Thanks, I hadn't seen that one yet :laugh:

I saw one with an xbox360 where they used the stock heatsink without any mods, just let the egg go through all the fins and it fried in a few seconds :eek: I wanted to see something more like what you posted though, where they actually make a more "practical" frying surface.
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#58
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
watch as they release a entire line of these copper coolers.
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#59
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
alexp9993kg :eek: OMFG! I thought the Alu one was heavy. Bye bye mobo! I guess this will only work in desktop oriented chassis? Even then wont it fubar your board? Gonna need some sort of packing to stop it bending your mobo something wrotten.

Isnt copper heatpipes and Alu fins the best combo though? Cus alu is better at dissipating heat? I would imagine this thing will be damn expensive.

I didnt buy the 120 cus of its weight but thats ridiculous!
Aluminum was only selected because its more abundant, and weighs less, thats why many vehicles use aluminum for their radiators. Copper conducts/dissipates heat faster.
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#60
Hayder_Master
more copper more cooler , nice and cool , but only tip is why it is not touch pips
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#61
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
TheGuruStudHigher density = better transfer NOT better release. It retains heat better due to being more dense than Al.

I tell you what. We'll heat a 12 guage piece of Cu and Al wire up to 200F and them cool for a few secs. Which wire are you going to grab?

That's what I thought.
You were the one who said it dissipated it faster and I wouldn't grab either that would be stupid. The Al would take more energy to heat upto 200F than copper. I don't even know why I bother arguing about the properties of copper and aluminium on the internet, it's not like its something you can have an opinion on.
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#62
Zehnsucht
DrPepperYou were the one who said it dissipated it faster and I wouldn't grab either that would be stupid. The Al would take more energy to heat upto 200F than copper. I don't even know why I bother arguing about the properties of copper and aluminium on the internet, it's not like its something you can have an opinion on.
I agree with you. As I quoted before, the metal does not care if the heat is coming or going. It's a thermal conductivity constant for a reason.

EDIT: Meh. no need to overdo the theory behind it.
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#63
lilkiduno
well i think i would want to buy one just to have it, even if i weren't to use it i would like to have a full copper air cup cooler
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#64
Unregistered
I was reading a thread on XS about this,i think its more like 1.5kg,not 3kg.
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#65
Rammsteiner
BeertintedgogglesActually, yes this type of watercooling will go below ambient. I really don't feel like explaining it so here's a link that explains the concept: forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=3856
The wikipedia explaination: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_cooler

There are many other sites out there too that will show you just about any way possible to make one of these bong type coolers. When setup properly, there is no radiator out there that would beat one of these (since no traditional radiator will ever cool below ambient). The only problem is that it is an open system so biocide is necessary but with the evaporation taking place that biocide will also make it into the surrounding air, that also means you always need to keep a close eye on your water levels.
Whoa, interesting. In that case, yes you're right. It's a bit like human body and sweating obviously, but then different:p
ArctucasI am so sure about that.

I lived in Phoenix Arizona one summer, we had what is known as a "Swamp Cooler" on the house which used water evaporation (basically a big box with water dripping through fiber mats and a blower), and even when it was 45°-50° outside, it was a comfortable 23°-25° inside.
That's quite amazing indeed.
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#67
R_1
Some interesting facts for copper and aluminium: copper weight is 8.96 g/cm3 , aluminium weight is 2.7 g/cm3. This means that copper is 3.32 times heavier then aluminium and "yes" it is possible a 790g Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme to weight 3 kg in "all copper".
It will take 3 kg metal to make a single copper cooler and only material will cost 3kg x 8 USD = 24 USD. When it is made from aluminium the price for the metal is 0.79kg x 2.5 USD = 1.98 USD.
Posted on Reply
#68
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
R_1Some interesting facts for copper and aluminium: copper weight is 8.96 g/cm3 , aluminium weight is 2.7 g/cm3. This means that copper is 3.32 times heavier then aluminium and "yes" it is possible a 790g Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme to weight 3 kg in "all copper".
It will take 3 kg metal to make a single copper cooler and only material will cost 3kg x 8 USD = 24 USD. When it is made from aluminium the price for the metal is 0.79kg x 2.5 USD = 1.98 USD.
well its about density aswell, more dense a material it is the better a conductor it will be.
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#69
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
Arn't humans quite good conductors of heat :D
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#70
Zehnsucht
eidairaman1well its about density aswell, more dense a material it is the better a conductor it will be.
Copper
Density: 8.96 g/cm³
Thermal conductivity : 401 W·m^−1·K^−1

Lead
Density: 11.34 g/cm³
Thermal conductivity : 35.3 W·m^−1·K^−1

Diamond
Density: 3.53 g/cm³
Thermal conductivity : 2000-2500 W·m^−1·K^−1

The thermal conductivity is dependent on how the atoms which build the material in question interact.
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#71
theJesus
If I made money faster than I could spend it, I'd commission myself a custom diamond heatsink :D

Is the thermal conductivity still awesome sauce if it's a synthetic diamond?
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#72
DrPepper
The Doctor is in the house
It should be, I think someone check zirconium's thermal conductivity. They would be hard as hell to manufacture.
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#73
theJesus
yeah, that's why I would expect to pay an assload and have to have it custom-made. mmm, just the thought of diamond heatpipes and cooling fins :rockout:
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#74
exodusprime1337
here's an interesting link into which metals conduct heat better. remember when comparing thermal conductivity and what dissapates and collects heat faster it's the same both ways, the difference is the temperatures outside of the metal that matter. people are too often mislead that one item conducts heat faster then the other because the larger the distance between the air and the metal temps the more the cooling capacity.

copper is a better conductor of heat then aluminum. having alu. fins doesn't make the cooler work better, the all copper cooler should conduct and diss. heat faster.

second the review on the sythe cooler or whatnot was totally blown out of proportion. if you read the last page, the replaced the cooler with the spring/screws from the thermalright unit and from what i appears beat out the alu. version.

imho the best would be a mercury based cooler. because merc is a metal and at the top of the list or close to it it'd be interesting to see how it could be implemented to cool a chip. (without killing/making you go crazy of course)

www.engineersedge.com/properties_of_metals.htm
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#75
AuDioFreaK39
The other night I took the plunge and ordered one of these. Now that I'm going to possess the heaviest heatsink known to man I can die in peace. :D


From jab-tech.com:

At Computex 2008, Thermalright displayed three versions of the Ultra-120 eXtreme; original (aluminum), black, and copper. Not surprisingly, the copper version was the one most well received. Many hardcore Overclockers saw it to be the ultimate air cooling device. Inheriting from its predecessor, TRUE Copper has six highly efficient heatpipes with every vital part soldered to them to ensure the highest rate of heat transfer and durability. This is one of the features that you will see in each and every Thermalright heatsink.

TRUE Copper’s weight exceeds all of our previous heatsinks. Due to this reason, we strongly suggest installing it on a horizontal platform. Even though in our test lab, TRUE Copper was taken out for a test drive on a vertical platform and ran without a glitch as the motherboard came out unscathed. But since not all motherboards are manufactured the same way in terms of thickness and degree of stress, Thermalright cannot guarantee the condition of your motherboard after TRUE Copper is installed for a certainly amount of time. If you insist installing on a vertical platform, please check to make sure your motherboard is sturdy enough.

As most experts would expect, TRUE Copper will be a limited edition to the eXtreme lineup due to the high cost of copper. If you pass up this chance, you may never see another TRUE work of art again so don’t wait anymore and grab one for the collection.


Brian y. at XtremeSystems:





Could not leave the pic out of it in all it's glory :D



I'm not even gonna tell you what a 4600RPM fan pushing 220CFM does for this




Joe Camel at XtremeSystems:
wonder what a "push push pull pull" set-up would do



^ LMFAO


When my TRUEcu arrives, It'll be lapped, mounted vertically, and sandwiched between a push-pull config with two Noctua NF-P12s. To solve the weight problem, what do you think if I used some clear fishing wire or beading wire to tie the heatpipe endpoints to the roof of my case?





*UPDATE* Vapor (admin) from XtremeSystems had this to say:

My concern about the weight isn't damage to the motherboard (they're surprisingly strong), but having poor contact with the CPU due to the cooler being torqued away from the CPU--this will lead to poorer temps than expected, and very likely poorer temps than the regular version of the TRUE.

Someone in the thread mentioned anchoring it to the motherboard-side of the top of the case and I think that'd be a pretty solid solution, it would provide weight support and also force back toward the CPU.

As for the P12s, I don't think they're the greatest fans in the world but I am using them in my cooler testing and a pair of them is definitely the 'sweetspot' for noise/performance in my opinion. A single one of them just performs miserably, but a pair of them performs better than a single S-Flex F (and are quieter), and are even within a couple of degrees of a dual S-Flex Fs. Maybe Yate Loon SLs would be comparable (albeit difficult to mount), or S-Flex Es, or 5V San Aces, but the Noctuas are well built, fairly quiet, and work great as a pair on this cooler.
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