Raijintek, being a newcomer to the PC DIY market, seeks to flex its cooling muscles with the launch of the Ereboss CPU cooler. It features a massive single tower design with six 6 mm heatpipes and a 140 mm x 13 mm fan. Add it all up and you get a design that will turn more than a few heads.
The Zalman CNPS14X continues Zalman's trend of offering unique and varied products. The dual-tower design makes use of six 6 mm heatpipes and offers support for up to three fans, but is that truly enough to take on the competition?
The NZXT Respire T40 packs a punch with four 8 mm heatpipes and 48 aluminum cooling fins. As an "easy to install" and "easy on the wallet" option, it could be a force to be reckoned with in the budget cooling arena.
The NH-U14S from Noctua continues their well-known tradition of exceptional quality. Offering low noise levels and exceptional cooling performance, the NH-U14S looks to give the competition a serious beating.
Noctua seems to have a mantra of silence, quality, and excellent support, and this mantra is enjoyed by enthusiasts the world over. Today, we put this mantra to the test again as we review their latest cooler the NH-U12S. This single tower design offers ultra low noise levels and 100% RAM compatibility.
Silverstone has expanded their portfolio of CPU coolers with the all new Argon series AR03 cooler. Featuring a blue and white fan and six heatpipes, this traditional tower cooler serves up exceptional cooling performance with solid acoustics.
Phanteks seeks to beat the heat with the PH-TC12DX. Comprised of two fin stacks, each made up of 49 anodized aluminum cooling fins, and paired with a nickel-plated copper base and heatpipes, This U-type cooler might just have what it takes.
The Phanteks PH-TC14PE is a behemoth of a CPU cooler that looks ready to maul the competition. This anodized aluminum and nickle-plated copper beast has twin cooling towers and five 8 mm heatpipes. Are the giant towers and fleshed-out pipes enough to deliver top tier performance?
Silverstone's Heligon series HE01 is a truly monstrous and unique cooler. The insane 140 mm x 38 mm 171 CFM fan really serves up some big air flair. Will the Heligon HE01 deliver blistering performance or is its big fan just for show?
GELID Solutions are experts when it comes to keeping components cool. Their Black Edition CPU cooler looks to make its mark with impressive cooling performance and ultra-low noise levels.
Corsair's new Hydro Series H110 is a monster of a cooler with its 280 mm radiator, but is bigger always better? It is time to put the H110 to the test and see what all the hype is about.
In a crowded market where everyone is releasing all-in-one liquid CPU coolers, is Cooler Master's Seidon 120XL different enough to distinguish itself from the competition? The low price point of $89 is certainly enough to attract attention.
With more and more of today's CPU coolers getting ever larger, Noctua has released the NH-L12. This small, versatile, low-profile cooler gets put to the test as we find out just what it offers today's PC enthusiasts.
The Coolink Corator is a competitively priced cooler for Intel's LGA2011 socket. Not only pricing is good, but it also provides decent cooling performance at relatively low noise levels.
Corsair is once again expanding their lineup of CPU cooling solutions. This time with the Hydro Series H90, pairing good cooling and low noise levels up in one attractive package. At less than $100 it is also priced competitively to go head-to-head with high-end air coolers.
Currently tower-type coolers are known offer the best cooling performance, so it surprised us a bit to see a new top-flow CPU cooler from Noctua. We were even more surprised by the performance delivered which is better than any other cooler we tested before, including tower-type models.
Evercool sent us a cute little heatsink to toy around with. But as we unpacked it, the low-profile HPK-1002EA heatsink looked bigger than we imagined. We strapped it on to our LGA1366 test-bed right away. Do small-sized "LGA1366 compatible" heatsinks cut it?
Zaward drew inspiration from the golf ball to enhance air-flow using a "heatsink breathing design", as well as heat dissipation with its Vapor 120 CPU cooler. In the process, it came up with a rather slim-looking 120 mm tower-type heatsink. Will Zaward's golf ball-inspired CPU cooler click?
Akasa made an attempt to spice up product design by giving one of its latest CPU coolers a mean toxic-yellow color scheme, backed by a well-equipped heatsink design. Can the Akasa Venom strike a sweet-spot between looks and performance?
Zalman and its unique fin-ring type heatsinks ruled the roost once upon a time, but things changed with the advent of tower-type coolers. Zalman continued to innovate with a redesigned CNPS9900 MAX, even after going tower-design with the CNPS 10 series. Exactly what made Zalman go back to its traditional design?
Xigmatek makes sure each new product has a little something new to look out for, often these turn out to be as revolutionary as the "Heatpipe Direct Touch" (HDT) itself. With the Aegir SD128264, Xigmatek claims to have taken HDT to the next level (quite literally), and added a second level of heatpipes that draw heat from the CPU. Will this innovation bear fruit?
Falling next in line in the footsteps of its predecessors such as the V8 and V10 coolers, the V6GT aims high to be the cooler everyone wants. With unique features such as "tilted asymmetrical fin design", "DynaLoop bearing technology" and unique "Double-V" heat-pipe setup will the V6GT live up to its expectations?
Its been over a year since Thermaltake came out with their last CPU cooler offering. The Frio is their first dual fan cooler targeted at cooling high performance multi-core processors with high heat output. The Frio incorporates some very promising new features, will they offer any significant benefit?
Noctua has taken their NH-U9B cooler, which already offers great performance, added a second 92 mm fan and upgraded its mounting kit. Noise levels are still at a minimum and push the envelope in silent high performance cooling for modern processors. Today we see if these improvements have made the NH-U9B SE2 even more worthy of your hard earned cash.
Noctua has taken the high performance NH-C12P, which already offers excellent performance, and added a 140 mm fan. Noise level are still at a minimum and push the envelope in silent high performance cooling for modern processors. They all say size matters - let's see if that holds true with the NH-C12P SE14 as well.
Noctua is well known for their line of excellent CPU coolers and silent fans. With the ever growing heat levels of modern processors, the company created the new "twin towers" design. Today we see if the NH-D14 can handle the heat while still living up to Noctua's promise of quiet CPU cooling.
Thermaltake has been around for many years, creating heatsinks for nearly every market imaginable. Thermaltake's first claim to fame was the Golden Orb, a unique cooler that set the computing world on its ear. Thermaltake has not stopped there, and they are still inventing challenging new designs. Today we take a look at highly awarded SpinQ and see what it has to offer.
The CNPS9900 NT is the most recent update to the 9900 series of CPU coolers from Zalman. It features a shiny dark grey look with a sweet green LED fan and a silent adapter. Even with the low noise level the cooler manages to impress at many levels.
The Zalman CNPS10X Quiet takes the CNPS10X Extreme and pairs it with a silent fan for all those users who want the cooling performance of a tower cooler in combination with silence. We crank up the heat to see if the CNPS10X Quiet can stay cool when it counts.
Spire's TherMax II is a new DHT CPU cooler for AMD and Intel CPUs. Its four heatpipes make direct contact with the processor for optimum cooling. Also included in the package is a fan controller which allows you to control the UV reactive fan in any way you want.
The CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU cooler is a water cooling unit at the price of an air cooler. It has three fan speed modes and features a blue backlit LCD screen. Installation is simple for a water cooling unit and its performance is exceptional considering its low price of $79.99.
Zalman's CNPS9900 LED is their newest all copper model in the CNPS series. A silent 120 mm blue LED fan has been placed between two arrays of pure copper fins. With exceptional performance and amazing looks, the CNPS9900 LED is a great CPU cooler if you can justify spending $79 for a CPU cooler.
Gelid Solutions’ Silent Spirit CPU cooler is a small, lightweight, high performing heatsink for both AMD and Intel CPUs (including Intel Socket LGA1366). Its four heatpipes connect to a pure copper base and an angled block of fins to cool surrounding motherboard components. The cooler is also extremely silent with Gelid's silent 9 2mm PWM fan attached.
The Evercool Transformer 6 is a cooler made to look good and perform well. The included fan controller allows it to remain very quiet for day to day usage but then give added performance and brighter LED lights for the overclocking enthusiast. With a large 120 mm bright blue LED fan, six heat pipes, a stainless steel coating and performance coming close to the newer HDT coolers, the Transformer 6 is certainly one to please!
Sunbeam's Core Contact Freezer is a cost effective CPU cooler for AMD and Intel CPUs. Its four heatpipes make direct contact with the processor for optimum cooling. Also included in the package is a fan controller which allows you to optimize the acoustics to your usage scenario.
The Zaward Gyre looks quite interesting with the black shroud. Its unique design shows us that it is a competitor to more "known" heatsinks. Featuring a nice finish with blue LED lights, being very easy to install and having great performance, the Gyre lives up to all of its expectations.
The Chipchilla from Coolink manages to decrease chipset temperatures while maintaining a low noise level. It is extremely light-weight being constructed of copper and aluminum all for an decent price. Limited availability and some installation issues are all that hold this cooler back.
The Xigmatek Achilles S1284 heatsink has many improvements over the famous HDT-S1283 cooler. There are now four U-shaped heatpipes, and they are nickel-plated. The fan design is new and unique as well, with its white LEDs that light up the fan's smoke frame and orange blades.
The GlacialTech Igloo 5750 is a price effective alternative to the Intel or AMD stock retail cooler, which is a lot quieter and still offers sufficient cooling performance. Its silver finish and three heatpipes give it a nice look, the dual fan configuration can easily be changed to single for even less noise.
Most HTPC users will find that there are only a limited number of CPU coolers available to use in most HTPC cases because of their smaller size. OrigenAE created the C10 to help fill that void. The C10 has three U-shaped copper heatpipes that come in direct contact with the CPU, and 35 aluminum fins behind a standard size 70mm fan.
Thermaltake's V1 CPU heatsink has a classy, elegant design like no other. The all-copper construction and subtle scrolls make this heatsink stand out from the rest. While the V1 is not Thermaltake's flagship cooler, it still performs very well.
On the heels of the successful NH-U12F CPU heatsink, Noctua has released a newer, more compatible version called the NH-U12P. This version has more clearance below the fins, making it easier to install on many motherboards. It comes with the new, ultra-quiet NF-P12 fan and a tube of the new NT-H1 thermal compound.
The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is a massive cooler with just as big 8 mm heat pipes. With the heat pipes actually making contact on the CPU this cooler shows us something different in the way of keeping your CPU cool. The cooler is in a line of products from Xigmatek making its way into the rigs around the world.
Gigabyte recently announced its new G-Power 2 Pro CPU heatsink which adds additional airflow to the CPU Mosfets. This airflow helps to provide additional cooling for those Mosfets, making it easier for the motherboard to provide stable power for hungry CPUs. The G-Power 2 Pro has some nice features, including a very quiet 120mm fan.
Zerotherm has just announced an new all-copper CPU heatsink based on their classic "butterfly" design: the BTF92 Overclocker Edition. This heatsink features 92 copper fins, eight effective heat pipes and a shiny copper base. Add a 92mm fan with blue LEDs and a fan controller, and the BTF92 is ready to cool all the latest CPUs from both Intel and AMD.
Today Zerotherm launches the new Nirvana NV120 Premium tower style heatsink, which features a copper base and four U-shaped heatpipes with aluminum fins. Over the entire surface of the Nirvana Premium is a dark gray mirror finish like no other heatsink I have seen. Included is a 120mm blue LED fan with a fan controller to dial in the right noise level for any system. With all this style comes great performance, too.
Akasa has just introduced a new CPU cooler called the Revo, which features their new SilentFlux technology. This cooler utilizes a bubble pump to move the heat from the base through a radiator where it can be cooled by a fan. We put the Revo to the test to see how well this new cooling technology performs.
Next month Zaward will be releasing a new CPU heatsink called the Vivo. This new cooler is based on a 92mm fan and uses exposed heatpipes that contact the CPU heatspreader directly. Add to that the Dimple Technology Golf fan and a unique fan shroud, the Vivo's compact size really packs a punch.
In the quest for silent performance, users are looking toward heatpipes for most of their cooling needs. Today we are looking at the new fanless chipset cooler from Zaward, called the Twin Towers. This chipset cooler has two heatpipes, one of which can rotate around the other to reduce compatibility issues. We put the Twin Towers to the test to see what kind of performance comes with its silence.
Not everyone can afford the latest and greatest heatsink on the market. Some users are stuck with the noisy stock coolers that are lacking in performance. What else can the user do? We take a look at a new entry level heatsink from Sunbeam called the Silent Whisper. At just $19.99, the budget-minded consumer might just have a reason to get rid of the stock heatsink.
Cool Jag's new Falcon 92 Cu CPU cooler comes with wide compatibility for all current sockets. As the name suggests the cooler is made from Copper - a cheaper Aluminum version is available as well. During our testing we came to the conclusion that this extremely quiet cooler has no problems keeping up with the other heatsinks we tested so far.
The Sunbeam Tuniq tower is one of the largest heatsinks around, with a 120mm fan sandwiched between two rows of aluminum fins. The three U-shaped copper heatpipes carry away the heat from the copper base, and the included fan controller allows the user to dial in the fan speed and noise to their liking. The Tuniq Tower goes on the test bench to see what kind of performance this monster can give.
The Max Orb is Thermaltake's new "flagship" cooler, which consists of six heatpipes, a nickel-plated copper base and lightweight aluminum fins. This new cooler is compatible with many current CPU socket types, including Intel's Socket T (LGA775) and AMD's Sockets AM2, 939 and 754. The Max Orb definitely has a lot of good looks, but what about the performance?
I was extremely pleased with the Andy Samurai Master Cooler. The quality of the construction is excellent, the base is very smooth and flat, and the whole cooler is light in weight. The installation was so incredibly easy, it only required a few quick steps, and nothing had to be removed from the case to install it. On top of that, the performance was great. Although fan noise was not completely silent, it was rather low and, in fact, much lower than the three heatsinks tested against it.
Noctua's NH-U12F CPU cooler is a high-performance heatsink that uses eight heatpipes to get the heat off your processor. The included fan is of the 120 mm variant and is fairly quiet. If you need to reduce the fan noise even more you can use the included Ultra Low Noise Adapter which makes the fan almost inaudible.
Ever hear of "the point of diminishing returns", where something gets to the point where you can't improve on what you have unless you come up with a completely new idea? With air coolers, manufacturers are hitting that wall, but recently some companies have devised a new means of heat sink technology. Direct touching heat pipes - Today we take a look at Xigamtek's new cooler using this design.
It is big and it is cool - It's the iCEAGE from 3RSystem. With a 120 mm fan and new heatpipe technology that has the heatpipes as part of the contact base it sure does look promising. Today we will put the iCEAGE to the test and see if it can live up to its name. We'll take a closer look at the Direct Touch Heatpipe design, and see if it does make a difference or not.
Where would computers be without coolers? Nowhere... High-end systems put out heat just like an engine, and they need to be cooled just like an engine. Water cooling is becoming a more popular format to keep these systems in line, but what if you don't want or can't afford a water system? High-end air coolers are the only next option. XIGMATEK is now starting to fulfill this need with coolers like the 055 which we'll look at today.
The Scythe Infinity is a huge high-performance CPU cooler using five heatpipes. The cooler comes with Scythe's ingenious mounting system which makes installation a breeze. Scythe has included mounting kits for the Sockets 939, AM2, 478 and 775. This means that this cooler is a future proof investment for users who are considering a Conroe S775 upgrade in the near future.
With the Katana Cu Scythe has delivered a very solid all copper cooler that has excellent cooling performance. It uses a 92mm fan with an integrated fan speed controller. When the fan speed is turned all the way down the noise is reduced to an inaudible 30% of full speed, yet temperatures under load are only increased by 3°C.
The Thermalright Ultra 90 is a solid performing air cooler with six heatpipes to keep your CPU temperature down. Its unique design allows you to use your own 92mm fan for fine tuning of heat vs. fan noise. A competitive price of 25 USD makes this cooler even more attractive, and if you need more cooling power you can just get the 120mm Ultra 120.
Thermaltake has been around for only seven years, but every one of them has been spent turning the heads of the hardware community. From the original Golden Orb's effective cooling at near silent levels to the current array of water and air coolers, Thermaltake continues to impress with both design and function. When Thermaltake designed the Big Typhoon, they went all out, using six heatpipes and a 120mm fan. Is bigger really better? Let's find out...
Thermalright is one of the foremost cooling companies in the overclocking community. They have been around for many years providing that extra edge needed to keep your system cool. Although their lineup has changed quite a bit recently, many users out there are still cooling their CPUs with the Thermalright XP-90 and the XP-90C. Today we will take a look at the famous XP-90C and see what it can do in a current S939 setup.
The Thermaltake Big Typhoon is known for being one of the top-performing air coolers out there. Now Thermaltake has released a smaller, lighter cooler called the Mini Typhoon which is is supposed to offer the best features of the Big Typhoon at a fraction of the cost. Can six heatpipes and a 92mm fan keep your CPU cool?
Pentagram has been a leading supplier of communication products for the european market in the last years. Now they are entering the CPU heatsink business with a load of new products. The NXC 100-Cu heatsink uses the proven "flower" design in an all-copper approach. The cooler supports all current CPU sockets and comes with an easy to use fan controller.
Japanese heatsink manufacturer Scythe has engineered a nice heatsink with the Samurai Z. It includes mounting accessories for Socket 478, 775, 754, 939 and 940. On all these platforms installation is very easy and can be performed without any tools. While the cooler can not offer the cooling performance of behemoth coolers, it can keep up well with the heat load of our test setup. In addition to that it is remarkably quiet.
Artic Cooling is famous for their video card coolers, but they offer more. The Freezer 64 Pro is the latest addition to their CPU coolers. Clever routing of airflow cools the motherboard voltage circuitry. Another good idea is that the fan is mounted on rubber posts which absorb any vibration caused by the fan. During our testing we learn that the Freezer 64 Pro can not only deliver solid cooling performance but does so without creating a lot of noise.
Under-hyped or Overrated? The Zalman CNPS 9500 LED is Zalman's newest addition to their top of the line air coolers. This full-copper heatsink comes with a fan controller so you can optimize for performance or fan noise. In our testing it even beats a watercooling kit and proves that it is well worth your money. Watch as we put it to the test on the Pentium 4 Prescott 561 at 180 Watt TDP.
When you ask hardcore overclockers about companies who have the best extreme cooling gear, you can bet that Asetek is among the first mentioned. Their Vapochill Extreme Cooling Units are legendary, but come with a hefty price tag. The average user is not willing to pay that much, so Asetek has engineered the Vapochill Micro series. While the principle is the same as the Vapochill, do not expect to reach sub-zero temperatures with the Vapochill Micro, it essentially is a heatpipe cooler, just with some very clever ideas. Asetek's experience in designing high-performance cooling units sure has helped here.
Thermaltake has recently released the Golden Orb II. Now they have the Blue Orb II. This cooler is a good deal bigger than its golden brother, which results in seriously improved cooling performance. Also the fan seems to have been improved - cools better, but not much louder.
Quite some time ago Thermaltake produced the Golden Orb CPU Cooler. Now the successor Golden Orb II is released for Socket939 and LGA775. It features a huge heatsink with a nice looking gold-fin design and two blue LEDs which light up the cooler during operation. Is it as cool as it looks?
