Best Air Cooler.

[hv43082]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/18/zerotherm_zt10d_cpu_air_cooler_review

Seems like this Zerotherm ZT-10D is the best air cooler out there. It beats Thermalright Silver Arrow and Venomous X.

 

[20mmrain]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/18/zerotherm_zt10d_cpu_air_cooler_review

Seems like this Nerotherm ZT-10D is the best air cooler out there. It beats Thermalright Silver Arrow and Venomous X.

I would agree... I have owned such coolers as the Hyper 212+ / The Prolimatech Megahalems / The Corsair H50 / Thermalright True 120 / and a few other high end coolers.

My point is... I own the Zerotherm ZT-10D right now.... and for the price and performance you can't beat it. It is right on par with what the Prolimatech Megahalems was. It has also beat it in some tests that I have performed.

I don't mean to sound like a sales men for this cooler. But I can tell you that with this cooler and some decent fans... you can't get any better performance for that price bracket and possibly period. Unless going to exotic cooling methods.

I think the only reason it is not making a bigger splash is that Zerotherm is not known as being a contender lately for high end air coolers.

If you can find a better cooler... it won't be for under $60 bucks.... it will be more priced around $70 to $100....and then only marginally better if any.

 

[sneekypeet]

All depends on the fans used for testing

 

[hv43082]

I would agree... I have owned such coolers as the Hyper 212+ / The Prolimatech Megahalems / The Corsair H50 / Thermalright True 120 / and a few other high end coolers.

My point is... I own the Zerotherm ZT-10D right now.... and for the price and performance you can't beat it. It is right on par with what the Prolimatech Megahalems was. It has also beat it in some tests that I have performed.

I don't mean to sound like a sales men for this cooler. But I can tell you that with this cooler and some decent fans... you can't get any better performance for that price bracket and possibly period. Unless going to exotic cooling methods.

I think the only reason it is not making a bigger splash is that Zerotherm is not known as being a contender lately for high end air coolers.

If you can find a better cooler... it won't be for under $60 bucks.... it will be more priced around $70 to $100....and then only marginally better if any.

So how much better is this cooler compared the Megahalem?

 

[20mmrain]

All depends on the fans used for testing

He's got a point.... But I found out about this cooler by accident. I actually bought it off of Sneekypeete. But I use a couple of mid range fans and am having no problem beating the performance level on a lot of high end coolers who were recently thought to be unbeatable.

Sneeky Should know he tested the exact same HS I am using right now! Thanks a million again sneeky!!!

So how much better is this cooler compared the Megahalem?

My Experience about 2c to 6c depending on the cases and fans and airflow and setup I was using at the time. In My experience were this cooler really shined was when testing between Duel fans to Duel fans.

With single fans the difference was not that great... almost a dead heat. But with Duel fans it was like a 3c to 4c on average difference.

Now you also have to take into account that I have been doing a lot of hardware switching lately. So that this was not a controlled experiment. It is just my observations when doing all of these hardware changes recently.

 

[sneekypeet]

yeah the fan that came shipped (for testing) with those coolers was meant for silent operation with a bit of a lack of CFM Strap on a couple 90-110CFM fans and its off to the races

 

[20mmrain]

yeah the fan that came shipped (for testing) with those coolers was meant for silent operation with a bit of a lack of cfm strap on a couple 90-110cfm fans and its off to the races

+1

My Experience about 2c to 6c depending on the cases and fans and airflow and setup I was using at the time. In My experience were this cooler really shined was when testing between Duel fans to Duel fans.

With single fans the difference was not that great... almost a dead heat. But with Duel fans it was like a 3c to 4c on average difference.

Now you also have to take into account that I have been doing a lot of hardware switching lately. So that this was not a controlled experiment. It is just my observations when doing all of these hardware changes recently

So let me better say all this. If you are looking for those extra few degrees and you want to try something different give it a shot.

If you really are looking to go highend cooling on modern day components any of those coolers I listed above will do the job. I have just really fell in love with the ZT-10D and I think it deserves it's credit!

 

[burtram]

For the price, this looks to be a grand cooler. How much better is it than the trusty ol' zalman 9700nt? I've been having that twitch to change something in my pc, and this might just be it.

 

[theonedub]

It seems like its a good performer. I think that I would still opt for a used Mega over this one new though. Mega's are easier to install, gets nearly the same temps (push pull in my exp was very nice), and I think the Mega looks better, but of course I have some bias

 

[fusionblu]

It seems like its a good performer. I think that I would still opt for a used Mega over this one new though. Mega's are easier to install, gets nearly the same temps (push pull in my exp was very nice), and I think the Mega looks better, but of course I have some bias

But that CPU Cooler's base is slightly curved so it would dent the top your CPU making it a bit convexed so you would have to keep using similar coolers all the time if you want perfect contact where ZEROtherm's ZT-10D CPU cooler's base would seem to be flat and perfectly even (which leaves you open to upgrade of any CPU coolers and the CPU itself isn't damaged or altered by the CPU cooler) from the reviews I've seen.

This might not seem much to someone overclocking a cheap/ normal priced CPU, but is does to me as I paid over £400 to buy my CPU and unlike the i7 950 my i7 960 CPU hasn't gone down in price at all and my one is a bit unlocked too with a 25th mulitiplier and the QPI can be upped to 6.4 GT/s (I'm not sure if the retail version can do the same though, but I do know that a retail i7 920 only has a maximum of 20 multipliers and the QPI can't be increased to 6.4 GT/s, I would know this as I've tried setting the same settings as my CPU with a retail i7 920).

Thanks for bringing this up since I had plans recently to upgrade from my Zalman Performa CPU cooler to a cooler more suit for dual fans.

 

[Exile_Chavez]

Throwing my cooler out there, haven't read any of the posts, but the Xigmatek Dark Knight cools like a beast. I have a AMD 955 which I raised the clock of to 3.63ghz, and ambient room is around 74^F, and my cpu goes anywhere from 28^C to 42^C under 100% load with Prime95. Its a good cooler. Just my opinion though

 

[erixx]

Nerotherm? I dont burn CD's anymore!!!

 

[fusionblu]

Nerotherm? I dont burn CD's anymore!!!

No it would be ZEROtherm, an odd CPU Cooler producer. hv43082 spelt Nerotherm by mistake.

Does anyone know where this can be brought in the UK? I looked everywhere and not even ebay are selling these, except for one who is only selling in the US.

 

[hv43082]

Hahaha I did misspelled it. Now looking more carefully at the chart, apple to apples, the Zerotherm is better but when the Silver Arrow is still slightly better taking overclocking into consideration.

 

[t77snapshot]

best air cooler!

 

[CDdude55]

http://www.pureoverclock.com/images/review/cooling/noctua_nhd14/noctua_nhd14_forums.jpg

Ya the NH-D14 is an awesome cooler from what ive seen, it's huge though, and if your RAM has tall heat spreaders it can cause an issue.

 

[newtekie1]

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/18/zerotherm_zt10d_cpu_air_cooler_review

Seems like this Zerotherm ZT-10D is the best air cooler out there. It beats Thermalright Silver Arrow and Venomous X.

I read the review you posted, and it seems like the Silver Arrow still beats it, and the Venomous X is only ~1°C behind. And the Silver Arrow and Venomous X both used a single fan, while the ZT-10D used two in push pull. I bet the Venomous X wins with two fans in push pull.

 

[johnnyfiive]

NH-D14, hands down.

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1482959

Why Hard OCP wouldn't use a NH-D14 in that review doesn't make sense to me.
Why anyone would NOT use the NH-D14 comparing CPU coolers, doesn't make sense to me.

The NH-D14 has dominated since it was released and it continues to do so beating even the all in one liquid systems like the ones from CoolIT and Corsair.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/coolit-alc-vantage-review/6

As for the best all in one liquid system, I vote CoolIT's Vantage ALC. Although the NH-D14 is superior, I wouldn't mind the Vantage ALC because of how compact it is in comparison, plus it has an awesome color changeable display.

 

[Kantastic]

Pretty sure the TR Silver Arrow is both quieter and more efficient.

 

[johnnyfiive]

Pretty sure the TR Silver Arrow is both quieter and more efficient.

Check this out Kan.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/thermalright_silver_arrow_vs_noctua_nh-d14/2

Poor Silver Arrow... can't handle 1.45v on an i7 . That is a very recent review as well. It's nice to know the cheaper cooler wins out, especially at insane voltages.

 

[mastrdrver]

Noctua I know and I want to get the Silver Arrow just because of the fans.

While the ZEROtherm looks nice there is still one reason why I love my Noctua: Can cool my i7 920 with 1.225v core passively running at 3.8Ghz. Never crosses 80C.

In fact, since it has been a while I might just do that this evening. The setup is in a CM 590 now instead of my HAF 932 since I'm "doing" something to it atm.

Before I do that, anyone think having a 140mm side fan could be considered cheating (mounted in the lower position)? I've got two 5870s in with it right now just to keep things warm.

 

[HammerON]

Concur with the other Noctua owners

 

[newtekie1]

Check this out Kan.

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/thermalright_silver_arrow_vs_noctua_nh-d14/2

Poor Silver Arrow... can't handle 1.45v on an i7 . That is a very recent review as well. It's nice to know the cheaper cooler wins out, especially at insane voltages.

That is very odd that the Silver Arrow performed better in the other tests, but suddenly couldn't even come close.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

A lot of reviewers don't cover the insane stuff like an i7 at 4.4 GHz, but it's the only relevant benchmark for someone spending $90 on a cooler. For something average like 3.6 and under just about anything will work. There are dozens of coolers out there like the dark knight that all perform the same, adequate for the average. At the heat you get with a massive i7 oc coolers hit some sort of limit, I don't know what it is. Some kind of thermal saturation... either way that's the situation that really thins out the crowd and we need to see more testing done to cover it. An extreme shoot out I'd like to see is a Venom, D-14, H70 and any other interesting contender with everything using the exact same fans in a push pull arrangement, with some monstrous i7 overclock.

 

[Deleted member 74752]

Is this the one under discussion? ZEROtherm ZT-10D 8mm Dia x6 heatpipes, Nickel plat...