techETA » heatsink

ProlimaTech Super Mega Heatsink previewed, goes two tone

Rafael Hernandez — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:00:59 +0000

In order to cool off today’s insanely hot running processors, especially if you’re seeking to get some more speed out of it, you have two choices: a liquid cooling rig or a massive amount of aluminum and heatpipes coated in nickel for that extra shiny look.

Enter the ProlimaTech Super Mega Heatsink which sticks to the same air cooling formula found at the high end of the cooling market but this time around they’ve decided their cooler needs a bit of style so they tossed in a couple of copper fins and called it a day. Heck they aren’t even full fins but who are we to question thermal engineers.

ProlimaTech Super Mega Heatsink Preview @ Benchmark Reviews

Cooler Master V6GT keeps those summer temperatures in check

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:00:54 +0000

While your system’s heatsink was quite a capable performer during the winter months the summer poses a whole different set of cooling challenges which most designs aren’t capable of handling.

The Cooler Master V6GT sandwiches 6 heatpipes and a whole heck of a lot of fins between two high-powered fans in order to get the heat away from your CPU as quickly as possible. Sure there are other ways to go about fine tuning your cooling setup but the brute force method is fine by us as well.

Cooler Master V6GT CPU Cooler @ Benchmark Reviews

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 offers cooling prowess in a smaller package

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:00:13 +0000

Once you’ve put together your brand new rig the last thing you want to run into is a peripheral not quite fitting into your case once it’s all said and done, especially when it’s that all important CPU heatsink.

The Noctua NH-U9B SE2 makes some airflow concessions by going with a 92mm fan but that buys you quite a bit of space so that you can actually close the side panel of your case.

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 Heatsink @ OCIA

Scythe Yasya handles the heat load

Rafael Hernandez — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:00:08 +0000

Cooling a high end processor is no easy feat especially given the amount of added stress most overclockers put on their CPUs with their higher clock rates and a good dosage of extra voltage.

The Scythe Yasya CPU Heatsink makes use of six heatpipes and can mount two fans to quickly dissipate the heat load from a processor. Legit Reviews has a look:

With the system overclocked slightly to 3.5GHz the Yasya was still in the top 5, cooling our i7-920 to 65.25*C on high. It was still behind the NH-D14 by 3 degrees, but 18.25 degrees cooler than the stock Intel HSF. With the Yasya on low, the temp came in at 69*C, nipping at the heels of the Noctua NH-U12P single fan configuration.

Low Noise CPU Coolers Rounded Up and quietly tested

Rafael Hernandez — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:28:52 +0000

CPU coolers tend to require quite a bit of airflow in order to work effectively which is a bit of a downer for anyone that enjoys a silent workspace or even a bit of sanity once those high speed fans kick into gear.

Big Bruin has gathered six LGA1156 compatible heatsinks which seemingly promise low-noise operation and great cooling performance at the same time:

On to the cooler itself – once we got this out of the box, we were amazed at the sheer size and weight of this beast. This is clearly the largest cooler we’ve seen. It comes with both a 140mm center-mounted fan and a 120mm outside mounted fan. You could remove the 120mm fan and use it as a case fan (since Noctua has thoughtfully provided two sets of hardware for this) but for our purposes today, we’ll leave it intact.

It’s a bit unfair to compare the competition to this beast of a cooler but hey if it’s a quiet cooler you can’t lock them out of the competition.

Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU Cooler follows a familiar old path

Rafael Hernandez — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:31:22 +0000

While a great big tower heatsink would appear to be the best choice for your next system build they tend to overlook airflow to some of the important components on your motherboard like its chipset and voltage regulation modules.

The Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU Cooler takes some of the old fashioned design ideas and works in some modern flairs which make it an interesting heatsink. Hardware Secrets has the review:

According to the manufacturer, the “V” shape is inspired on the mighty aircraft carriers. Here you can see the four 8-mm heatpipes. Since there are two independent heatsinks, each tip of each heatpipe is connected to one heatsink. The fins are not plain, but with some rugosity in order to achieve better heat transfer.

I don’t quite understand the aircraft carrier bit but four 8mm direct contact heatpipes and jagged fin profiles sure does speak to me.

Zaward Vapor 120 CPU Cooler is deceivingly potent

Rafael Hernandez — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:30:48 +0000

As far as air cooling is concerned the more heatpipes you have on a heatsink the better it can dump heat onto its mass of fins, normally one wouldn’t expect much out of a cooler with three heatpipes.

Zaward Vapor 120 CPU Cooler seems to perform like a champ despite its low heatpipe count, although it does sport direct heatpipe contact and the possibility of two fans being mounted. Hi Tech Legion has the review:

Now, as you can see, I used a whole range of different Intel processors to test out the Zaward Vapor 120. Each of these processors have their own distinct max TDP. The E6750 has a specified max of 65W. The i5 661 is rated to max at 87W. The i7 920 is rated to max at 130W. Every increase in processing power generates more heat which the Zaward Vapor 120 meets beautifully. The largest gap seen was a drop in 14 degrees over the stock Intel cooler on the i5 661. When testing the i7 920, I put the Zaward Vapor 120 against many similar high performance coolers to see how it would fare. In every load test, it outperformed the competition.

Impressively good performance given their overclocked test bench.

Xtreme Gear HP-1216B CPU Cooler piles on the heatpipes

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:28:09 +0000

Most budget level heatsinks skimp on the features in order to get their price point in at where they need it to be. While they’re a great alternative to the stock heatsinks included with most processors they can’t exactly touch the performance of high-end coolers either.

The Xtreme Gear HP-1216B CPU Cooler tosses in five direct contact heatpipes and fin dimples as wells the possibility of adding a second fan…not bad for its low price tag. Legit Reviews has a look:

The HP-1216B comes with everything needed to mount the cooler up to your favorite socket from the AMD or Intel. It uses a universal mounting system that allows it to mount up to all of the Intel LGA sockets, the AMD 754/939/940 sockets and the newer AM2 and AM3 sockets. Also included are rubber fan mounts for two 120mm fans, and a rheostat style fan controller.

A good performer given its price although I’d like to see results with two fans on this cooler.

Cooler Master Vortex Plus CPU Cooler keeps it on the slimmer side

Rafael Hernandez — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:31:09 +0000

Tower CPU coolers tend to offer very good performance but when it comes time to cram them into the slimmer dimensions of a HTPC case or other small enclosure makes them an impossibility some times.

The Cooler Master Vortex Plus CPU Cooler brings back the old style cooling design while incorporating some newer techniques such as direct heatpipe contact. Hi Tech Legion has the review:

The Cooler Master Vortex Plus incorporates a small design, measuring out at a scant 116 x 100 x 84 mm. The 84mm height allows the Vortex Plus to be used in the tightest of cases. Even with its diminutive size, the Cooler Master Vortex Plus doesn’t skimp on cooling features. It is fitted with four 6mm direct contact heat pipes, a molded block and fins made from aluminum and a 92mm PWM Blademaster fan.

Good performance despite its smaller fan size which should make your next small build a little more comfortable temperature wise.

Heatsinks Rounded Up for your cooling pleasure

Rafael Hernandez — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:02:44 +0000

The cooling landscape seems to change every few months as manufacturers pump out newer and slicker designs which either one-up the competition or carve out a nice little price/performance niche for themselves.

HardwareHeaven has a look at four heatsinks from Akasa, Gelid, Noctua, and Spire determining how well they perform at various fan speed levels:

The market nowadays is crowded with dozens of products which makes it very difficult for inexperienced users to pick the right cooler for their needs. Today we will present you four coolers from different manufacturers, ranging from the cost-effective versatile Gelid Tranquillo to the monstrous NH-D14 from Noctua and will be discovering what they can offer to end users.

Well at least one cooler trounces the competition, of course you’ll have to pay for the performance but it’s quite an impressive product.