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A cooler from Thermaltake that knows how to stay out of the way

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 29, 2013 - 06:49 PM |
Tagged: thermaltake, non-interference cooler, NiC, heatsink

One hurdle many Ivy Bridge owners have to deal with is the proximity of the DIMM slots to the CPU socket as many high end coolers impinge on the space which high DIMMs occupy.  This has lead to the adoption of low profile DIMMs or even users removing heatspreaders from their DIMMs in order to have them fit with an installed cooler. Thermaltake is addressing this issue with their new line of NiC heatsinks which do allow the use of full sized DIMMs.  This does lead to a taller heatsink, the NiC F4 that ProClockers reviewed is 155 x 140 x 50mm so you should make sure your case is wide enough to accommodate the cooler.  The design does not seem to have effected the cooling efficiency of the design, in tests it proved to match the performance of other mid-range coolers.

PC_f4_3.JPG

"Thermaltake’s newest CPU cooler consist of four cooler models for now and the line-up is called the NiC or Non-Interference Cooler series. The reason behind the name is that the coolers allow for the builder or end user to fill all of their motherboard DIMM slots. This is something that is often not possible with most coolers because of their massive size. With that in mind, you can be at ease to know the series allows for maximum ram slot usage. It’s great that we didn't need to fill all the memory slots but it is another issue if we have to sacrifice performance. Well, you don’t have to worry because each of the coolers on this series is rated to a certain wattage level. The Thermaltake NiC F4 model we will be looking at today is rated up to 180 watts of TDP. The other three models are the F3, C4 and C5 and are rated at 160W, 200W and 230W respectively."

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Source: ProClockers

Noctua Offers Free LGA 1150 Haswell Mounting Kit Upgrade for Older Heatsinks

Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2013 - 12:05 AM |
Tagged: noctua, lga 1150, hsf, heatsink, haswell, cpu cooler

Noctua has recently announced that the company is providing free mounting kits to owners of existing coolers to make them compatible with Intel's latest LGA 1150 (Haswell) motherboards. The new NM-i115x mounting kit will allow enthusiasts to recycle their older Noctua coolers with the new platform without issue. The kit includes a new back plate with fixed struts and the necessary connectors (screws, springs, et al) to make alignment and mounting easier than previous setups.

Noctua NM-i115X.jpg

Because the LGA 1150 socket keeps the same mounting hole spacing as the current LGA 1156 and LGA 1155 sockets, many newer Noctua cooler will not need the mounting kit upgrade, and can simply be installed into the Haswell machine as is. In other words, if the heatsink worked with your Lynnfield, Sandy Bridge, or Ivy Bridge-based system, it will work in a Haswell system as well. According to Noctua, the following coolers are already compatible with Haswell:

NH-C14, NH-D14, NH-C12P SE14, NH-L12, NH-L9i, NH-U12P SE2, NH-U9B SE2

If your cooler was released prior to LGA 1156, you will need to grab the NM-i115x mounting kit upgrade by filling out this form. Noctua will make the kit available on its website as well as in retail stores (for a minimal charge, though the company did not provide specific pricing). You will need to provide proof of purchase for your existing cooler by sending Noctua a scan or screenshot of your invoice or receipt.

For more information on the NM-i115x, head over to the Noctua product page.

Noctua NM-i115x_2.jpg

It is nice to see Noctua standing behind its products like this, even if it only affects a small number of users that will be making the jump for LGA 775/ect to LGA 1150.

Source: Noctua

The Thermalright AXP-100 cooler keeps a low profile

Subject: Cases and Cooling | January 17, 2013 - 07:05 PM |
Tagged: thermalright, axp-100, heatsink, low profile

If you need a heatsink for a low profile PC like an HTPC your choices are much more limited and the high end coolers with kilogram of metal are simply not going to fit unless you cut a blower into your case.  Thermalright saw an opening that they could fill perfectly with their new AXP-100, which weighs under 400g and is (L) 121.1mm x (W) 105.47mm x (H) 44.15mm, significantly smaller than most heatsinks on the market.  [H]ard|OCP slapped in on their test bench and were pleased to see that it beat the stock cooler handily and were even more pleased to see that it could handle an overclock.  Check out their full review here.

H-axp100.jpg

"Thermalright, one of [H]’s long time favorites when it comes to CPU cooling, reaches out today with a cooler designed for smaller ITX and HTPC systems. Full nickel plating, 140mm and 120mm fan compatibility, and a mere 5.8cm height with the fan installed allows a big compatibility footprint in a very small package."

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

Thermalright Launches $99 Archon SB-E 2X HSF

Subject: General Tech | November 26, 2012 - 01:00 AM |
Tagged: thermalright, sb-e 2x, hsf, heatsink, cpu cooler

Thermalright has announced a new tower CPU cooler called the Archon SB-E 2X. The new heatsink is a slim tower design, which is designed to not infringe on the RAM slots or PCI-E expansion slots. It measures 170mm x 155mm x 53mm and weighs just over 1.7 pounds (775 grams).

The heatsink itself is 53mm wide. The aluminum fins are attached to the baseplate using eight 6mm copper heatpipes. The contact plate and heatpipes are nickel plated with a mirror finish on the area that makes contact with the processor.

Thermalright Archon SB-E 2X.jpg

Thermalright is bundling the HSF with two of its silent-series TY-141 140mm fans. The fans are rated at 73.5 CFM and 21 dBA. Using PWM, the fans will spin anywhere between 900 and 1300 RPM. Including the two fans, the heatsink is 79.5mm wide. Thermalright claims that the heatsink will fit on LGA 2011 platforms without touching the RAM slots, however.

Thermalright Archon SB-E 2X_1.jpg

 

The new heatsink uses Thermalright’s VX BTKII mounting system that allows pressure to be adjusted. It supports the LGA 2011, 1366, 1155, 1156, and 775 Intel sockets and the AMD FM1, AM3+, AM2+, AM2, and 939 sockets.

Thermalright Archon SB-E 2X_2.jpg

While there is no specific release date mentioned on the Thermalright website, it should be available soon. The Archon SB-E 2X will have an MSRP of $99.95 USD. At that price, it is putting itself into closed-loop watercooling territory. It will be interesting to see how well it performs and stacks up to coolers like the H80 and Noctua DH-14.

Source: Bit-Tech

SilverStone Launches Massive Nitrogon NT01-Pro CPU HSF

Subject: General Tech | November 11, 2012 - 06:00 PM |
Tagged: Silverstone, nt01-pro, nitrogon, hsf, heatsink

SilverStone recently launched a new air cooler called the Nitrogon NT01-Pro. At 140mm (W) x 97mm (H) x 120mm (D), it looks to offer up some impressive cooling potential. The cooler is aluminum with a copper base-plate and a total of six heatpipes.

nt01-pro-34view-01.jpg

Interestingly, the cooler can be used passively without fans or be paired with two 80mm fans to allow for faster processor overclocks. While 120mm fan support would have been ideal, with a bit of modding, you could have four 80mm fans in a push-pull configuration. It would sound like a jet engine, but would give you a great deal of cooling power.

nt01-pro-05.jpg

Other specifications of the air cooler include six 6mm heatpipes and a net weight of 470g without fans, which translates to just over 1 pound. One issue with the cooler is that it will likely cover up the top PCI-E slot when it is mounted vertically due to its 140mm width.

nt01-pro-dimension.jpg

The Nitrogon NT01-Pro supports both AMD and Intel processors. Specifically, it can be used on motherboards with the LGA775, 1155, 1156, 1366, and 2011 sockets on the Intel side and the AM2, AM3, FM1, and FM2 AMD sockets. It will cost €50.90 (or approximately $65 USD). More information can be found on the SilverStone website.

SilverStone_topview.jpg

What do you think of the Nitrogon NT01-Pro?

Source: SilverStone

Sandia Shows Off Prototype of Its Impeller Cooler

Subject: Cases and Cooling | June 25, 2012 - 05:45 PM |
Tagged: sandia, impeller, heatsink, cooling, cooler, air bearing

A white paper by Sandia National Laboratories caught the attention of the media last year with big claims for high performance cooling. The researchers had claimed to invent a new type of heatsink based on a impeller design that was allegedly 30% more efficient at heat transfer while being smaller and quieter than traditional air coolers.

Dubbed the Sandia Cooler, the team has come up with an updated prototype that is nearly ready to come to market. Shown off in a recent video, the cooler is a small heatsink based on three relatively simple parts. A stationary disk acts as the base and area that comes into contact with the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) of a CPU. Then, a spinning array of curved fins resembling an impeller design is spun up by a small motor mounted in the center of the cooler.

sandia cooler (2).jpg

During an industry day, they reportedly signed two license option agreements with two companies to bring the product to market in the areas of solid state lighting (LEDS, et al) and computer hardware cooling, implying that it is getting closer to a final product that it was last year.

Interestingly, the cooler uses an “hydrodynamic air bearing” such that the spinning part of the cooler is spun up to 2,000+ RPM such that the top part separates from the bottom stationary part and rides (they use the analogy of a car hydroplaning) on a very thin layer of air. (Update: as KngRider noted, there is still some friction from the motor spinning the upper part of the cooler, however.) That thin layer of air is what facilitates heat transference from the stationary part to the spinning fins. It does raise questions of efficiency, however. How a layer of air is more efficient than thermal interface material, for example. Reportedly, the air bearing is not an issue that will impact cooling performance but it is a difficult concept to grasp considering TIM and metal-to-metal contact has always been touted as the best cooling situation.

Sandia explains that cool air is drawn into the center of the impeller as heated air is forced outwards through the spinning fins, which reportedly enables efficient heat transfer. In the video, they demonstrate that it is capable of being extremely quiet (nearly silent) despite spinning at an extremely fast rate – the noise in the first part of the video is due to the prototype motor that is not covered. They claim that the final design will use a brush-less motor that will be much quieter.

It’s an intriguing design because of its simplicity and form factor. It is reportedly able to cool more efficiently than some of the best air coolers on the market, which use such techniques as heatpipes that come into direct contact with the CPU IHS, larger fin arrays, and multiple fans. Compared to those coolers, the Sandia prototype is much smaller and simpler in its construction.

The company has further released a white paper (PDF) and has an area of its website dedicated to more information on the Sandia cooler. While I cannot vet the fluid dynamics they detail, it certainly looks good on paper. I’m excited to see this come to market and whether or not it will live up to its promise of more efficient (and quiet!) cooling. It could be an important asset in cooling computer hardware in everything from desktops to server rooms. Also, it might just be the advancement that air coolers have been looking for as far as the next jump in performance – more than simply adding additional heatpipes or fins (and dealing with weight, size, and diminishing returns as a result) can do alone.

I’ll say that I’m skeptically optimistic on this one, but I do hope that it’s the real deal. What do you think of the impeller cooler? Does it appear promising?

Source: Sandia

Another look at CoolerMaster's return to the Vapour Chamber

Subject: Cases and Cooling | June 21, 2012 - 02:20 PM |
Tagged: coolermaster, TPC-812, heatsink, heatpipes

Heatpipes have been in vogue for a while now, but once long ago it was vapour chambers which made for the best heatsinks, a fact which CoolerMaster has not forgotten.  Their new TPC-812 shows one of the reasons that heatpipes took over, as the vapour chamber never starts to show promise until the second fan was added.  The extra surface area from the combination of vapour chamber and heatpipes benefits from the increased airflow but at the cost of additional noise, whereas many heatpipe only coolers will not show the same level of improvement.  On the other hand they provide better cooling with only one fan making them the choice of people with sensitive ears.  X-bit Labs were not terribly impressed and suggest that maybe the vapour chamber should stay forgotten.

x-b_07_cm812_pt_big.jpg

"CPU coolers have finally sported something new in their design. Although, I think, it would be more correct to say that it is more of a well forgotten old, rather than something completely new. Maybe it was a mistake to give up the vapor chamber technology a while back? Let’s find out with the help of the new Cooler Master cooler."

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Source: X-Bit Labs

The Ice Wind Pro is a breeze to install

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 24, 2012 - 01:57 PM |
Tagged: Deepcool, Ice Wind Pro, heatsink

One neglected feature of heatsinks has always been the ease of installation, which has become much worse now that many heatsinks are so heavy they require a backplate to prevent its weight from damaging your socket or motherboard.  For those who would prefer a heatsink that can be installed without needed to access the back of the motherboard, or even removing the board from its case, DeepCool's Ice Wind Pro might be a good choice.  At 650g it is light compared to many other models and the handy bracket offers more than enough support for that weight.  Of course there are some downsides to such a light cooler, check out how well it could cool a CPU over at Overclockers Club.

OCC_deepcool.jpg

"The thing that impressed me the most about this cooler, believe it or not, was its installation process. The 100% tool-free, in-case, no-rear-access-required installation went through like a breeze. It took only minutes to go from having no cooler to having this one installed. It's the first of its kind that is done this way and I hope other manufacturers take a step for lighter-end coolers that can get away without a heavy-duty mounting mechanism. The cooler's build quality is top notch, which follows in the steps of previous DEEPCOOL heat sinks that I have had the opportunity to review."

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Source: Overclockers Club

Coolermaster's new vapourware, the TPC-812 heatsink

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 16, 2012 - 05:29 PM |
Tagged: coolermaster, TPC-812, heatsink, heatpipes

Coolermaster's new TPC-812 goes beyond the heatpipes which we have all become familiar with and adds in vapour chambers as well.  The vapour chamber works similarly to a heatpipe but instead of heat only being able to travel away in one direction, the chamber allows heat to be dissipated in to directions.  Unfortunately in order to properly work it needs to remain quite small in size so while it can quickly spread out heat it needs help from something else to keep that heat moving away.  The cooler was fairly noisy when FrostyTech ran the fan at full speed but also offered among the most effective cooling performance and when they dialed the fan back its performance ended up in the middle of the pack but for someone using a moderately powerful CPU and wanting less noise it should move enough heat to remain effective.

FT_CMTPC812_pspc.jpg

"Vapour chambers and heatpipes work on the same principle, the difference is that vapour chambers are planar thermal devices that conduct heat in two dimensions. The two 19x3mm vapour chambers on the Coolermaster TPC-812 heatsink are double-stacked (one vapour chamber on top of three heatpipes), much like the Xigmatek Aegir. Since vapour chambers are planar devices this represents a more efficient application that piling tubular heatpipes on top of tubular heatpipes. Coolermaster's TPC-812 is the first CPU heatsink to pass our test bench employing both vapour chambers and heatpipes in one package."

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Source: Frosty Tech

Gamer Storm's new heatsink wants to Assassin-ate your heat problems

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 4, 2012 - 12:59 PM |
Tagged: Gamer Storm, Assassin, heatsink, heatpipes

Following in the current trend of trying to give your newest heatsink a bizarre name comes the Gamer Storm Assassin, a 5.7" x 6.1" x 6.3" (144 x 154 x 160 mm) dual tower heatsink.  The cooler comes with a pair of mismatched fans, a 120mm fan for use on one of the sides of the tower and a 140mm for use in between the towers.  That does not seem to have hurt performance at all, Hardware Secrets tests show it to not only be an effective cooler but also one that does not generate excessive noise.  It will fit both AMD and Intel sockets, so whichever you are using you might want to ignore the name and consider this cooler for your system.

HS_assass.jpg

"The Assassin is the first CPU cooler from Gamer Storm, a brand of cooling products from Logisys/Deepcool, aimed at gamers. This huge cooler has two twin tower heatsinks, eight heatpipes, one 120 mm fan and one 140 mm fan. We already reviewed the Dracula VGA cooler from this brand."

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Source: Hardware Secrets

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