GELID SlimHero Cooler Is Quiet and Low-Profile CPU HSF

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 10, 2013 - 06:53 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: slimhero, hsf, Gelid, fm2, cpu cooler, 1155

Hong Kong-based PC cooling company GELID Solutions launched a new low-profile CPU cooler yesterday called the SlimHero. The new SlimHero cooler joins the existing Silent HSF series, and is a mere 59mm high.

The low profile cooler measures 131 x 123 x 59mm including the fan and weighs 352g. The SlimHero cooler features four copper heatpipes connecting a copper block to a horizontal aluminum fin array. A 120mm fan is then mounted on top of the heatsink to push cool air over the fins and VRM area surrounding the processor. It is rated to cool processors up to 136 TDPs and is compatible with all of Intel and AMD's latest consumer sockets. On the AMD side, the cooler can be mounted in one of four directions on AM2, AM2, AM3, AM3+, FM1, and FM2.Further, it is compatible with Intel's LGA 775, 1156, 1366, and 1155 sockets.

The heatsink comes bundled with a 120mm fan and GC-2 thermal compound. The fan is PWM controlled and can spin at anywhere between 750 and 1600 RPM. GELID rates the 120mm fan at 52.4 CFM and 12-25.4 dBA.

The new cooler is designed to work with small form factor systems without getting in the way of RAM or VRM heat-spreaders. It comes with a 5 year warranty and is available now for an MSRP of $32 USD (25 EUR).

Additional information on GELID's new SlimHero cooler can be found in the full press release (PDF) as well as the SlimHero product page.

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

Subject: General Tech | March 20, 2013 - 12:05 AM | Tim Verry
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.

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.

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.

Sapphire Releases Vapor-X CPU Cooler

Subject: Cases and Cooling | December 1, 2012 - 10:18 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: vapor-x, sapphire, hsf, cpu cooler, cooling

Sapphire, a popular graphics card add-in-board partner in the US recently announced a new product that strays from the norm. Called the Vapor-X, it is a new tower-style CPU cooler aimed at enthusiasts.

The new cooler has the Vapor-X designation because it uses the company’s vapor chamber heatsink technology to take heat away from the processor into an aluminum fin array. The vapor chamber makes contact with the CPU, and from there four 7mm heatpipes transfer heat to the aluminum fins where two 120mm fans and a black plastic shroud channel cool air through. The fans are rated at 77 CFM and a maximum of 40 dBA. Both fans have variable (PWM) speeds from 495 to 2200 RPM.

The Vapor-X heatsink has a gross weight of 1524.8 grams (approximately 3.4 pounds) including the fans. Dimensions are 135 x 110.4 x 163.5mm, and it is designed to work within the constraints of the LGA 2011 socket without limiting you to low profile memory modules.

Unfortunately, Sapphire does not list a TDP rating for this heatsink, but it is aimed at high end processors with support for the following processor sockets:

• AMD:  FM1, FM2, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+
• Intel:  LGA 1366, LGA 1155, LGA 1156, LGA 775

While it has yet to show up at Newegg, it is reportedly on its way with a MSRP of $69.99. You can find more photos and specifications on Sapphire's product page.

My first major gaming graphics card was from Sapphire, so it is neat to see the company taking its graphics card cooling expertise and applying it to CPUs. The reviews should be interesting – particularly whether the shroud really helps to lower temps.

Thermalright Launches $99 Archon SB-E 2X HSF

Subject: General Tech | November 26, 2012 - 01:00 AM | Tim Verry
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 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.

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.

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.

Zalman Launching FX100 Passive (Cube-Shaped) CPU Cooler

Subject: Cases and Cooling | November 15, 2012 - 10:19 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: zalman, Passive, hsf, cpu cooler

Images have emerged on the Internet of a new cooler coming from Zalman sometime next year. In a brief mention from Zalman, the company named the new passive CPU heatsink as the FX-100. The cube of fins are aligned in a cross, or +, shape and combined with shrouding at the corners, Zalman has created a hollow cube.  At the top is a hexagonal-mesh grill. The base-plate is connected to the fin array by four copper heatpipes. The fins are nickel plated and are black pearl in color.

It is designed to be run in fan-less configurations, and Zalman is stating that it will not draw dust as well. The fan-less cube cooler is currently listed as a CES 2013 honoree, so here’s hoping it launches soon and lives up to the claims.

There are no details on pricing, availability or the TDP ratings it is designed to cool yet.

What do you think of the Zalman FX-100 passive cube?

SilverStone Launches Massive Nitrogon NT01-Pro CPU HSF

Subject: General Tech | November 11, 2012 - 06:00 PM | Tim Verry
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.

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.

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.

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.

What do you think of the Nitrogon NT01-Pro?

Silentmaxx TwinBlock HSF Passively Cools 100W CPUs

Subject: Cases and Cooling | July 24, 2012 - 09:58 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: silentmaxx, passive cooling, hsf, cpu cooling, cooler

Having a silent system without fans is a noble goal, but CPUs generally need at least one. A new heatsink from Silentmaxx called the TwinBlock is designed to passively cool processors up to approximately 100W. Supporting sockets 774, 775, 1155, 1156, 1366 on the Intel side and 939, 940, and AMD 2/3 for AMD processors, it is compatible with just about any processor. The TwinBlock is, in a word, massive. Weighting in a just over 3 pounds, the heatsink measures 210mm (B) x 135mm (D) x 160mm (H) mm. It features a copper base with 10 heatpipes that connect to two aluminum fin arrays.

Interestingly, FanlessTech pointed us to a new computer build – the Fanless I-850 Gamer – that the company is planning to use the passive heatsink with to create a silent gaming PC. The PC can be equipped with up to an Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E processor and up to either an AMD 7970 or NVIDIA GTX 670 graphics card. The processor is cooled using the TwinBlock cooler while the GPUs are using custom coolers that should only kick on the fans over long gaming sessions or folding. The Fanless I-850 starts at 1279,00€ for the base configuration.

It is possible to buy just the heatsink, however. The Silentmaxx TwinBlock cooler can be yours for about $120 USD (€ 99.90 inc. VAT). More photos of the cooler are available below, and you can read more about the cooler on the SilentMaxx website.

Prolimatech Shows Off Blue Megahalems CPU Cooler

Subject: Cases and Cooling | July 16, 2012 - 04:21 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: prolimatech, megahalems, hsf, cpu cooler, anodized blue

Popular processor cooler manufacturer Prolimatech has offered its Megahalems cooler for a couple of years now, and it has seen several revisions. The latest modification seems to be purely aesthetic – and I can’t say I’m opposed. Despite my (irrational?) fear of large heatsinks ripping a chunk off of my motherboard, I do find them impressive. A new Megahalems was spotted by Fanless Tech that sports an anodized blue finish that is quite sleek looking.

We don’t have any details beyond the images, but it is reportedly a Megahalems Revision B with a glossy blue finish. The Megahalems Rev. B is of course the company’s answer to Intel’s socket 1156 processors (though it is also compatible with socket(s) 775, 1156, 1366, and 2011). It weighs 790 grams – approximately 1.74 pounds – and measures 158.7mm tall and 74mm wide. It can further support a 120mm fan for active cooling, and it sports six heatpipes. Needless to say, it is rather large and packs quite a bit of air cooling potential. (We reviewed the original Megahalems awhile back, and came away impressed).

I can only speak for myself here, but this is one giant air cooler that I wouldn’t mind risking my motherboard for (what can I say, they used my favorite color ;) ). What do you think of the Prolimatech prototype? Check out more photos over at FanlessTech.