CPU Cooler Charts 2008, Part 2

weidox

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From cooler testing photos I see that all coolers were tested in motherboard on stand in vertical position. However at least some heatpipe coolers are designed to be put only in vertical position motherboards ("desktop" type cases, and not into "tower" type cases). That's because heatpipes are directional and processor must be at bottom of cooler, not at side. I've personally had in my hands Zalman CNPS8700, and it had clearly written that it doesn't suit for "tower" cases. Also I've read about heatpipe technology, and from what I read I can tell that most if not all tested heatpipe coolers should have such requirement, or at least should work better with motherboards standing in horizontal position. (I only once in one shop saw a heatpipe cooler with diagonal heatpipe direction, this one in theory could have worked well in both desktop and tower cases).
That's big limitation of heatpipe coolers which I hate (and that's the reason why I sold the same Zalman CNPS8700 cooler I had). And I mean that these testing results are of little use - heatpipe coolers should be tested in correct direction, or they will perform similar to cheap standard coolers.
 

night_wolf_in

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why the hell do CNPS8700NT when they done the LED version???? it is not like they are different. shesh.

so far, they are missing the major players in the cpu cooler. so lets hope the last part will feature all the other ones that im waiting to c.
 

hoofhearted

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What about Swiftech and Dangerden? I don't see any of their products and they are more of the leaders in this industry.

What about EK waterblocks?

Even the Koolance external cooler is much better (bang for buck) than these offereings.
 

mobo57

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Man I hope they continue the review..... Missing some good performers out there. Maybe they are only reviewing the products that they got for review instead of going out and getting them on their own??? From my point they are missing probably the best cooling solution out there, the coolit products. I've had water, air and air/TEC rigs. Won't go back from what I have now. Something I posted elsewhere:
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200003
 

Grimmy

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I guess they have to go on the way they started.

What gets me the most is the ease of installation. I wonder how much they curse, moan & groan when they have to change to the next HS on a MB that isn't even in a case.

I can almost hear it now:

. o O (Dang it... this is taking too long. My break is coming up in 5 mins. Who in the right mind would make this part this way. It doesn't even fit. Oh.. now I see, that parts for the other socket type. And and and.. who wrote these darn instructions!! Where are the pictures.)

edit:

O'well.. since this is based off a Q6600, and that will prolly be my next upgrade to tie me over for quite awhile, I may try doing some tests outside the case, even with the mb vertical and horizontal to see what results I get with my Tuniq. Also my stuff is not lapped. If I find my IHS on the Q6600 is really concaved, I might try to do some lapping and do additional test with that.
 

sailer

Splendid


That's right, stay the course.

But Captain, there's an iceberg ahead! :eek:

Stay the Course, helmsman, stay the course. :pt1cable:

But Captain! Blub, blub, blub.
 

yomamafor1

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Still no Artic Freezer Pro? no Thermalright Ultra120? no Scythe Ninja?

or maybe are you guys going to put those in the third installation of the article, and give us a grand finale? :eek:

EDIT: Even the most common ones, like Zalmen 9700 / 9500 is missing. Tom, this is really going nowhere. Are you guys still waiting for manufacturers to send you a sample of the cooler, so you can save the time and money in purchasing a new cooler? What kind of review site is this? I thought THG is a first rate site, not a "I just did these test in my backyard with donations from others" site.
 

scoobertdoo

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what about rosewill coolers, i love mine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200037


FTW

35-200-037-01.jpg
 

bounty

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Why does the Cooler Master Hyper TX2 get the same installation rating as the water coolers? If I pick some random high shcool student, hand him the two and a computer. Do you really think he'll have the same ease and install time for both?

When was the last time you had to add fluid to your air cooler? How about degas it? Or had to use a wire and short it, to power it on to circulate it? Or had it spill fluid? Mix fluid? Or had to run tubes and wires out of your case? Or had to find a spot to lay the thing on your desk? Do you yearly, have to repeat the fluid, degas, short, oops! spill, mix process on your air cooler? I've never checked my air cooler for leaks!

I went to the Zalman website ( http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=1850 )and read the manual for the Reserator XT. It's not an 8.

It takes longer to read the Reserator XT manual than to install the Cooler Master.... even if you read it's manual.

Bounty

(p.s. sorry for the tone, I'm just annoyed)
 

Grimmy

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the cooler is mounted using pushpins. While this is a good choice in principle, their placement is unfavorable. Luckily, the fan and its hood can simply be removed from the cooler, enabling a very quick and simple installation.

Heh.. I believe that is why. But then they go on saying how its a very quick installation when the hood is taken off.

I dunno, I'm abit annoyed as well. But it's their review, and they are going to review allot more I suppose. I guess it just give them something to do. Hopefully after 80 installations, they may learn something... or not. :whistle:
 

yomamafor1

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Here are some inputs that may make the tests more useful than it is now.

Methodology:

1. Why are you using QX6850 as a testbed? Some coolers are never designed to cool a quad, even less so a top end one. The ones you've listed so far are only designed to cool dual cores.

2. Why oh why do coolers that require motherboard to be taken out of the case to mount back plating score so low on "ease of installation"? Push pin coolers have the tendency to pop off the motherboard. Especially modern coolers have fairly heavy weight, having a push pin mounting design will simply bend the motherboard over time, and slowly breaking them.

3. Why 1 min and half of stressing only? Why not 5 minutes? I understand if you guys are under time pressure here, but wouldn't it be far better for you to review more powerful, more enthusiast suggested cooler, and do a thorough review on them, than getting some less known heatsinks? I find doing a review for 80 heatsinks to be very redundant.

4. Why don't you guys mount the cooler inside the case for testing? Sure its a nuisance for installation and uninstallation, but wouldn't putting coolers in the case represent much more objective view? What about case airflows?

5. Some of the cooler have very weird, unconventional mounting direction. Why facing up? With the exception of few enthusiast cases, most cases do NOT feature top fans.

6. Why are you mixing water cooling with air cooling? Sure they all are CPU coolers, but mixing them will create confusion.


Heatsink Selection:

1. Where are the most recommended, most used coolers? Where is Artic Freezer Pro? Where is Thermaltake Big Typhoon? Where is Zalman 9500 / 9700? These are the most recommended coolers on almost every single enthusiast sites.

2. What about the newer ones that are capable of cooling up to 130W? Thermalright Ultra120? Scythe Ninja? Turniq Tower?
 

gm0n3y

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First off, I agree with all the comments about the lack of pretty much all of the top 10 or so coolers out there. That being said, we should wait until the series has finished before complaining about this. Be patient.

@bounty

The ratings for noise, performance and installation for the different types of coolers are to be taken compared to other coolers of the type, not air vs water.

From part 1:

"Points are awarded separately for each kind of cooling, e.g. water, air, compressor, passive, etc. Thus, a passive cooler may score 10 points where a water cooler may only be awarded 8, even though the water cooler is able to keep the core temperature lower."

So saying that a water cooler is harder to install than an air cooler really has no meaning here. Of course the question of why they are featuring water coolers in this article at all is valid. Although if they didn't, I'm sure that people in the forum would complain that there were no water coolers featured and that they are much better (just like the ones now that are complaining about no custom wc setups / vapor / peltier / etc).
 

yonef

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Why you (tomshardware.com) test only rubbish coolers ?!
There are tons of good coolers and you just picked the worst ones !
I realy like mine: Zalman CNPS9700-NT nVidia Tritium CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
HS-027-ZA_200.jpg


P.S.
AMD X2 6000+ OC @ 3.2 Ghz at 100% load with prime95 runs at 39 `C ! ambient : about 19-20 `C
...I'll provide screenshot later :)
 

bounty

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sorry, 2+ articles (2+ times advertising)... 2+ bytchfests, that's fair right? If we still have something to bytch about, then last weeks didn't work. :>