CPU Cooler Charts 2008, Part 3 - Are Box Coolers any Good?

[razor512]

intel needs to just buy stock coolers from amd

 

[MTLance]

Hey guys,
New to these forums, just looked at the review and found it excellent, i don't see what everyone is complaining about. Its not like they reviewed six identical coolers, the intel coolers over 775 were rather different, something i didn't no much about, all i knew was that the e2's had an aluminium base, and the e8's have a tiny heatsink lol, and what would be the point of putting each cpu onto each different chip that it was designed for? You would end up with no comparison, 'Each cooler was able to cool their specced chip to 70 degrees' yay, how informative, instead they took a new faster but still hot chip to test each one on individually giving us a direct comparison of each cooler, i mean i've now realised that in the new e2200 computer i'm building i should definitely use my E6300 cooler over the stock one that comes with it for the better ocing.
In terms of other coolers, as many have pointed out there will probably be another part.
I'm not saying the review was perfect, in the end every1 has opionions, for instance i've owned and installed a IFX-14 and a Zalman8700NT and personally found the zalman to be 100 times better to install then the ifx-14, the ifx 14 is definitely an insane performer but i disagree with the scores toms hardware has given, but obviously they found a good way of installing the ifx and couldn't figure out the 8700nt.
In terms of the Tuniq Tower and the Ultra 120-Extreme they may leave them given their performance is pretty on par with the IFX-14, and giveen the IFX-14 could be seen as the successor of the Ultra 120, why don't you stop bagging tom's and realise that they can't please everyone, i found a couple of coolers that i've had and so i found it great, seeing the IFX-14 beating 2 watercoolers after purchasing it is a very good thing 😛
In short they've done a more comprehensive review so far then most i've seen out there, and by the looks of it theres more to come.
Oh and i agree that they've probably put the intel things in after people requested but i mean if it was your article that you worked on wouldn't you want it too seem professional and planned rather then thrown together becuase people wanted it to?
And i do agree that some people are right in saying the article isn't as detailed as others but i don't think i've seen many articles where they have done such a comprehensive review, all the coolers on the identical system all compared to each other, so this one isn't about huge detail on one cooler its brief on many, so you look, you see something you like and go find more detail.
Anyways just thought i'd put my two cents in, i'm not saying anyone who complains is an idiot, as first impressions can be deceiving, but just give some thoughts and leave the attitude behind.

Totally agree with ya man. This article is very interesting to me especially for those who have no idea about past Intel Stock coolers.
Yes, it is a good comparison with Intel offered paste and other third party offered thermal paste.
Wow, I though the Prescott cooler (Fan @ very high RMP) was real good because Prescott CPUs created insane amount of heat instead the QUAD 6600 cooler ( Fan @ low RPM) was way better. Oh I see, it was also depends on the materials used too to build that cooler.
Some stupid idiots believe there was a problem with my stock cooler (Installation Error with a high temp). Well Toms prove it well, and I'm very thankful to Toms that the stock cooler can hit 80 degrees plus on a QUAD during load.
I like every single bit in that article but please change the title please. Yes, it is very good. Love it. 😍

 

[yomamafor1]

I'm wondering, do editors just post a link for discussion, and forget about it?

There are so many good suggestions, enthusiast suggestions, advising how to improve article quality and content.

And all we see is a continuous dropping of qualities, reviewing some of the most unused aftermarket coolers out there, trying to make a point.

Best of Media, you seriously disgraced Tom's work.

 

[Grimmy]

Ahhhhy... daa.. goo goo.. blah eeeeeee... ha.. naaa isshhh issshhh oooo eerr ummm... ya. [:thegreatgrapeape:7]

 

[rockbyter]

I like it when people don't read the whole thread before posting, so that thoughts that actually make sense get lost in the middle. If you disapprove of the THG cooler reviews, fine. but at least read the articles, and note the following :

Article 1 : The biggest comparison of all time - more than 80 CPU coolers in the Tom's Hardware Munich lab

Article 2 : testing six more coolers that join the eleven models we reviewed in the previous installment.

Article 3 : We will be testing these versions in an upcoming installment of the Cooler Charts.

Im pretty sure that 27 is not equal to 80, and that in the picture in the first article i see at least 2 coolers coming that i really would like to see compared to the field, so i'll keep reading like you all will now.

 

[endyen]

The last thing I read from this guy was http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/06/03/dual_core_stress_test/page11.html.
They bothe used a comon fan. It ran cooler the first time.
This setup uses a 113w chip, the last time, it was a 140w+ chip. Go figure.
I like this piece better.

 

[0V3CHKiN]

First time poster, but long time reader.

I was conned into thinking this segment of CPU coolers was going to be worth wild. I'm glad the Cooler Master unit scored well (since I own that), but really this whole thing was a bust. I completely lost hope when the third article ended with this statement:

Conclusion - Box Coolers Are Not A Good Choice For Overclockers

No sh*t sherlock.

 

[spaztic7]

First time poster, but long time reader.

I was conned into thinking this segment of CPU coolers was going to be worth wild. I'm glad the Cooler Master unit scored well (since I own that), but really this whole thing was a bust. I completely lost hope when the third article ended with this statement:

Conclusion - Box Coolers Are Not A Good Choice For Overclockers

No sh*t sherlock.

lol

 

[razor512]

amd coolers are better than the intel crap coolers

but one thing i noticed in the 3 articles is that 90% of the coolers had poor cooling performance with their test system

they should have just tested 1 stock intel cooler, then moved on to other coolers

or even better create a new article on heatsink mods like adding a tube from the fan, to a vent on the case for getting cool air directly from the outside of the case (most new cases are extra retarded because the duct for the cpu cooler is always in a place nowhere near the CPU

a few years ago, my amd athlon xp 2400+ used to get to around 55C

but removing the fan and adding a fan adapter then attaching a good 80mm fan and the max temp went from 55C, to around 42C and it was even quieter than the stock fan


for my stock amd fan (which i got a good 727MHz overclock and it still runs cool) adding 2 steel wires and attaching a 92MM fan to it and having it aim directly at he heatsink (i also added a cardboard duct around it to make sure that fins air is directed at it) the cpu temp max went from around 71C to around 65C after about 5 hours running prime 95

 

[MU_Engineer]

I hear ya. You would have to provide comparison of AMD boxed coolers VS. AMD aftermarket coolers and Intel Boxed VS. Intel aftermarket and compare the differences between them.

Most of these coolers work on multiple sockets, generally 478 and 775 for Intel and 754/939/940/AM2 for AMD. I'm betting that Tom's just ran everything on Intel platforms as that's what they had more of lying around and they didn't want to run everything twice.

I just wanted to make sure, because a cooler may have to dissapate more heat on chips with no headroom (cough, AMD, cough) which might make them look not as good as the Intel coolers, when in fact, that might not be the case(no pun intended, or in Tom's lab, there is no case).

First, putting the same aftermarket cooler on both an Intel and AMD chip will tell you which one produces more heat as the cooling capacity is exactly the same. You can do the math after that to tell whose boxed cooler is better. And secondly, overclocking headroom doesn't matter much in heat production- the only headroom that matters is the headroom between the CPU's actual dissipation and its rated dissipation. I understand your reasoning that a chip with less overclocking headroom will be pushed by the manufacturer more at stock speeds to compete with the competition and thus dissipates more heat due to higher voltages. But if two chips are rated at the same dissipation and actually do dissipate anywhere near their rated dissipation, the temperatures will be similar regardless of how much more frequency somebody can or can't pull out of either of the chips.

 

[Rduke]

Uhhh are they seriously running these chips at 98C like the chart is saying.. the lowest is at 65C!!??????


:lol:


No wonder it is taking so long for this review.. egads they have to wait 2 months for the friggen chips to cool down!



Oh and the intel thermal paste is garbage..

But I suppose we will have to go through another 6- 16 page articles .. to generate ad revenue for you guys to keep the power bills up to date as you are taking those chips into supernova areas...

😗


lol comon guys...


please catch up~!!

 

[concor]

What a crap review series so far.

Anybody reading THG is a computer enthusiast who is already way beyond stock coolers. What a waste of testing time. Geez, even my 7 year old niece knows better. What are we, a bunch of Dell owners? Come on!

And why not outline the whole cooler review process in Part 1 by telling us how many total parts there will be! What is this, some kind of TV crime series where you keep us guessing for a whole season? Try this THG: wait until you test ALL of the coolers and then post all the results at once so everything can be taken in context. Christ, even the old ladies who do the reviews at Consumer Reports know that.

Like I said before, it's a crap review.

 

[spaztic7]

This my opinion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24433904@N06/2313661129/sizes/o/

Although this gave me a chuckle.... what are you smoking and where can I get it?

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Although this gave me a chuckle.... what are you smoking and where can I get it?

ROFL. My thoughts exactly.

Funny Stuff FanGirl.

 

[FrozenGpu]

i dunno amdfangirl always seems to be smoking someting... 😗

 

[MU_Engineer]

its my own comic that I draw during math, i'll upload another tomorrow (Australia time)

You better pay attention during math class as math is actually useful, especially since you're probably doing algebra if your junior high/middle school is any bit similar to mine. Not being able to do algebra well WILL haunt you around here, especially since you are an AMD fan. You'll need to be able to do basic algebra to know what RAM divider/HT speed/multiplier should I use to get your RAM to run at X MHz. Plus, at least a few of us here have taken upper-level math classes and will tease you until you cry if you mess up on the basics

I'd just say to draw comics either at home, before school or during homeroom (if you have it.) You probably have quite a bit of time after school to do things as you can't work yet and the homework load is light when you're 13. If you say "oh but I have a lot," just wait. Either that or you can swap places with me for a day. You'll either want to shoot me or you'll be well on your way to being the next Doogie Howser.

 

[spaztic7]

meh, I'm gonna grow up to be an artist. Now before you complain that my comics suck in graphical quality is because I spend 5 minutes on each scene.

Besides by math class I mean when we do soduku at the end of the last period on Fridays

Now I'm not smoking, (i'm a pacifist) (yes I know what you think)

Its cool, we are just picking on you. But you do want to pay attention in math... or any other class. It seems like it sucks now, but when you graduate, you will wish you did better. At least I did/do.

You should post up some of your art! It is always nice to see what people can do!

 

[KyleSTL]

You should post up some of your art! It is always nice to see what people can do!

Yeah, cause I imagine the majority of the adults on this forum are engineers or scientists with 0 artistic talent (this writer included).

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

I'm wondering, do editors just post a link for discussion, and forget about it?

There are so many good suggestions, enthusiast suggestions, advising how to improve article quality and content.

And all we see is a continuous dropping of qualities, reviewing some of the most unused aftermarket coolers out there, trying to make a point.

Best of Media, you seriously disgraced Tom's work.

As I understand it, each article on Tom's is required to have a link to the discussion as per standardized layout/formatting... However, authors are not required to participate in the forums, and rarely do. The forums side of Toms is not the business end of the company, but the articles are. To bad the "Best of Media" doesn't recognize that both are one in the same.

 

[spaztic7]

What do you mean?

----HSC Math Exam-----
----60 soduku grids-----
------60 minutes-------
Begin the test paper
when instructed by
your superviser

I just didnt want you to feel like we where being mean or anything. We/I was just picking on you.

But I would like to see some art work... other than your avitar.

 

[zenmaster]

You better pay attention during math class as math is actually useful, especially since you're probably doing algebra if your junior high/middle school is any bit similar to mine. Not being able to do algebra well WILL haunt you around here, especially since you are an AMD fan. You'll need to be able to do basic algebra to know what RAM divider/HT speed/multiplier should I use to get your RAM to run at X MHz. Plus, at least a few of us here have taken upper-level math classes and will tease you until you cry if you mess up on the basics

I'd just say to draw comics either at home, before school or during homeroom (if you have it.) You probably have quite a bit of time after school to do things as you can't work yet and the homework load is light when you're 13. If you say "oh but I have a lot," just wait. Either that or you can swap places with me for a day. You'll either want to shoot me or you'll be well on your way to being the next Doogie Howser.

Maybe She does not need to pay attention.
I recall a guy in my class falling asleep in English class and somebody pointing it out to the teacher.
Her response was to let him sleep, she was not teaching anything he did not know :>

Math was so easy for me, I was self taught (Teachers just gave me books.) until I took Calc as a freshman to finish up my H.S. math. Never paid attention in Calc either after the first 5 minutes when the teach explained it the first time.

 

[MU_Engineer]

soduku in math is so easy I don't bother!
One in two lessons is soduku!

That might be appropriate for somebody in about 2nd-3rd grade as in those grades, the math lessons are pretty much addition, subtraction, and simple multiplication. Adding up numbers from 1-10 repeatedly would be a good exercise for them. But by the time you are 13, you should be doing some of the more advanced arithmetic such as multiplying and dividing decimal numbers or even getting into algebra. But if the schools in Oz are like the ones here in the U.S., I'm not surprised in the least as the teachers probably cannot do algebra themselves and they are my age or older.

 

[Mathos]

Maybe She does not need to pay attention.
I recall a guy in my class falling asleep in English class and somebody pointing it out to the teacher.
Her response was to let him sleep, she was not teaching anything he did not know :>

Math was so easy for me, I was self taught (Teachers just gave me books.) until I took Calc as a freshman to finish up my H.S. math. Never paid attention in Calc either after the first 5 minutes when the teach explained it the first time.

God, I use to fall asleep in about 2/3 of my classes. Passed every test with an A- or better though, even had problems doing that in some of my electronics classes in college. I think Operational amplifiers was one of the harder ones, that and digital circuits 2 with learning how all the gates work, but I still got at least Bs in both of those. Bout the only classes I didn't do that on were Physics, tried to avoid doing that in English grammar side, Psychology, few of the biology based science classes, and of course I wasn't allowed to do that in Phys ed. Certain Grammar areas would give me problems, mainly when they would go through the sections involving labeling the different parts or sections of sentences.

And AMD seems to have worked around the uneven divider problem with the phenom, my mem always runs at 800mhz ddr2 regardless of processor clock.

 

[KyleSTL]

My senior year of high school a guy in my Calc-based Physics class and top Calculus classes spent most of the year not paying any attention when the teachers were lecturing, but instead, made a chainmail vest loop-by-loop with a pair of pliers and wore it under his cap and gown for graduation. BTW, he got a 5 on the BC Calculus AP test and a 4 on the AB Physics AP test. He would maybe get one comment a week from the teachers, but they really didn't care what he did because he knew his stuff anyway.

 

[hotdogmichigan]

I'm so disappointed that Arctic Freezer wasn't included in the test since it's the only one worth buying for me.