Look what I have that you don't - a special cooler
review by
ayymd
I got this free from a giveaway!
Test System Used
- CPU: AMD FX-8350 (OC: 4.6GHz @ 1.49V)
- Motherboard: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
- Memory: Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3L-1600
- GPU: Sapphire R9 Fury NITRO 4GB
- Case: NZXT S340
- PSU: Corsair HX750 (replacement on the way)
- Software: SpeedFan / Prime95 / AIDA64 Engineer / CPU-Z / Speccy / AMD Overdrive / Windows 10 Professional
Installation
Installing this was sooooooooooooooooooo easy because of Thermalright keeping the mounting hardware the same. Seriously, I didn't have to open anything aside from the cooler and the bag of thermal paste. On the topic of the thermal paste, who the hell thought putting it in a bag was a good idea?! It's not resealable unlike a tube, and a tube is easier for me to use than a bag. Also, Thermalright absolutely needs to think of a better way for putting fans on the cooler. I adore CRYORIG's method, as it's easy and it doesn't scratch up the heatsink (tell your boss to give whoever thought of this a raise,
@Steve-S). Rants aside, I'm gonna give this thing a 9.5 instead of a 10 because of the fan clips. I also should mention that the thing I circled below is actually built-in now. I love this.
Noise Level
I didn't know if there were any anti-vibration mounts, I looked so hard for them, couldn't find them. Maybe Doyll knows? Anyway, I installed the fan without them, preparing my ears for the vibration storm that I expected to come, but to my surprise, it was quiet. What they did I will never know, all I know is that it made my life a hell of a lot easier. It was as quiet as my Macho X2 while idling, and got ever so slightly louder under load. Great job Thermalright, you have earned my precious 10.
Performance
I'm sorry, I can't do overclocked testing because of my dying power supply. Let's get on to the temperatures. I found out that this cooler is quite a performer for the size. At idle, it did about 38C which isn't too bad, but it is the hottest of the three coolers I currently have reviewed. Under load it did 64C, which is the second best, narrowly beating out the H55.
(not up-to-date)
I'm feeling pretty satisfied with this guy, so I'm gonna give it a 10. <3
Aesthetics
The same applies for this as the Macho X2, it looks good and doesn't look like a spaceship from the year 3000, except this doesn't take up so much space, so I'm going to give it a 9.5 instead of the Macho X2's 9.
Closing
I'm pretty impressed with this little thing. It's so freaking tiny that you wouldn't expect much out of it, but you are
wrong to think that. Shame on you! This little thing did so well that I'm actually thinking of keeping it instead of giving it to my friend, but I'm most definitely going to give him it. If Thermalright can nail the pricing in the USA, I'll be happy to recommend this every time I speak.
Scoring
- Performance (40% of the score): 10
- Noise Level (30% of the score): 10
- Installation (20% of the score): 9.5
- Aesthetics (10% of the score): 9.5
- Final Score: 9.85 / 10
The Amazing: performance, noise level, installation aside from fan clips, awesome built in mount thing!!
The Bad: those stupid fan clips, not really available yet, the thermal paste. >.<
Pros | Cons |
---|
performance, noise level, installation aside from fan clips, awesome built in mounty thingy!! | those stupid fan clips, not available yet, thermal paste in ketchup packet |
Ratings