what is the best air <extreme> cpu air cooler?

[John Aiton]

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

John Aiton posted a pick of what was perhaps a 25-40 pound one. It was so massive it looked like a truck engine. That'd probably be about $400-600

but the best one is the thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Thermalright did another heatsink that was basically 2 thermalright extremes put together but the exorbident cost didn't justify the massive price tag for dropping the cpu temps perhaps 1-2 degrees more than the Ultra-120 Extreme.

I did that for the lulz


the best air coolers are the thermalright ultra extreme coupled with a noctua 12cm fan or maybe a yate loon

the zerotherm nirvana should be considered an equal choice to the true,
the true can cool (very slightly) better but it's negligable in difference when comes to overclocking

you should use one of these two options if you want the best

Originally Posted by cottonvibes

where are the pics!!!?

it's the scythe orochi cooler, it is as big as a head

[MrPink]

ROFL........i want one

so...
1.) Thermalright Ultra 120
2.) Tuniq Tower
3.) ZeroTherm Nirvana
i should get one of these 3?
They all look nice, and seem to perform very well. But if I got the Thermalright Utlra 120, I would need to buy a separate fan for it. So, it will probably be between the ZeroTherm and the Tuniq.

Also, Fadingz mentioned getting a fan for the Northbridge. All of the really high end mobos (expensive X48 and nforce 790i ones) have pretty extravagant heat pipe setups. Will a fan really do a better job at cooling than those heat pipes?

[runawayprisoner]

Actually, consider the Xigmatek or the Kingwin. Seriously. I had a TRUE with a Noctua fan and it wasn't all that good. Well, with a Delta fan, the TRUE would do quite well, but it'll feel like you're on a jet! And the Xigmatek or Kingwin HSF is better (about 1-2C) for me for some reason. Probably because of the HDT.

As for the northbridge, an actively cooled one is still better.

[John Aiton]

the xigmatech and kingwin aren't as easily available though

[runawayprisoner]

Newegg...

Newegg.com - KINGWIN Revolution RVT-12025 120mm H.D.T. CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
$31.99 + shipping

Newegg.com - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
$36.99 free shipping

That's a rough $20 cheaper than TRUE. I was amazed at the performance with the stock fan, too. It seemed like HDT really did help.

[John Aiton]

awesome

shame newegg is america only

[MrPink]

HDT...?

also i said i wouldn't be getting the TRUE (thermalright ultra 120), but more probably the ZeroTherm or Tuniq. Kingwin and Xigmatec...hmmm.

I think it is worth mentioning that I will be cooling an Intel quadcore, one the 45nm yorkfields, and plan to OC pretty high...as high as air cooling allows.

[John Aiton]

Originally Posted by MrPink

HDT...?

H.D.T. (Heat-pipe direct touch) technology.

means the heatpipes themself are part of the base contact

[runawayprisoner]

Heatpipe Direct Touch. Basically, instead of letting the IHS hit a copper base, they let the IHS hit the heatpipes on the cooler directly. If the surface of the heatsink and the IHS are flat enough, this can result in perfect contact... and it'll be as good as removing the IHS.

[John Aiton]

I beat you to it



you can see the heatpipe base in this picture

[runawayprisoner]

lol damn yoo!

Anyway, the base is actually... a tad more "moon-like" than that. I guess I might have to do some sanding... temps are quite high at 1.46v...

[John Aiton]

I am running a coolermaster sphere

never trust coolermaster!
I bought a psu with a 17 db rating on the box, I tested it at 60!!!!!!

the sphere is rated at 20 db and weighs in at 55!!

I have to manually set fanspeed to 50% to make it quiet

[runawayprisoner]

Well, I can guarantee you that the Noctua fan isn't like that at least. It pushes out around 60CFM... and you can only hear it when your ear is right next to the blades... literally!

[cottonvibes]

Originally Posted by John Aiton

it's the scythe orochi cooler, it is as big as a head

holy **** bro,

what temps are you getting with that thing?

its as big as your mobo lol.

does that even fit in your case?

[John Aiton]

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

Well, I can guarantee you that the Noctua fan isn't like that at least. It pushes out around 60CFM... and you can only hear it when your ear is right next to the blades... literally!

I have a few akasa amber fans that are truly silent too,

43 cfm iirc or close to it, they make nice case fans

Originally Posted by cottonvibes

holy **** bro,

what temps are you getting with that thing?

its as big as your mobo lol.

does that even fit in your case?

I don't have one, it doesn't fit in cases and would break the motherboard if moved

the temperatures are only slightly lower than an ultra extreme

[runawayprisoner]

By the way, here's a hint for the Orochi: use a bigger fan.

[MrPink]

The HDT technology sounds good, but it looks like there is less surface area. On my Zalman CNPS 9500, the copper on the bottom of the HSF covers my CPU perfectly. The Xigmatek and Kingwin coolers look like they wouldn't entirely cover the CPU...

[cottonvibes]

Originally Posted by John Aiton

I don't have one, it doesn't fit in cases and would break the motherboard if moved

the temperatures are only slightly lower than an ultra extreme

lol
thats one kickass heatsink though.

but with air cooling, you're always limited by your ambient temp,
can't get colder than ambient

[tuanming]

LOL, those 2 cpu coolers look like a ripped-off of this baby! And what the heck? A "moon-like" surface? You need a flat surface (as flat as possible) for superior cooling performance. When it comes to hardwares, especially pc hardware usually the higher the price the better the performance. But you also have to take in consideration of the brand name, review, costumer trusts too This cooler has been crowded King of air cooler many times That is if you want the best of the best. But if you limited to budget then get what you can

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

[runawayprisoner]

Originally Posted by tuanming

LOL, those 2 cpu coolers look like a ripped-off of this baby! And what the heck? A "moon-like" surface? You need a flat surface (as flat as possible) for superior cooling performance. When it comes to hardwares, especially pc hardware usually the higher the price the better the performance. But you also have to take in consideration of the brand name, review, costumer trusts too This cooler has been crowded King of air cooler many times That is if you want the best of the best. But if you limited to budget then get what you can

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme

The "king" has been dethroned a while ago.

Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 | cpu cooler,best cpu cooler,vendetta 2,ocztvend2,ultra-120,RVT-12025,NH-U12P,cpu cooler performance,hdt,heat-pipe direct touch,Best CPU Cooler Performance Comparison Roundup Test - 1st Quarter Q1 2008 | Benchmar

Current HSFs have a lot to offer, it seems. Although TRUE was good, TRUE is no match for some current 92nm HDT HSFs.