A challenger appears!
Sometimes when we use the Hyper 212 Plus in a build we get comments to the effect of, “Why don’t you use Xigmatek’s Gaia? It’s just as good and just as cheap!” Just as cheap? Definitely. Just as good? We’ll see!
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Gaia is a skyscraper-style stack of aluminum cooling fins on top of three direct-contact copper heat pipes. The Gaia is 6.5 inches high by 2.9 inches thick (with the fan) and 4.9 inches wide. At one pound, 4.7 ounces, it’s practically the same weight as the Hyper 212 Evo. Aside from the slightly narrower cooling fins and the fact that it has three heat pipes rather than four, and its 12cm PWM fan is held on by rubber pegs rather than a plastic clip, the Gaia looks a lot like the Evo.
On LGA2011, the Gaia’s install process is pretty easy. Four double-sided thumbscrews screw into the universal backplate, a mounting plate screws onto either side of the heatsink and mounts onto those thumbscrews, and then four nuts secure the mounting bracket. There are no screws or any other way of putting pressure on the heat exchanger other than tightening the mounting nuts as far as possible. The rubber fan mounts pop into slots cut into the sides of the cooling fins, which is great for damping vibrations but not as easy to attach or remove as plastic or wire clips.
We just realized that the Xigmatek Gaia’s cooling fins resemble the letter X.
The Xigmatek Gaia cooled our overclocked i7-3960X to 75.7 C in our burn test, within two degrees Celsius of the Hyper 212 Evo. We still prefer the Evo’s installation procedure, at least for LGA2011, and don’t mind the $5 price premium, but the Gaia is nearly as good as the Hyper 212 Evo, and even less expensive.
| Dimensions HxDxW (inches, with fans) | 6.5x2.9x4.9 |
| Weight | 1 lb, 4.7 oz |
| Heat Pipes | 3 copper direct-contact |
| Stock Fans | 1x 12cm PWM |
| Add’l Fan Support | 1 (rubber mounts included) |
Almost as good as the Evo; even cheaper.
Annoying fan mounts; cooler mount doesn’t apply much pressure
$30, www.xigmatek.com
NZXT’s second air cooler, and they still can’t spell ‘havoc’
NZXT didn't enter the CPU cooling game until quite recently. We reviewed its first cooler, the skyscraper Havik 140, in December 2011. The Havik 140’s dual 14cm fans helped it power to the top of our air-cooling charts, though the slightly cheap-feeling mounting bracket kept it from Kick Ass Award status. NZXT’s second air cooler is the smaller, less expensive Havik 120.
The NZXT Havik 120 isn’t even close to the largest cooler in our roundup.
The Havik 120 stands 6.4 inches tall, 4.5 inches deep, and 5 inches wide with both 12cm fans strapped on—just about a quarter of an inch shallower and narrower than the 140. The Havik weighs more than two pounds, and has four fat heat pipes to the 140’s six. The Havik 120’s mounting mechanism uses the bars-and-crossbeam model from the 140, and installation is easy. The cooler’s two 13-bladed, 12cm fans have 3-pin connectors, and connect to one of two Y-splitters (one with a speed-limiting resistor). The fans attach to the cooling fins with rubber straps, which is not the most convenient mounting mechanism, especially when the motherboard is already mounted in the case.
The Havik 120 performed second-best of the five air coolers we tested, dropping the overclocked i7-3960X to 73.7 C at full burn. Using the included resistor splitter cable increased CPU temperatures by a few degrees but reduced noise to quite low levels.
We like that the Havik 120’s fin stack is high enough so the fans don’t interfere with most RAM DIMMs, and that it performs well without being too loud. It’s neither as quiet nor as effective as the 140, but it’s smaller. At $55, it’s a good midpoint between the $30 coolers in our roundup and those in the $80-100 range.
| Dimensions HxDxW (inches, with fans) | 6.4x4.5x5 |
| Weight | 2 lbs, 1.1 oz |
| Heat Pipes | 4 direct-contact |
| Stock Fans | 2x 12cm 3-pin (w/ splitter / resistor cables) |
| Add’l Fan Support | No |
Good performance; two stock fans; easy install.
Rubber fan attachments can be tricky; fans can get loud at full blast.
$55, www.nzxt.com
Comments are closed on this article
Baer
January 28, 2013 at 6:13pm
So, I spend about a half a grand on a cpu, perhaps twice that on a pair of GPU's a couple hundred on a high end PSU, more on memory Etc and I really care about saving twenty five bucks on a cooler and 250 pennies on thermal paste?
Yes, that should be part of the review but if this is really still MAX PC it should not carry any weight as far as PERFORMANCE ratings go.
I have always had great results from AS-5 but the Tuniq TX-4 pared with the H100 sounds like a good choice for my next build.BTW, a lot of tedious work went into this matrix of tests and this review, thank you!
xXSINS OF WARXx
January 28, 2013 at 1:00pm
I would have loved to see the phanteks ph-tc14pe added to this review.
Still think The Hyper EVO is the best bang for your buck. Spending +$30-50 for 2-4 degrees celcius is not worth it IMO. That price range, liquid cooling should be the only option relevant.
And3rs0nTX
January 27, 2013 at 8:55pm
I'm using a corsair H60 at the moment and I couldn't be happier with it especially since I got it for only $60.
iplayoneasy
January 28, 2013 at 6:22am
I've always been a fan of those. I grabbed the cheesier h40 for $45 on sale once and had an AMD 965 Black @ 4.2GHz for the last 2 years.
iplayoneasy
January 26, 2013 at 11:32am
Considering I got a high watt, high temp FX 8320 clocked at 4.7 GHz, I'd have to say the $30 hyper 212 is the best deal out there. 59C prime95 after 6 hours.
Meat_Juice
January 25, 2013 at 10:58am
These coolers are for pussies. A water loop is the only way to go for a real MaxPC enthusiast.
Penterax
January 25, 2013 at 11:59am
Yah, and I bet your Daddy's name is Piston, and claims to have 7 pecs instead of 2.
nsvander
January 25, 2013 at 9:43am
A year after the socket comes out, you do a review on coolers? I am still using my Thermalrite TruBlack 120 that I had from the 1336 days, bought an adapter and happy as a clam with it.
nedwards
February 01, 2013 at 10:56am
I did this roundup for the print magazine a year ago. I'm not sure why it's being posted now.
cmasupra
January 26, 2013 at 6:49am
New coolers can come out after the platform is released. In fact, many have. It's a valid review.
Penterax
January 25, 2013 at 12:04pm
Socket 2011 is rumored to be good through another CPU release (Ivy Bridge-E), but regardless, it's a popular overclocker platform good for testing coolers.
I would like to see an updated thermal paste test suite that includes my current fav, Phobya HeGrease Extreme.
kiaghi7
January 24, 2013 at 7:48pm
Big though it may be, I still gotta give it to the NH-D14, on hotter ambient it cooled to lower than all but the H100, and even then the difference was negligible at idle and very modest at burn-in.
While its size can be an encumbrance, the nice thing is that the "front" fan that could potentially interfere with RAM can readily be raised up over its level and lends additional air-flow over the RAM.
The caveat obviously though is that it is BIG in every since of the word, so most "mid towers" and smaller need not apply... It's just not intended for tight spaces.
Bullwinkle J Moose
January 24, 2013 at 5:59pm
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is the highest performing cooler for the price AND weight (Only 1 lb, 4.6 oz)
So, what is the highest performing sandy bridge and Ivy bridge chips that can be cooled with this WITHOUT THE FAN?
Just Curious
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