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Intel Reveals Updated Stock Cooler Design for Gulftown CPU

Jason Barry — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:04:09 -0500

More cool things coming out of the Intel Developers Forum. Intel showed off an upgraded stock cooler for its upcoming six-core Nehalem processor, codenamed Gulftown. Generally speaking, stock coolers are barely more than adequate when it comes to noise, cooling power, and overclockability.

However, Intel’s latest cooler takes steps to change some of that. It features an updated tower design, additional fins on the heatsink and four copper heatpipes. Obviously, overclocking enthusiasts will seek out after-market solutions, but this should be a nice change for those looking to save a buck.

Intel’s i9 six-core processor was expected to be released in the fourth quarter of this year, but has since been delayed until early of next year.

Boiling Liquid Microchannels Could Cool PCs and Autos

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:00:20 -0500

Researchers at Purdue University claim to have developed a new kind of cooling technology. Tannaz Harirchia and Suresh Garimella, are using boiling liquid inside microchannels on specially fabricated chips to more efficiently cool components.

Fluids do not behave in the same way in microchannels as they do elsewhere, allowing for increased heat exchange. “Allowing a liquid to boil in cooling systems dramatically increases how much heat can be removed, compared to simply heating a liquid to below its boiling point," the researchers wrote. The device constructed at Purdue is basically a small one inch square heatsink. After liquid has boiled off in the microchannels, a small compressor disperses the heat, returning it to a liquid.

The technology has possible applications in both PC and automotive cooling. PCs are relying on numerous fans, or bulky water block cooling. Similarly, cars use both air and water cooling to remain in working order. Both these areas could see advancement if this microchannel cooling technology takes off.

Zalman's Newest CNPS Cooler Ditches Circular Design

Paul Lilly — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:05:23 -0500

Zalman has attracted more than a few fans of air cooling (pun only slightly intended) with its CNPS line of high-end heatsink/fan combos, and the company's newest entry -- the CNPS 10X Extreme -- trades in its signature circular heatpipe design in favor of a block design.

The new cooler supports a variety of sockets, including Intel's 775, 1366, and upcoming 1156, and AMD's AM3, AM2+, AM2, 754, 939, and 940. The nickel-plated cooler also comes with what Zalman says is the "world's first RPM controllable PWM fan speed controller," which overrides the motherboard's PWM signal for manual fan speed control, or can alter the signal for low, medium, or high. Best of all, Zalman says the PWM mate can be installed on the case's exterior, when far too often that isn't the case.

Five heatpipes run up through the 10X, which checks in at a hefty 920g. Other specs include aluminum fins, copper base, and noise levels between 20 - 30dBA.

No word yet on availability or price, though you can spy a handful of pics here.

Image Credit: Zalman

Cooler Master V8

David Murphy — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:40:00 -0600

Cooler Master’s V8 CPU cooler offsets a somewhat time-consuming installation process with near-record-setting performance for an air cooler. The sleek aluminum cooler’s 12cm fan sits between two heatsinks on the device, sparing fingers from the accidental nip of its 800rpm-to-1,800rpm variable fan.

The V8’s installation process is similar to that of most other CPU coolers, but with a few more screws involved. On an Intel platform, you start by attaching two retention plates to the cooler itself. You then remove the motherboard from your case and flip it upside-down, matching the ends of the cooler’s four retention screws with the mobo’s holes. You balance this contraption in your lap while using four large nuts to secure this beast of a device in place. You can also use an included backplane to mount the device, but we found the nut method to be far easier.

The 16-centimeter-tall V8 emits a slight red glow when you power up your machine. You adjust the speeds of the included fan using a knob that you can secure to your PC using an included PCI bracket. At its lowest setting, the cooler easily outperforms a typical Intel stock cooler and comes within a few degrees of our top air cooler, Thermaltake’s DuOrb. Cranking the V8 to its highest setting makes for a bit more noise than the DuOrb but produces only a meager two-degree increase in cooling performance on both our idle and burn tests.

This performance, nevertheless, places the V8 in the top echelon of coolers we have tested—second place, to be exact. The installation process isn’t a picnic, but we’ve experienced worse. All and all, it’s a great addition to a machine—both aesthetically and thermally.

Thermalright IFX-14

David Murphy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:05:00 -0600

Installing Thermalright’s beefy IFX-14 CPU cooler is incredibly complex. Assembling the troublesome amalgam of parts, pieces, screws, and brackets made us long for the snap-lock mechanism of standard Intel coolers. That said, the IFX-14 delivers massive cooling when it’s up and running. But there’s a caveat: It doesn’t include any fans. Thus, its performance depends on the type of fan you attach to one or two sides of the device. Our benchmarks are based on the use of two generic 12cm fans we pulled from a box in the Lab.

You’ll want to plan out the cooler’s (and your motherboard’s) installation before you actually attach the IFX-14, as it can block a good chunk of your motherboard’s cabling routes and standoff holes.

Even getting two fans to work with the IFX-14 can be troublesome. This cooler’s immense size—two towers of heatsink fins connected to four 0.8cm heat pipes—caused the device to push right against our RAM, making it difficult to attach the fan-mounting clips. The IFX-14 also nudged up against the north bridge on our EVGA 680i motherboard. This forced us to rest a southern cooling fan in the split between the cooler’s heat pipes. It’s hardly an ideal location, as we were unable to secure the fan to either of the cooler’s fins.

The IFX-14’s cooling performance is better than our champion’s, Thermaltake’s DuOrb, by a few degrees in both our idle and burn tests. But the cooler’s usability issues make us long to trade in these degrees for a more painless installation process—or one that doesn’t constrain our case options. For example, if you incorporate the IFX-14’s optional back-side heat-pipe cooler into your installation, you won’t be able to use a top-mounted power supply. There’s simply not enough room. Likewise, we made the mistake of screwing the cooler into place before testing how its size would affect our motherboard installation. The cooler blocked two standoff screws and taxed our ability to connect power supply cables.

Bigger is often better in the world of CPU cooling, but the IFX-14 pushes the limit too far.

Thermaltake Blue Orb II

Josh Norem — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:16:07 -0500

We gave the Golden Orb II a mediocre 7 verdict back in October 2005, but the Blue Orb II is bigger and much, much better. It’s a massive cooler that squats over the CPU socket like a sumo wrestler, taking up every square millimeter of space.

It features a standard copper base plate with aluminum fins that separate into a cool-looking forked pattern. A silent (17dbA) 12cm fan blows down on the fins, cooling the CPU and everything around it. Motherboard removal is only required for LGA775 sockets—poor Intel users.

During testing, the Blue Orb II performed on par with the reigning champ—Zalman’s CNPS 9500 LED. The Orb is also incredibly quiet at all times. Our only gripe is that the cooler stretched out over the neighboring RAM slots, blocking our stick of extra-tall Corsair memory. A standard RAM stick fit just fine, however, as did memory with heat spreaders.

Month Reviewed: July 2006

+ COOLING: Looks sexy, has awesome cooling perfomrance, and is easy to install.

- HEATING: It's so big that it stretches out over the RAM slot, disallowing extra-tall RAM.

VERDICT: 9
kickass=yes

URL: www.thermaltake.com

ThermalTakeTyphoon Mini

Josh Norem — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:37:38 -0500

This cooler’s predecessor is the Big Typhoon—a great cooler, as long as your PC doesn’t have a side door. You see, that cooler is so damn big that it extends almost all the way to the door of most cases, depriving the cooler of a source of fresh air. Thermaltake recognized the issue and thus the Mini Typhoon was born.

The Mini’s “open frame” fan design allows it to suck air into its maw from above, and cool the CPU as well as the components around the CPU socket. In another major improvement, Thermaltake has totally revamped its retention mechanism with this cooler. Rather than using long screws and requiring mobo removal for LGA775, you now just drop the appropriate fastener over the base plate and secure it using the stock bracket (for both AMD and Intel).

Issues we encountered: There’s no way to secure the retention mechanism to the cooler, so it has a tendency to move around when you’re mounting the heatsink. During testing, we thought we secured the retention arm only to look down and see that the whole mechanism was misaligned. We’re also surprised that the arm hits the unit’s fins when you’re locking it into place, so you have to bend it outward, which seems like a design flaw.

Its cooling performance is totally acceptable, but it’s not a huge improvement over the stock cooler. It’s relatively quiet, but does run louder than other high-end coolers we’ve tested. The only time it was “silent” was when we enabled the Q-fan setting on our mobo, which reduces fan speed for quiet operation. With the fan speed lowered, it cooled only as well as the stock cooler, making it more of a lateral move than an upgrade.

Month Reviewed: September 2006

+THAI FOOD: Easy to install, cools decently, and cools entire CPU socket.

- TYPHOON: A smidge noisy, and the retention bar slides around.

VERDICT: 7

URL: www.thermaltake.com

Cooler Master Susurro

Josh Norem — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 12:01:26 -0600

Cooler Master says that the word Susurro means “silent” in Latin. And we believe it, based on this cooler’s sound profile (and the fact that we looked the word up). The Susurro specs list the noise output at 16dbA, and that sounds about right. Unfortunately, while this cooler is quiet and easy to mount, its cooling performance is lacking.

It should be noted right up front that this cooler is intended for AMD processors exclusively, so Intel fanboys should skip this review. The Susurro mounts using the AMD backplate and is compatible with Socket 939, 940, and 754 CPUs. Cooler Master claims the cooler will also work with Socket M2—AMD’s upcoming socket which will replace Socket 939. The M2 socket (rumored to be named Socket F) is supposed to launch in mid-2006, so while it’s nice to know that the Susurro will work with the future socket design, it would seem that any Socket 939 cooler will also be compatible with Socket M2, because this cooler mounts using the basic AMD backplate. If that’s true, this “compatibility” isn’t an especially noteworthy feature.

Installation of the Susurro is simple: Just drop it onto the backplate, secure a tension arm, and you’re done. The cooler uses a massive copper heatsink that weighs 685 grams, which is astonishing given its “low profile” stature. Usually heatsinks this size weigh half as much. The Susurro sports a 9.2cm fan that spins at an inaudible 800rpm at idle. Under load it cranks up to 2800rpm, making a bit more noise, but nothing we could hear over our test system’s case fans.

As the benchmarks show, the Susurro wasn’t as cool as the stock AMD FX-55 reference cooler during our testing. Granted, its temperatures are perfectly acceptable and the unit is certainly quiet, but with performance this close to the stock unit (which is also relatively quiet), it’s difficult to recommend the Susurro .

Month Reviewed: March 2006

Verdict: 8

URL: www.coolmaster.com