Testing powerful coolers. Part one.
Thermaltake Big Typhoon 120 VX vs Noctua NH-U12P. Price niche $50-55
Preface

Today there are many different coolers on the Ukrainian market. Among them there are both expensive and available models, are aimed at different categories of users. Most are purely budget class, but there are also Hi-End class coolers that are expensive. It is also worth noting that very expensive models do not always demonstrate the desired performance, and cheap ones do not always perform poorly. There are many well-known companies on the market, but sometimes there are also small ones that are trying to gain fame and popularity with high-quality and more affordable models.
I would probably include Thermaltake in the first category, which produces a lot of accessories for modding, power supplies, cases and, of course, coolers. Perhaps the most famous cooler of this company is the legendary Typhoon, which helped overclock older processors for 939 and 775 sockets for Pentiums. A lot of time has passed, but many users do not change, and some even buy it. In this review, I picked up a competitor to Typhoon from the Noctua camp, the NH-U12P cooler. The company has been selling its products in Western Europe for a long time, but is practically not widespread here in Ukraine.
Perhaps today there is a situation where you can buy good processor for the appropriate money... and then significantly, let’s say, speed it up. For this we have to thank modern technologies, and in particular Intel, which released a very successful architecture. For more or less reasonable prices, we must thank AMD, which is trying to survive in this market segment. Well, these companies, in turn, should thank us for buying their processors.

Test platform and testing conditions.

So, let's finish the introduction, let's move on to practice. For testing I used next system:
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600(G0)
Motherboard ASUS P5K Premium/WiFi-AP
CoolersThermaltake Big Typhoon 120 VX,
Noctua NH-U12P
RAM GOODRAM 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz x2(4GB)
Video cardgigabyte X800gto 256mb+ Zalman VF700-Cu
Hard driveSeagate ST3750330AS 750gb
Power supply Thermaltake ToughPower 750W
Drive ASUS DRW-1814
Case Cooler Master Elite 331 (1x12 cm blow-in)
UPSAPC Back-UPS CS 500
Operating systemWindows Vista 64bit sp1

The day before I made pre-setting systems and stability test. I must admit, I was unable to overclock the processor to frequency 3.6. More precisely, it was possible, but the system worked in OSST for about an hour, and then I observed the “screen of death.” And this happened several times. Perhaps the reason was due to overheating of the northbridge, although this is not known for sure. But I set myself the task of pushing the maximum while maintaining FULL stability, and when the system worked stably for 6 hours, I considered the overclocking successful.

So, with FSB 400, the multiplier was 8, the final frequency was 3.2. Memory divider 1:1, effective frequency – 800 MHz. BIOS settings:
CPU voltage 1.4
CPU PLL voltage 1.6
FSB termination voltage 1.3
DRAM voltage 1.8
NB voltage 1.4
SB voltage 1.05
Load Line Calibration(VDroop) Enabled
CPU GTL Voltage Reference 0.63x
All other settings are set to AUTO. Fan control is disabled except for a few tests.

core voltage

Well, now let's move on to the experimental ones:
P.S. I won’t dwell on cardboard and plastic boxes, but I will note that the Taufun’s packaging looks more solid in appearance; read about the packaging below:

The holiday season has arrived a long time ago. And many could already taste all the charm of summer weather. The bright rays of the sun surround us everywhere these days. The temperature in the shade sometimes reaches thirty degrees. But how does the “iron worker” - the computer - feel under such conditions? Frankly, it’s difficult for him in such conditions. But no one asks him, and he just as obediently continues his daily work. But at such moments it is mainly the processor that experiences the greatest hardships...

Instead of the cool air that its cooler should receive from outside the case in order to cool the “flaming heart,” it receives hot air currents, whose presence once again stimulates a further increase in temperature. And what to do in such cases? For most enthusiasts in the vast expanses of our homeland, this has long ceased to be a problem. There is now a wide variety of options available on the market. various systems cooling. And if with the choice of water systems there are minor problems in terms of availability and price, then there are no problems with air systems. We can meet representatives of a huge number of different manufacturers such as: Zalman, Thermaltake, Coolermaster, Scythe, Glacial Tech, Arctic cooling, Ice Hammer. Each of them provides the buyer with a choice of cooling system, based on his financial wealth, need for specific efficiency, etc. When choosing a cooler, an uninitiated person may have a lot of questions about what to prefer. But a person knowledgeable in this area can also get stuck. Because the choice and variety is too great. Various manufacturers sometimes offer coolers that are very similar in appearance. Their designs and method of heat removal are often similar. In such a situation, the buyer has a question about the advisability of purchasing one or another cooling system. In such cases, he turns to the media to clarify the situation in this matter. Fortunately, today on the Internet there are a lot of different tests of most coolers. We are such an authority. Today I will try to answer some questions that a person may have when faced with the question of buying a CPU cooler.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Today our guest is a representative famous company Thermaltake, Big Typhoon. Let's meet!

It comes to us in a bright, beautiful package, without opening which you can already see the exterior of the cooler, or rather its fan. Only when you pick up this box do you feel the weight and dimensions of this cooling system. It’s worth saying that we don’t recognize anything from the front of the package other than the name. This also applies to the side. But from behind, the manufacturer gives us some information. Including a barcode and, more interestingly, information about the possibility of installing various fans, but more on that later. But, perhaps, at this point I should stop looking at the packaging, and I need to start removing the cooler from its “cocoon”.

And now, finally, he appears before us. Its dimensions are really large. This impression is created primarily due to the resonance of the sizes of the lower and upper parts. In the lower part we have only the base, and in the upper part there is a large 120mm fan, which has a pleasant, characteristic Thermaltake, orange color, covered with a metal casing with the emblem, respectively, of the same manufacturer. “TT” is how the name “Thermaltake” is usually abbreviated. For me, this is an unnecessary mention of heat pipes. Speaking about this corporation, it is worth mentioning that they install very quiet fans on these coolers. Moreover, the manufacturer himself reminds us that it is possible to install two more types of fans. One of them is very similar to the one we already have, but differs in the presence of a speed controller, whose presence, frankly speaking, is not clear to me. A similar thing would have been useful in the days of Volcano, also produced by Thermaltake. But here we have a “low-speed” low-speed fan. However, he doesn’t really need such a regulator. Although it is worth saying that this manufacturer has always loved to please the buyer with various trinkets. We can recall a similar phenomenon in the buildings of their production. Returning to our configuration, we do not have a speed controller. But I must admit, I'm not very upset. Since it is always possible to connect a cooler to 5V. Speaking about the second version of a possible fan, its difference lies in the presence of LEDs. Which will help decorate your case with blue lighting. With this, let's move on from the description of the fan to a look at the design of the cooler, fortunately we have something to look at. The power cord, which is a fairly standard 3-pin, is, to my surprise, covered in a beautiful white aesthetic material. Frankly, you don’t see this very often. But this once again emphasizes the magnificent appearance of the cooler. But this cord also has a serious disadvantage. This is its length. It's very small. Therefore, you will not be able to install the cooler in any way, otherwise the power cord will not allow you to do so, which will not reach the connector on the motherboard. Still, this is not a very pleasant moment.

And once again we can estimate the dimensions of this giant. It is worth saying that it has six copper heat pipes (here they are!), soldered to the base, and passing through a radiator consisting of thin aluminum fins of relatively small thickness. The ribs are located quite tightly to each other. The distance between them is very small. It’s hard to say how this will affect how air flows through these cracks. But I hope the wizards from Thermaltake did not miss this moment. But what can be said for sure is that the distance between the ribs will become clogged with dust, and cleaning it out will be quite problematic. So, if you decide to use this cooler in your case, do not forget to take care that there are no dust balls lying around in your case. This may not have the best effect on the effectiveness of the Big Typhoon in the future.

Now let's look at the base. And here Thermaltake clearly didn’t try. We can see very poor quality of base processing. The marks of the cutter are clearly visible to the eye. However, most coolers from this manufacturer have a similar omission. Isn’t the problem that there are too many orders, and that the gentlemen from Thermaltake do not have time to process the base? It is worth noting that such a defect can greatly affect the efficiency of the cooler. Now let's move on to the configuration that comes with the Big Typhoon. That's it, we can see this content in a black box lying at the bottom of the package. After extracting its components, we can see:

First of all, installation instructions. With this, I must admit, the manufacturer pleased me. We have instructions illustrated with color photographs with printed comments. You won’t find this even at Zalman. Whose illustrations are still black and white and are pictures rather than photographs. Thermaltake's approach is good news. And when evaluating a cooler, such moments can play an important role. Because correct installation- this is exactly what most experts from various sites have problems with. Because of this, we may encounter serious discrepancies in the results. We could observe a similar situation in the case of the Zalman 9500. In the case, however, there was some defect in the base, namely a small bulge in the center. But it was also often possible to see problems associated with insufficient pressure on the cooler, which inevitably led to poor performance. Returning to our cooler, it’s worth saying that we also have three bags in the package. In one of them we have fasteners, screws, nuts, etc. In the other two you can see Back-Plate for various sockets, as well as mounting frames. What else the manufacturer can please us with is thermal paste. However, today every manufacturer equips its cooler with a similar thermal interface.

Before installing the cooler on the motherboard, the Typhoon was tested by lightly polishing the base using GOI paste and woolen cloth. A similar operation was carried out with all air cooling systems tested today. This is necessary, first of all, in order to eliminate all factory defects in processing the base and, during testing, identify exactly the most effective design, without regard to roughness on the lower part of the coolers.

Now let's move on to installing Big Typhoon on the motherboard. In this case, on Socket 939. Speaking about other sockets, it’s worth saying that everything seems to be sufficient. In all cases, we use a standard Back-Plate from Thermaltake, which we secure to the back of the motherboard with long screws, onto which we put red spacers on the other side and screw on yellow aluminum washers.

Next we use the same Back-Plate, only this time we place it on the base of the cooler. Depending on the socket, the number of screws used varies. For Socket A,478,775 it is four; for Socket 754/939 we need two screws, as can be seen in the photo.

Next, from the top, we secure the screws with small nuts, which, frankly, is like death. This is a fairly long procedure if you do it carefully and achieve good rigidity. I personally used a small wrench for this and carefully tightened the nuts with it. In general, the installation for Socket A,478,775 is the same, the only difference is that for Socket 775 we use a different mounting frame. There are two installation options for mounting on Socket A,478,775. One is called Alternative, and I have already described it. It is identical for all sockets. The second one is called Standard. In theory, this method is very simple. We use the standard Back-Plate that comes with motherboard, and then we screw the mounting frame from Big Typhoon to it. But it turned out to be beyond my power. The screws were not long enough. No matter how much effort I put in, it didn’t lead to anything other than scratching the base. Having tightened one of the screws, it was not possible to deal with the second. Because of my efforts, the metal mounting frame began to bend, and I decided to stop attempting such an installation. Unfortunately, I could not find suitable screws for installing the cooler. I decided to use a method called Alternative, but instead of using nuts, I decided to tighten it with the yellow washers that we use to secure the Back-Plate. The result was something like the one shown in the photo above.

It’s worth saying that due to the fact that the fan on the cooler is placed on the top part, this immediately eliminates all sorts of problems with the required rotation. Since all the air is taken from the top, and not from the sides, as is the case with most heat pipe coolers.

Next, the motherboard was placed in the case accordingly. It is worth saying that with this installation method it is possible to remove or install the cooler without removing the motherboard from the case. Although this is still not so convenient, since sticking your hands between the wires sometimes results in a not so correct installation, or rather uneven pressure, due to different tightening of the washers.

The cooler looks amazing in the case. It is worth noting that there are no problems with contact with wires or heatsinks of the north bridge. The typhoon positioned itself in the hull very successfully. There is about 1.5 cm left to the video card, which is quite enough. Although, problems are possible if your card has large memory heatsinks on the back. But in most cases they will still be located slightly lower than the cooler fan. And in the area where the heat pipes and the radiator are located there should be no contact. At the base, the Typhoon also does not touch any batteries on the motherboard. And it is worth noting the important fact that today, among the coolers tested, it was the Typhoon that had no problems with tightening the screw securing the motherboard in the central part, not far from the processor.

In the photo above we can more clearly see that Thermaltake’s brainchild is located quite close to the video card.

Even though the system used an IDE HDD, there were no problems with the cables. There is no contact either with them or with the wires from the Molex going to the motherboard. In our case, the cooling on the north bridge is located under the video card, which definitely guarantees that there will be no problems when installing a large cooler on the processor. But I can tell you with confidence that there will be no problems on other motherboards with a standard radiator location on the north bridge.

After running some tests and removing the cooler from its rightful place, the thermal paste on the processors was the same as you see in the photo above. Well, the pressure is more or less uniform, but there is a deviation on the left side. There is a thermal interface squeezed out from the rest of the part. After this, I decided to re-test, but when installing, carefully monitor the tightening of the washers and ensure sufficient clamping force. Still, the situation is complicated by the fact that in the case of Socket 939 we have only two mounting holes on the motherboard for screws. In this case, you need to be as careful and correct as possible when installing. Next, the cooler went through a full cycle of tests. The results we will see later.

After this, I decided to remove the standard fan. And the cooler appeared before me with only a bare radiator.

Next, a fan from Titan was installed on the cooler. It was with him that Scythe Ninja was tested. The fan at maximum speed is quite noisy, but at the same time it develops a decent level of speed, namely about 2200RPM. Compared to the standard one, whose speed according to the stated characteristics is 1300RPM, during testing I recorded a value of about 1400RPM. It is worth saying that in this version the cooler operates very quietly. For me, this mode can be considered almost silent. The noise level is much lower than that of standard case 80s. When connecting a 5V fan, the cooler went from almost silent to completely silent. And for this, Thermaltake thanks a lot. However, it is worth saying that despite the statements of both the company itself and the owners of this cooler, the Typhoon does not at all have such an advantage as blowing the elements of the motherboard. At 5V, it’s quite difficult to feel the air flow even with your hand placed close under the cooler’s radiator, let alone the motherboard, which is located ten centimeters lower. Although not everything is so sad, at maximum speed, the cooler still creates a certain air flow that can, to some extent, reach the elements motherboard. But, sorry, I wouldn’t call it blowing. However, it is worth noting that after installing the fan from Titan, the airflow actually began to occur, and at that it was very serious. The temperature of the batteries on the motherboard then dropped noticeably, by about 7 degrees. Although the temperature on the processor did not change much. It is worth noting a very serious drop in cooler efficiency after switching from 12V to 5V. At the same time, the airflow becomes too weak, and in this mode I would not recommend using it on an overclocked processor. Regarding the description of Thermaltake Big Typhoon, that’s all. One has only to say that its retail price is about $35-38.

Now let's move on to his direct rivals.

Cooler Master Hyper 6+

Let's start with his first opponent. He is a representative of the large company Cooler Master.

Let's move on to examining it. It comes to us complete with a 100 mm fan, which pales a little compared to the 120 from Thermaltake. Since for adequate radiator ventilation, these coolers require a large air flow, which can only be created by a large fan. In our case, it is slightly less than one might expect. In this case, you should expect a fairly high noise level. The manufacturer claims fan speeds from 1800 to 3600! Moreover, in the latter case, we can only get such speeds if there is PWM on the motherboard. Our current DFI nForce 4 Ultra LP motherboard, unfortunately, does not have these, so the tests were carried out at relatively minimal speeds of 1800RPM. It is worth saying that the model with the “+” index differs quite significantly from the Hyper 6 model. First of all, the material of the ribs. In this case it is aluminum instead of copper. But the dimensions have also changed. “Hyper” has become noticeably larger. The fan has also increased in size. Now, as I already said, it is 100mm, instead of 80m, like the “without plus” model. The weight also changed. This time it is 795, while the previous modification weighed about a kilogram! Speaking about the design of Hyper 6+, it is worth saying that it represents a fairly standard design for most heatpipe coolers. These are six heat pipes made of copper, on which aluminum fins are in turn strung. The ends of the tubes are soldered to the copper base. The cooler fins are covered with metal sides.

The cooler also comes with a metal casing, which is screwed together with the supplied fan.

On the top of the cooler we can see that this cooling system belongs to the Cooler Master company. Also, the ends of the exiting heat pipes appear before our eyes.

The base of the Hyper 6+, like all tested coolers today, was treated with GOI paste. But it’s worth saying that the original Hyper 6+ comes with a very good quality base. There are no traces of the cutter, no roughness. There is also a slight specular reflection. In this case, we have a polar situation in comparison with the cooler from Thermaltake. At this point, Cooler Master tried their best. The quality is comparable to the performance from Zalman.

Next we will proceed with the installation. It is worth saying that it is the same for all sockets, as is the case with Big Typhoon. It involves installing the mounting frame you need on the cooler, depending on which Socket the installation will be made on. Next, screw the screws that come with the kit into it and secure it at the back with large nuts. Unfortunately, the Back-Plate had to be abandoned due to a problem with the length of the screws. And here we encounter the same shortcomings that we could see in Thermaltake. So it was decided to install Hyper 6+ in the same way as Big Typhoon. Back-Plate from Thermaltake used:

But this time the screws were not secured with washers, but the cooler was immediately placed on them, since otherwise the mounting frame would rest against the washers. So after installation it looked like this:

There was also a problem with the cooler power connector. The capacitor standing nearby did not allow inserting the power cord, which, unlike the Typhoon, is longer and has a 4-pin connection. So I had to use a nearby case fan connector.

After installing the cooler on the motherboard, we see that one of the holes intended for mounting the motherboard is quite complicated. To tighten the screw you will have to seriously try. However, the previous cooler had no problems with this.

The Hyper 6+ case is very spacious. There is serious room between it and the video card:

But the Molex cords are already resting against the casing of our cooler:

When installed, the Hyper 6+ was positioned so that air was blown back onto the case fan on the back of the case.

When we turn on the system, we see a pleasant backlight near the fan of our cooler. We can find something similar, for example, on the Zalman 9500.

After removing the cooler, I discovered serious contact issues between the Hyper 6+ base and the processor. This conclusion can be made based on the fact that the bulk of the thermal paste remained on the heat distribution cover of the processor. Several times I had to remove the cooler. Used by me various methods fastenings, but this did not lead to positive changes. It is worth saying that the cooler itself was held quite tightly on the motherboard. It was not clear to me what caused the poor pressure. I can assume that the problem is a defective mounting frame, or perhaps something else. But one thing is clear: there are problems with the fastening. This was also indicated by the fact that during the tests the cooler almost did not heat up. The upper part was completely cold! And this is in situations where the processor operated at temperatures of about 70 degrees! Speaking about the noise emitted by the cooler, it is worth saying that there are no problems with this. At 1800RPM it is fairly quiet, although louder than the Big Typhoon at 1300RPM. Unfortunately, the lack of PWM on our motherboard did not give us the opportunity to test the cooler at maximum speed. Which, as I said before, is 3600RPM. At the same time, the Hyper 6+ produces an incredible level of noise. According to Cooler Master about 46.4 dBA! In general, the cooler is made of quite high quality, and if there were unknown problems with the pressure, it could have shown more serious results than what I received. The retail price of Cooler Master hyper 6+ fluctuates around $45-50, and in general it is a rather rare guest on our market. With that, let's move on to the next rival of the TT Big Typhoon, but already produced in Japan.

Scythe Ninja

It has already been on our resource, but I will still go over its characteristics again and touch on some points that were not considered before.

Let me start with the fact that this cooler is made in Japan, which is somewhat of a rarity these days due to the fact that it is mostly made in Korea, China and Taiwan. First of all, such a pedigree inspires some confidence among most users. We'll find out whether the cooler justifies it.

Ninja has very large dimensions compared to the cooler we just reviewed. The dimensions are 110x110x150, which cannot but evoke a feeling of respect for such a structure. Although in general the structure itself is quite standard for heatpipe coolers. Since we can once again observe 6 heat pipes on which aluminum plates are strung, and a copper base is also characteristic. But what perhaps stands out from the analogues of this cooler is the length of the tubes. From the outside it may seem that there are 12 of them, in fact, as I already said, there are 6 of them, but they are very long, and, forming a semi-oval, pass through the base and place their ends on the upper part.

The ends of the tubes have aluminum tips. And in the center of all the plates there is a large round hole.

The base area is quite large, like that of Big Typhoon, but it is still rectangular in shape rather than square. After using this cooler for some time, I have some marks on the base, indicating a rather rough installation, which is quite true, since I did have to use force during installation. In the initial delivery, the base of the cooler has a very good quality processing and initially has a mirror reflection, which is good news.

First of all, the cooler is a passive cooling system. But we have the opportunity to install a fan with a diameter of 120mm on it. By the way, it’s worth mentioning that Scythe has a solution with a fan already installed. It is referred to as Scythe Ninja Plus, whose retail price is slightly higher regular version and is about $45. The price of the passive version is about $40. The fan is installed using the wires provided for this purpose. Also, we have the opportunity to install a second fan. But to do this, you yourself need to come up with what you will use to fasten it. Ordinary copper wire is quite suitable for this role; if bent appropriately, it would allow the fan to be secured. And theoretically, the cooler allows the installation of as many as 4 fans!

But we will be content with one thing, since in this case there are no problems with efficiency. For the tests we again used a fan from Titan, allowing us to develop 2200RPM.

It's time to start installation. First, I will describe how the cooler is installed on various sockets. Firstly, there is no support for Socket A at all, most likely due to the manufacturer’s fear that such a large cooler can, with appropriate pressure, chip the chip of fragile Athlon XP processors. In general, their warnings are not in vain, because the cooler weighs 665g. Although in the case of Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and Thermaltake Big Typhoon, even with much greater weight (the difference is more than 100g), the manufacturer still endowed these coolers with support for Socket A. Although in the case of Scythe Ninja there are some specific points. But more on that later. Let's start with the fact that the easiest installation is on Socket 478; in this case, a standard mounting frame is used, to which the cooler clings. In the case of Socket 775, the situation is a little more complicated. We will have to install the Back-Plate from the back of the motherboard, screw the corresponding fasteners to it from the front and hook the Ninja to them. When installing on Socket 754/939, we will need to use a standard Back-Plate, to which a mounting frame will be screwed on the front side, identical to the one we can find on Socket 478:

Unlike last time (in the previous article on Socket 775), the installation was quite easy. The latches fit easily into the corresponding holes. Remembering the previous installation, it is worth mentioning one important fact. Namely, after using the cooler for a long time (about a month), after my attempt to remove the cooler from its place, problems arose. To be precise, there were problems with the Back-Plate, the sticky part of which did not want to separate from the motherboard. With all my attempts to remove the Back-Plate, I was not successful. The metal plate with a sticky base did not want to come off. More precisely, it was possible to separate the metal part, but unfortunately, what was located under it was not. So before I started testing today, I didn't have a Back-Plate for the Ninja. But fortunately, it is not needed for installation on Socket 939, since a standard Back-Plate is used. I advised buyers to pay attention to this. If, for example, something happens to your motherboard, you will no longer be able to use the warranty department. It is worth noting that such sticking occurs precisely with long-term use (more than a month), and at the same time your processor must be hot enough (in my case it was the most flaming option in the form of an overclocked SmithField) in order to constantly seriously heat up the motherboard’s near-socket pad board, which will encourage more and more adhesion of the Back-Plate.

Let's return to Socket 939. Having installed the cooler on the motherboard, we see that it takes up most of it!

It is worth noting that the wires used to install the fan rest against the latches and interfere with the installation of the cooler.

It is worth saying that Ninja holds himself very tightly. This type of mount provides excellent clamping. The Japanese have been very successful in this approach.

The Ninja takes up quite a lot of space in the case. Although, for example, there remains a fairly large distance to the video card. The cooler is not in contact with any element of the motherboard. And even with previous testing on the mother Asus board P5WD2, near the socket of which there is a large radiator on the north bridge, had no problems.

A fairly short distance remains to the Molex cables and cords. When using a fan, they can even get into its blades. So it is possible to install a metal casing on the fan. The main problems arose with the wire coming from hard drive to the motherboard.

Scythe Ninja was tested in three versions: passive, with a fan connected to 5V and 12V. After testing, the thermal paste impression on the processor was as shown in the photo above. It is worth saying that, as expected, there are no problems with the clamp. As with its strength, so with its uniformity.

When operating, the Titan fan is quite noisy at maximum speed, although at 5V there are no problems with noise.

AMD box cooler

The last tested rival to the TT Big Typhoon was the standard BOX from AMD.

An all-aluminum radiator with thick fins and a small, rather noisy fan. All this is typical for standard cooling. Although, it is worth saying that AMD still makes BOXes quite well and efficiently, unlike Intel, which, even after SmithField appeared on the market, continued to package them with the same ineffective, noisy coolers. Fan speed ranges from 1200 to 3600RPM.

The base, made entirely of aluminum, as is the case with all already described coolers, was also manually polished using GOI paste to mirror reflection. It is worth saying that initially the quality of the base was quite good.

Before this testing, this cooler had already been used for quite a long time on today's system, so the thermal paste impression looks like it can be seen in the photo above.

Today BOX made me extremely happy. Its simplicity and relatively normal noise level allow me to speak only positively about it. And now, after lengthy rhetoric, it’s time to start the main thing, namely testing. But first, let's take a look at the summary table of characteristics of the tested coolers, with the exception of BOX:

Characteristics of tested coolers

Test stand and testing methodology

It is worth saying that on the day of testing the room temperature was about 32 degrees! Outside the window one could observe approximately the same values. It is this value that the results of coolers in a calm state will rest on. Before I begin describing the equipment used and testing methodology, I will briefly describe the questions that the work will have to answer:

• Is Thermaltake Big Typhoon a smart buy?
• KPT-8, is there any equal to it?
• Cheap cases and heat pipe coolers, does it make sense?
• Does the Athlon Venice need a high-performance cooler?

These are the questions I will try to answer. However, not only on them.

Test stand:

• Athlon 64 Venice E6 3000+ (200*9) MHz
• DFI NF4 UT LP (nForce 4 Ultra)
• 2*512Mb Kingston KVR
• Sapphire X800GTO@X800XL
• Samsung 80Gb 7200RPM (IDE)
• Thermaltake ToughPower 550W
• Inwin S508

A cheap solution from Inwin was deliberately used as the housing. I was interested in establishing the actual rationality of using “super coolers” in such conditions.

During testing, the case used 80mm Thermaltake fans with speeds up to 3000RPM. One of them was located on the front of the housing at the bottom and worked for injection. The second was located on the rear panel of the case and worked as a blower. The third was installed on the housing door and worked for injection. Testing was carried out in two versions: with the side fan turned on and without.

Coolers tested (in order of testing):

• AMD BOX Cooler
• Cooler Master Hyper 6+
• Scythe Ninja
• Thermaltake Big Typhoon

As you can see, the “main highlight of the program” was tested last.

The processor was tested in two versions: at nominal frequencies and voltage (1800MHz, 1.4V) and with overclocking and increased voltage (2600MHz, 1.68V). In the overclocked case, I deliberately took very high level voltage to create the maximum load for the air cooling systems tested today.

In all cases, KPT-8 thermal paste was used as a thermal interface, which has long earned the trust of many RuNet enthusiasts.

The processor was warmed up using two methods. In the first case using BurnK7:

And in the second case, using S&M, the processor load is 100%.

Let's finally move on to the testing results.

Test results

And here are the long-awaited test results. In such an easy mode, even in such heat, no surprises happened. All coolers are approximately at the same level. The only outsiders include Box, operating in 5V mode, and Scythe Ninja, which was deprived of its fan and was a passive option. It is also worth saying that “TT BT 12V*” means TT Big Typhoon, on which a Titan fan is installed. It is worth saying that the temperature in the Idle was completely dependent on the temperature of the room, and therefore it could not have been less than 32 degrees.

So far we can state clear parity between the cooler from Thermaltake and Ninja when using the same fan.

But in the toughest possible mode, clear leaders emerge. Most coolers at such a voltage on the processor were not able to work correctly at all, losing the temperature of the stone by 70 degrees. This applies to both the boxed cooler and the passive version of the Ninja. However, even when using a 5V fan, the Japanese cooler also could not pass the S&M test. The Big Typhoon suffered a similar problem, but only at minimum speed. Since at maximum, he had no problems at all. This cooler demonstrated an excellent level of performance, slightly surpassing the Scythe Ninja.

Next, I turned on the fan on the case door. Such manipulation allowed the cooler from Thermaltake to improve its results a little more, while the Ninja did not improve at all. Well, we can confidently say that Big Typhoon was very successful in cooling the processor even in such difficult conditions, but what can be said about cooling the elements of the motherboard?

In general, the results of the coolers are at a similar level, regardless of whether a fan was used on the side door of the case or not, but there are two clear leaders, these are again the TT Big Typhoon and the Scythe Ninja. But it is worth noting that when using a standard fan, the Typhoon shows very modest results, inferior even to the BOX fan, this is primarily due to the rather weak air flow. Still, at 1400RPM the airflow is too low to adequately cool the motherboard. But what’s most interesting is that when using a 5V TT fan, we observe the most modest results. Only in this case the temperature of the motherboard went beyond 60 degrees! So, in the standard configuration, Typhoon, as a means of blowing the motherboard, is still quite weak, although if a more powerful fan is used in this component, it can become a leader.

Well, we looked at the performance of the coolers tested today. Now it's time to answer some questions. First, let's take a look at how Thermaltake Big Typhoon allowed us to overclock our processor:

As we can see, the acceleration is very weak. It also affected, of course, that the processor initially had enough high voltage-1.4V, not 1.3. So, after a voltage of 1.55V, the processor almost does not react to its increase. But what’s most important is that such overclocking worked on all cooling systems without exception, including Box. So here we can state the fact that standard cooling is also suitable for overclocking the Athlon Venice. Of course, if you have a hotter processor, then using a heatpipe cooler is almost necessary. But cold Venice doesn't need this. At moderate voltage, even BOX can handle overclocking this processor.

As we can see, even in such heat and with a not very high overclocking voltage, Big Typhoon keeps the processor within 50 degrees. For this we can give him a solid A! Efficiency at its best.

Next, I tested the thermal pastes that came with some of the coolers, and compared their effectiveness with KPT-8. As you can see, the “folk thermal paste” has once again justified itself, showing excellent results, which once again proves the rationality of carrying out all tests using this thermal interface.

conclusions

Now it's time to move on to conclusions. I hope that based on the results of today's testing, we can confidently say that Thermaltake Big Typhoon is the best that can be found on the market today for free sale. At its low price, this cooler shows the highest level of efficiency, surpassing the more expensive model from Scythe in the form of Ninja in this component. Of course, the product from TT also has its shortcomings and there are quite a lot of them. Firstly, the length of the screws included in the kit is insufficient, which does not allow the cooler to be installed safely. Further, a serious drawback is the very weak efficiency when using low speeds, but with the caveat that their use itself is quite irrational, due to the fact that even at 12V the cooler operates almost silently, but at the same time demonstrates much more serious performance. As for replacing the fan, in this case such an operation makes sense only if you need serious airflow of the motherboard elements; otherwise, installing a noisier, but also more efficient fan to cool the processor will not do anything new.

Speaking about the effectiveness of KPT-8 thermal paste, it is worth saying that there was no surprise. She proved once again that she has no equal yet, beating her rivals with a serious head start.

Further, today's testing clearly showed that using heat pipe coolers in cheap cases makes sense. And what is most surprising is that turning on the fan on the side door of the case had almost no effect on the results of the tested coolers.

Speaking about the rationality of using highly efficient coolers on the Athlon Venice, it is worth saying that from my point of view, this is quite unreasonable, due to the lack of influence of the cooler efficiency on the overclocking potential of the processor. In this case, the Box version is quite enough.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon- an excellent cooler with an amazing level of efficiency and at a very low price. But despite this, there are shortcomings in terms of execution (quality of base processing) and configuration (insufficient length of mounting screws). I would be happy to recommend this cooling system to most users as one of the best coolers on the market. this moment.

Scythe Ninja- excellent level of performance. The ability to install several fans, which allows us to call this solution the most effective, but still quite extreme in terms of noise. The recent drop in price due to the release of Ninja Plus once again raises interest in the Japanese product. This cooler can also be recommended to lovers of silence. Even in passive mode, the ninja easily copes with not very hot processors, even with a slight overclock.

Cooler master Hyper 6+- relative rarity, inflated price, inability to use the cooler at maximum speed on most motherboards, these are all things that do not allow us to speak positively about this cooler. Unfortunately, the strange problems with the base clamping were never resolved. This product can be called quite raw. This can be seen both in not the most rational decisions in terms of installing a cooler, and in the terrible noise at maximum speed. But it is worth noting that, along with Hyper 6, this solution is one of the first based on heat pipes to become popular, and for this alone it should be given credit. Today, this cooler has no competition.

Box— I was pleased with the standard cooling. It has a decent level of efficiency and does not produce annoying noise. This cooler copes well with its duties of cooling the processor, both in normal mode and during overclocking.

Today we are going to get acquainted with two new solutions in the field of cooling systems from Thermaltake and Xigmatek. The first company does not need any special introduction; our readers probably know about it. Xigmatek is a newcomer to the cooler market. Founded in 2005. Since then, this manufacturer has released a lot of interesting products aimed at cooling processors, video cards, hard drives. The range of power supplies is expanding every day. In short, the company is growing and gradually gaining a place in the market. Perhaps we will soon see their products on the shelves of Russian stores. For now, let's look at the new products.

The first is Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP, which is the reincarnation of a product that has become incredibly popular in our country. The secret of success was versatility, excellent efficiency and low price. Add to this good accessibility and you get the best choice for an overclocker. Of course, then acquiring this solution became more difficult. The excitement was felt, and Thermaltake itself began to promote new products.

As time passed, the cooler could well have been discontinued. Only now the company decided not only not to curtail the release of such a successful product, but also to begin producing its updated version. In today's material we will find out how effective the new product will be both in comparison with its competitors and with the standard version.

The second new product is Xigmatek Achilles. At the moment, this is the top model in the Xigmatek product hierarchy. Enough for a long time The primacy in efficiency was held by the S1283 series coolers and solutions based on them. Of which, by the way, there were several. After all, it’s no secret that there are many people who pay special attention to the appearance of the product. It was for them that the manufacturer released a modification of the S1283 with an updated appearance: it covered the heat pipes with nickel, installed a quieter backlit fan and called it “red scorpion”. New model with the name Achilles not only inherited the same modding appearance, which will certainly please aesthetes, but also received a number of changes in the area of ​​functionality, which should significantly affect efficiency.

As a result, we essentially have two updated versions of familiar coolers. Which manufacturer's new products turned out to be more successful? We will try to figure this out. For now, let's move on to our first guest - Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP

The cooler's packaging surprises with its dimensions. Thermaltake never skimps on this aspect. Thanks to the large area of ​​the box, the manufacturer was able to apply a mass of different materials to the surface. useful information- characteristics, photographs, etc. In our opinion, the presence of such data is never superfluous.

The cooler itself is placed in a plastic cocoon - a point that makes the transportation process safer for the product.

The white box contains the cooler kit - fasteners for various platforms, installation instructions, thermal paste and a branded sticker. Overall, a standard set.

The design of Big Typhoon has not changed. We have the standard VX model. It seems to us that the company could well make adjustments, especially since there is clearly something to work on.

The radiator is cooled by a 120 mm fan, an important feature of which is the presence of a speed controller. The maximum impeller rotation speed is limited to 2000 rpm - this is a rather serious indicator. Not everyone will be comfortable using such a noisy cooler. So reducing the speed is the first thing we would advise you to do.

The only pity is that you can only use the speed controller by removing the housing cover. Otherwise, it is impossible to access it. However, it's not so scary. After all, you are not going to constantly change the fan speed. It will be enough to fix the speed once, for example, at 1300 rpm - this is a quiet mode, but it does not greatly affect efficiency.

And now - about what could be changed in the "typhoon", but what remains in a form similar to the VX version.

The plates are too close to each other. This leads to poor ventilation. In a poorly ventilated case, Big Typhoon can simply “suffocate”.

Secondly, a radiator should be installed in the base, which will partially relieve the load on the heat pipes. Scythe has been using this approach for quite some time. As you know, their products do not suffer from low efficiency. In addition, the quality of the base processing was disappointing. It seems that the company alternates models with good processing and with bad ones. For quite a long time, the soles of Thermaltake coolers could scare the faint of heart; a little later, the Thermaltake V1 and MaxOrb cooling systems appeared. They no longer had such a problem. Why do we again see rough and untreated soles?

The third change could be the shortening of the heat pipes, which, in theory, could speed up the process of transferring heat from the base to the heatsink. In a word, there are enough options for improvement. Only now the company decided to leave everything as it is.

The only innovation is the inclusion of an additional fan in the design, which also operates in the range from 1300 to 2000 rpm.

It differs from the classic 120 mm Thermaltake fan in the modified shape of the blades, which should provide a lower noise level.

Attaching an additional fan is easy. True, you first need to unscrew the screws from the standard fan and remove the grille. After this, it is already possible to secure the metal platform, which, by the way, can change the angle of inclination. However, the capabilities of this function should not be overestimated. The tilt can be changed in a fairly small range - from 0 to 45 degrees. On this platform you can install fans of different sizes - from 40 mm to 120 mm, depending on your needs.

To install the fan, the kit includes two self-tapping screws. But we weren’t able to use them without the accompanying problems. Unfortunately, one of them turned out to be defective, due to its uneven thickness. As a result, it was possible to twist it only 2/3 of the length. However, we got out of this situation quite easily, deciding to screw in the self-tapping screw from below.

After that, we started installing the cooler into the case. Let us immediately note that this process is as simple as possible and fully corresponds to what we could see in the VX model. In the case of mounting on the LGA775 platform, it will be enough for us to use a metal bracket with VTMS.

By the way, you can find quite a lot of dissatisfied exclamations on the Internet about this method of fastening. All of them relate mainly to the pressing force of the cooler against the processor heat spreader. There are also concerns that the clip may not withstand the weight of the cooler (more than 800 g) and come loose during operation, which can lead to damage to both the motherboard and the video card.

However, we have a slightly different opinion on this issue. Firstly, do not be afraid of weak pressure. The most important thing is uniformity. If the base of the cooler is level, then there will be no problems. And the presence of play is characteristic of quite a few solutions, for example, Zalman products. You shouldn't attach special importance to this.

Regarding the fact that the clip may not support the weight of the cooler, we can also quite confidently say that such a probability is quite small. Such precedents are, of course, possible, but the culprit here can only be defective fasteners. Today during testing we encountered low-quality screws. It is likely that someone may receive a defective clip in their box. So be careful and carefully inspect the components of the package. In this case, the likelihood of unpleasant consequences is much less.

As you can see, without an additional fan, the new product is completely similar to the Big Typhoon VX. However, as soon as we attach this element, the cooler takes on even larger dimensions. We installed the fan directly above the video card. You might reasonably ask why not expand it so that it is, for example, above the memory. As it turned out, this is impossible. This design within our case, which by the way is far from the smallest, can only exist in one version (when we are talking about a 120 mm fan). Otherwise, it will rest against something: a hard drive, a case wall, a power supply, etc. In general, only those with open stands will be able to appreciate the functionality of Big Typhoon VP. There they can deploy it in any way they want. And there will be more use from an additional fan. In the case, all this looks somehow awkward. Moreover, many video cards have turbines as cooling systems (most AMD products, and for some time - NVIDIA), such additional airflow will do little for them. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves; only testing will show the real balance of power. For now, let's move on to the next product of today's review.

Xigmatek Achilles-S1284

For a long time, Xigmatek products were supplied in colorful cardboard packaging. In our opinion, this is the most best option. The surface of the box is quite informative, and removing the cooler without damaging it is not difficult. This time the company decided to diversify its approach by wrapping the product in plastic. It looks, frankly, not very good.

The first thing I want to talk about is the equipment. The manufacturer included all the necessary fasteners, thermal paste, installation instructions and rubber clamps for installation.

Initially, the fan is located in the package separately from the cooler. Therefore, first we will talk specifically about the element designed to cool the Achilles radiator. The operating speed level is 1500 rpm. The cable is branched into four pins. There is PWM support, so you can control the rotation speed of the impeller using the motherboard. The lowest bar is 800 rpm - this mode will be an ideal choice for lovers of silence.

The fan is attached to the radiator with rubber clamps. This operation is fast and convenient. In addition, the fan is held extremely securely.

Finally, we have Xigmatek Achilles himself. In its design, it has a number of aluminum (by the way, quite thick compared to previous cooler models) plates. Four nickel-plated copper tubes, each 8 mm in diameter, pass through them. The first change that immediately catches your eye is the number of heat pipes. Xigmatek increased their number by one, which, of course, should affect the heat removal rate.

The weight of the cooler without a fan is 660 g. Accordingly, with it it exceeds 700 g. Not so little. However, you shouldn’t be surprised, because we are dealing with a super cooler.

Compared to the Red Scorpion, the radiator has a number of differences. Firstly, the profile of the plates has changed. Now they form a kind of ladder. At the same time, along the sidewalls they are bent in two rows, which avoids loss of air flow when blowing the fins. Finally, the radiator itself has changed. He became much thicker. It is likely that it will now need a more efficient fan.

As already mentioned, there are four heat pipes. While studying the products of Xigmatek, we noticed quite a long time ago that the company relies not on quantity, but on the total removal area. The diameter of each tube is 8 mm.

Heat-Pipe Direct Touch is a proprietary technology that allows heat pipes to directly contact the processor. This is the method used in the Xigmatek Achilles cooler. At the moment, all Xigamatek solutions designed for cooling processors work on this principle.

Overall, it justifies itself. After all, we do not have a loss of efficiency due to the absence of such a thermal intermediary as the sole. The heat is immediately transferred to the tubes, which are transferred to the radiator, where it is dissipated. However, this method also has a theoretical drawback - the likelihood of local overheating in the area of ​​“dead zones”, i.e. in places where the sole does not come into contact with the processor. However, this shortcoming cannot be called anything other than theoretical, because in practice, products operating on this principle usually show excellent results.

At the base, the heat pipes are flattened and aligned. Only the manufacturer apparently forgot about polishing. The quality in this aspect is clearly poor. You can see it without even taking it off protective film. But such flaws can seriously affect efficiency.

Installation on the LGA775 platform is extremely simple. To do this, just take two VTMS mounting clips and screw them to the base of the cooler. You can then safely place the cooling system into the case. In this case, there is no need to remove the motherboard. By the way, it is not required for AMD platforms either. To secure it, a metal swing bracket is used, which clings to a standard mounting frame. I am very pleased that Xigmatek is trying to simplify the installation process for the user as much as possible. It is also important that, along with simplicity, the fasteners also differ in quality. The pressure is quite strong, there are no problems with uniformity either.

True, there are complaints about VTMS clips. This is not the first time we have encountered this problem. It is present in almost all products from Xigmatek. The gist of it is that the clips are too rigid, so sometimes it is very difficult to snap them into place. If you do this, for example, on an open bench, you can see how seriously the motherboard bends. If we were the company, we would pay attention to this. The main thing in the pressure is uniformity. You should not press the cooler like a vice into the motherboard. Moreover, the cooling system has serious weight indicators.

Xigmatek Achilles installed. During operation, it can please the user with a pleasant backlight that combines orange and white. At night it looks great. Surely, for lovers of spectacular coolers, this will be a pleasant addition.

So, the product inspection is complete. It's time to move on to the most important thing - testing. However, first we will tell you how the testing process works.

Test bench and testing

Testing methodology

Any research would be unthinkable without strict compliance with the list of rules that must be followed when testing any cooling systems for processors. So, list of main provisions of the testing methodology:

All testing of air cooling systems is carried out in a normal room, without the use of a heating cabinet, which brings the results as close as possible to what most users might experience. Testing can be carried out both using an open stand and in a housing. In this case, the relevant information is present in the graphs with the results.

The basis for any comparison is the similarity of conditions. Therefore, cooler testing is always carried out on the same day, because... the next day the room temperature may change significantly. In addition, testing begins only after the system has warmed up for a sufficiently long time and the room temperature has completely stabilized. After this, the doors and windows no longer open, which ensures stable conditions.

Before the main heating program starts, the cooler warms up in the system for some time. Only after this operation is completed can testing begin. The basis for the results is the maximum temperature that was reached during heating. After this, the load stops and the system is in an idle state. Only upon reaching a stable minimum temperature is this indicator removed.

All data on processor temperature indicators are taken from the corresponding motherboard sensor. Many test studies carried out clearly show that this method can be trusted, since the displayed values ​​are quite close to the real ones. The test motherboard used is a product from ASUS, model P5B-Deluxe. Information about this board is also included in the test bench configuration described above.

The second source of information for us is special thermocouples. There are two of them used in the system. One is responsible for displaying information about the temperature in the case. This is very important, because we must be aware of any fluctuations in testing conditions and try to maintain them at the same level. The second thermocouple is installed on one of the capacitors of the motherboard power supply system. Experiments have shown that all capacitors have similar temperatures, so displaying information about at least one of them is quite enough to find out the level of cooling efficiency of the area near the socket.

It's no secret that most manufacturers include branded thermal interfaces with their products. They often have a decent level of quality and, accordingly, in practice they can achieve an excellent level of efficiency, but to compare coolers we always use one specific thermal interface. Previously, such thermal paste was a domestic product produced by Khimtek - KPT-8. However, test studies have shown that the use of this thermal interface does not allow us to judge the effectiveness of a particular product as objectively as possible. Therefore, at the moment we are using thermal paste from Arctic Cooling - MX-2.

Research also shows that many thermal interfaces may change properties over time. Thus, performance can either improve or deteriorate. To ensure that such changes do not affect the compared performance of different coolers, during any manipulation with the cooler (change of platform during testing: transition from an open bench to a version using a case), the thermal interface is applied again. This leads to the fact that during testing of all cooling systems, the thermal interface remains fresh and, therefore, has the same properties. In addition, the removal of thermal paste is carried out using alcohol, which leads to a complete cleansing of the processor cover. In this way, a greater “purity” of comparison is achieved.

Another point that may affect the fairness of product comparisons is that different manufacturers use various fans for their products. Accordingly, these fans may differ not only in efficiency levels, but also in noise levels. Thus, to equalize the conditions, we use several testing modes for certain coolers. Typically, when using a product at a speed level in the range from 1300 to 2000 rpm, we test the first and second cases. If, even at minimum speeds, a given product turns out to be objectively noisier than analogues at comparable speeds, then the speed level is found at which the noise level will be comparable to analogues. In this case, the cooler will be tested not in two, but in three modes. Namely - at the quietest speed level found, at 1300 rpm and at 2000 rpm. Of course, there are certain exceptions when a particular study requires a more extensive study. In this case, other modes can be used. In some cases, on the contrary, we use only one mode. However, conclusions about the cooler are based on the combination of noise and efficiency.

The case described above applies to coolers whose design does not allow changing the fan. However, many tower coolers, as well as other solutions, make it quite easy to change the fan on them. Therefore, we can often install more efficient fans. In addition, if the cooler design allows the installation of two fans, this manipulation is also carried out. However, depending on the nature of the testing and the number of participants, the theses described above may be slightly adjusted within the framework of a particular study.

The utility used to heat up processors has been changing for some time. The main reason for this was that over time, programs were released that could heat processors much more efficiently than their predecessors. Of course, in this case, our choice during testing fell on them. We currently use several utilities. For processors manufactured by Intel, in particular, Core generation, the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool utility is used.

According to our observations, this program manages to create the most atypical level of heating, which allows certain products to develop to a greater extent. In this case, the mode of loading both processor cores at 100% is used. For now latest version utilities - 2.05.

However, for AMD processors it is necessary to use a different heating tool, and therefore the now classic S&M utility is perfect. It provides high-quality heating, atypical for any other utilities. In addition, it has a number of other useful functions, among which the most important for us is the display of information about temperature, including on a real-time graph. Currently the utility version is 1.9.0a.

* The provisions of the methodology described above relate only to testing cooling systems for processors. In the case of other cooling systems, appropriate rules and research tools are used.

Test results

Today, a non-standard solution is taking part in the study - Big Typhoon VP. Therefore, in order to comprehensively study this product, while simultaneously comparing it with analogues, we took data on three parameters: the temperature of the processor, motherboard batteries and video card video chip.

The results were quite controversial. The reason for this is the incredible density. It is difficult to talk about winners, to put it mildly. We can consider Xigmatek Achilles to be the nominal leader. This cooler was able to surpass Big Typhoon VX with an advantage of 0.2 degrees. But you understand, all this is measurement error. In fact, all products showed almost equal levels of effectiveness. However, here another point comes into force - the level of revolutions. The “Winner” is much quieter than the Typhoon, which is seriously noisy at 2000 rpm. But when the impeller rotation speed is reduced to 1300 rpm, the Thermaltake product becomes a relative outsider. Why relative? Because 4 degrees is not a critical lag. If we talk about the confrontation between the two Typhoons, then there is a draw, which is to be expected. Of course, theoretically, an additional fan could reduce the temperature in the case itself and thereby help itself. But that did not happen. We have an absolutely identical level of efficiency. The difference is within the margin of error.

Finally, let's look at Achilles' results again. Yes, of course, this solution can well be considered a winner, given the speed level and relatively quiet operating mode. However, note that the advantage over the “Red Scorpion” is some 1.5 degrees. This is quite strange, because... The new product has a redesigned radiator and added a heat pipe, and given its diameter, this should have given a decent bonus in efficiency. What is the reason? And the reason turned out to be on the surface. After the test, we examined the base of the cooler, in particular, the imprint of the paste on the processor and tubes, and noticed that one of them had almost no contact with the heat spreader. In other words, only three heat pipes were fully operational. The fourth performed its function with large losses in efficiency. As a result, it is easy to understand why the new product failed to clearly establish itself as a leader. Is this a special case, or does other instances have this problem? It’s hard to say, after all, this is one of the first copies of the cooler. Manufacturers often make such mistakes. We will not fail to report this problem to Xigmatek so that engineers will pay attention to this aspect.

Now let's see how the coolers performed in terms of cooling the board elements. Here Achilles finds himself an outsider. This is explained simply. The radiator has become noticeably thicker compared to previous models. Air passes through it with difficulty, and, accordingly, blowing the board is seriously hampered. Hence the loss not only to coolers from Thermaltake, but also to the previous model - S1283.

Typhoons did not show anything special. They have been saying for a long time that the excellent airflow around the socket area with this cooler is a myth. Look at him, he has a very serious height. Now try to place your hand in the area of ​​the board elements while working. You are unlikely to feel any serious airflow. Of course, there is some advantage compared to some tower-type products, especially when compared to the massive Scythe Mugen. However, compact towers like the Xigmatek S1283 are not inferior in cooling the area around the processor.

Finally, let's turn our attention to the chip temperature graph Radeon video cards 3870 X2. We used this particular map for a reason. It has serious heat dissipation. Additional airflow obviously wouldn't hurt her. However, a turbine is responsible for its cooling, drawing cold air in the area of ​​the hard drive. It's not hard to understand that a fan located somewhere in the middle of the card's cooling system will do almost nothing. Unless the PCB temperature drops a little. Unfortunately, Riva Tuner does not display such information, and we had to be content with the temperature indicators of the GPU board. As you can see, the difference is small, however, keep in mind that the card worked in idle mode at minimum turbine speed.

As a result, additional element in the form of a fan gives a small increase in airflow efficiency. Of course, in the case of a different video card, everything could be different. However, wouldn't it be easier to take advantage of the standard capabilities of the case itself by using fan pads? This, in our opinion, will be quite sufficient. Thermaltake clearly rushed to release the new product, overestimating its potential. At the moment, Big Typhoon VX is sold at a not-so-low price. It will not be a surprise if the VP modification seriously surpasses it in this regard. But why would it be needed even at a higher price, when it is no different?

Conclusion

The new items left a very mixed impression. Let's face it, the manufacturers should have thought twice before releasing these. On the one hand, they are, of course, highly effective. In this regard, Achilles and the updated Typhoon can give a head start to many products from third-party companies. The only catch is that their predecessors had the same abilities. This is especially true for Big Typhoon VP. This decision frankly disappointing. The efficiency is no different from the standard modification, and the dimensions of the cooler are downright indecent. Xigmatek Achilles also makes you happy and sad at the same time. It certainly contains interesting ideas. This applies to both the four heat pipes and the redesigned radiator. However, mistakes in quality (in this case this applies to our copy) did not allow the new product to be fully revealed. As a result, we have a minimal advantage over the previous model - Xigmatek S1283. So the result is this:

Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP- in general, a good product that has good efficiency and versatility in installation on various platforms. However, there are no advantages over the VX version, so there is no particular point in purchasing the VP modification.

Xigmatek Achilles-S1284- certainly an interesting solution. The company's engineers designed a fairly well-thought-out design of the radiator, including four copper heat pipes with a diameter of 8 mm each. In addition, the cooler has a pleasant appearance, thanks to the presence of nickel in the coating of the tubes and the installation of an impressive backlit fan. In a word, a real supercooler. However, the workmanship was not enough to realize its full potential. One of the tubes had almost no contact with the base, which seriously affected the efficiency. In addition, the quality of the polishing of the sole was disappointing. In general, the company has something to work on, otherwise a champion will emerge with an Achilles heel.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon 120VX

Next up is a popular model from Thermaltake, which has already gone through several changes. The latest model with the VX index has a simplified mounting system for LGA 775 and a fan with an increased speed.

The box is made in the company's traditional red colors. The cooler itself is clearly visible through the transparent plastic casing.

In a separate cardboard box inside the package there are additional accessories: clips for installation on motherboards under AMD processors K8/10 and Intel with Socket LGA775, as well as a small bag of thermal paste.

Stated characteristics:

Aluminum radiator fins are threaded onto curved heat pipes emerging from a copper base. The radiator itself is located parallel to the board and consists of two sections with three tubes each. Thanks to this design, a 120 mm fan, blowing through the radiator fins, additionally blows air around the socket space and elements.

Of all the coolers tested, the Big Typhoon had the poorest base processing quality. As you can see, despite some evolution of this cooler, it doesn’t even get to the point of polishing the base. The roughness and unevenness of the surface is perfectly felt to the touch.

Unlike all other coolers, the Big Typhoon 120VX has a speed controller located directly on it, and not removed from the case. The regulator is screwed to one of the corners. So, if you decide to reduce the fan speed, you will have to climb inside the system unit.

Inside the case, Big Typhoon looks simply huge. The red color of the impeller and the curved lines of the grill grate make the appearance aesthetically pleasing.

Considering the weight of the cooler, the reliability of fastening with plastic latches is questionable. But, unfortunately, the manufacturer decided that no additional means were needed to strengthen the motherboard.

I have two impressions about Thermaltake and its products. On the one hand, this is unconditional respect for the manufacturer, who brought the production of coolers (and subsequently other cooling devices) into a separate branch of computer equipment. At one time, the buyer had a simple choice: either a standard piece of aluminum with a fan, or a cooler made by ThermalTake, which provided significantly better cooling efficiency. Let me remind you that this was the time when the first systems appeared on the market AMD platform SocketA, which were very favorably received by overclockers and computer enthusiasts. Since such processors were easily overclocked, the need for powerful cooling systems increased manifold. And Thermaltake very successfully released a series of Orb series coolers.

Subsequently, other companies began to enter the cooling device market, trying to grab their piece of the sweet pie (or get a share of the fast-growing market:). But ThermalTake tried not to lose its leadership, and constantly offered more and more new products. Currently, the company's product range is very large, ranging from housings to water cooling systems.

However, with certain point, I stopped liking Tt products, and some products looked like outright hackwork ( high price, high noise level and low efficiency). In particular, not a single Thermaltake product has received a positive rating in our reviews recently.

Therefore, I was somewhat distrustful of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon cooler, which was included in today's test by pure chance (there were no other coolers with heat pipes in the nearest computer stores). Marveling at the price (more than 1200 rubles) and impressed by the mass and dimensions of the cooler, I agreed on the obligatory moneyback and began the inspection.

Like most other coolers, Big Typhoon is packaged in a transparent plastic box:

In addition to the cooler itself, in the box we found a mounting kit for all popular platforms (LGA775, S478, S939754) and colorful installation instructions on two glossy sheets.

As we have already noted, the cooler is striking in its size:

To better illustrate its dimensions, here is a photo of Big Typhoon installed on the Asus P5WD2-Premium motherboard (based on the i955X chipset).

The design of the cooler is fundamentally no different from similar products. So we have a copper base from which six heat pipes emerge:

The tubes rise up and enter the aluminum radiator:

The radiator has a metal frame

On which a giant 120mm fan is mounted:

To prevent body parts, or, God forbid, computer cables and cables from getting into the fan, a protective grille is installed on the fan.

Let's list specifications fan: rotation speed 1300RPM, generated air flow 54.4CFM, and noise level 16dBa! To be honest, I didn't watch those. characteristics before the first launch of the system with the Big Typhoon cooler, and was very surprised by the silent operation of the fan (if you listen very carefully, you can only distinguish the rustle of air). I saw the last silent fan produced by Thermaltake only in the Aquarius II water cooling system (the copy was from the first batches).

Now let's look at the quality of processing of the base, for which we can give a "strong four":

The last thing we will focus on is a description of the installation procedure. To be brief, a metal reinforcing plate is installed on the back of the motherboard. 4 threaded studs are installed through it, which are secured with special nuts. Next, a cooler is installed on the processor, on the base of which the same metal frame is placed. The studs pass through the holes in this plate and a second set of nuts are installed on them.

In general, the procedure is a little tricky, but when you hold the fastener kit in your hands, everything becomes intuitive. However, we note two points that arose for us.

Firstly, on the Asus P5WD2 Premium board there were huge tin plaques on the back side of the board that interfered with the installation of the reinforcement plate. I remember we encountered a similar problem on some Gigabyte board, and we modified the board with a file. But we felt sorry for P5WD2, and we simply added an additional spacer:

Another point concerns the tightening of the second set of nuts. This operation can be performed in a matter of seconds if, having previously tightened the nuts, press down each side of the plate, and with a couple of movements turn the nut several turns.