Today we have to get acquainted with two new solutions in the field of cooling systems from Thermaltake and Xigmatek. The first company does not need a special introduction, our readers probably know about it. Xigmatek is new to the cooler market. Date of foundation - 2005. Since then, this manufacturer has released a lot of interesting products focused on 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 soon we will see their products on the shelves of Russian stores. For now, let's get to the news.

First - 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 performance and low price. Add to that good accessibility and you have the best choice for the overclocker. Of course, then it became more difficult to acquire this solution. The excitement affected, and Thermaltake itself began to promote new products.

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 start producing its updated version. In today's material, we have to find out how effective the new product will be both in comparison with competitors and with the standard version.

The second novelty is Xigmatek Achilles. At the moment it is the top model in the Xigmatek product hierarchy. For quite a long time, coolers of the S1283 series and solutions based on them held the lead in efficiency. 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 look: covered heat pipes nickel, put a quieter backlit fan and called it "red scorpion". New model with the name Achilles has not only inherited the same modded appearance, which will surely please aesthetes, but also received a number of functional changes that should significantly affect efficiency.

As a result, we have, in fact, two updated versions of familiar coolers. Which of the manufacturers of the novelties turned out to be more successful? This is what we will try to figure out. For now, let's move on to our first guest - Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP

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

The cooler itself is placed in a plastic cocoon - a moment that allows you to make the transportation process safer for the product.

The white box contains the complete set of the cooler - fasteners for various platforms, installation instructions, thermal paste and a branded sticker. In general, a standard set.

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

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

The only pity is that you can use the speed controller only by removing the housing cover. Otherwise, it is impossible to access it. However, it is not so scary. After all, you are not going to constantly change the fan speed. It will be quite sufficient to fix the speed once, for example, at around 1300 rpm - this is a quiet mode, while not hitting much in terms of efficiency.

And now - about what could be changed in the "typhoon", but what remains in a similar 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 remove the load from the heat pipes. A similar approach has been used by Scythe for a long time. As you know, their products do not suffer from low efficiency. In addition, upset the quality of processing base. It seems that the company alternates models with good processing and with bad ones. For a long time, the soles of Thermaltake coolers could frighten the faint of heart, a little later Thermaltake V1 and MaxOrb cooling systems appeared. They didn't have that problem anymore. Why do we again see a rough and raw sole?

A third change would be to shorten the heatpipes, which theoretically could speed up the transfer of 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 with a modified blade shape, which should provide a lower noise level.

Mounting an additional fan is easy. True, you first need to unscrew the screws from the standard fan and remove the grille. After that, it is already possible to fix the metal platform, which, by the way, can change the angle of inclination. However, the possibilities 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.

Two self-tapping screws are included to install the fan. Only here we did not manage to use them without accompanying problems. Unfortunately, one of them turned out to be defective, which consisted in 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 the screw from below.

After that, we proceeded to install the cooler in the case. We note right away 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.

On the net, by the way, you can find quite a lot of dissatisfied exclamations about this method of fastening. All of them concern, basically, the pressure force of the cooler to the processor's heat spreader. There are also concerns that the clip may not support the weight of the cooler (more than 800 g) and unhook during operation, which can damage both the motherboard and the video card.

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

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

As you can see, without an additional fan, the novelty is completely similar to the Big Typhoon VX. However, as soon as we attach this element, the cooler becomes even larger. We installed a fan directly above the graphics card. You will reasonably ask, why not expand it so that it is, for example, above the memory. As it turned out, this is impossible. Such a design within our case, by the way, is far from being the smallest one, it can exist in only one version (when we are talking about a 120 mm fan). Otherwise, it will rest against something: HDD, case wall, power supply, etc. In general, only the owners of open stands will be able to appreciate the functionality of the Big Typhoon VP. There they will be able to deploy it in any way. 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 since some time NVIDIA as well), such additional airflow will not do much for them. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves, only testing will show the real alignment of forces. In the meantime, let's move on to the next product of today's review.

Xigmatek Achilles-S1284

For a long time, Xigmatek products were shipped in colorful cardboard boxes. 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 doesn't look very good, to be honest.

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

Initially, the fan is located in the package separately from the cooler. Therefore, at first we will talk about the element designed to cool the Achilles radiator. The operating speed 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 clips. This operation is fast and convenient. In addition, the fan is extremely secure.

Finally, we have Xigmatek Achilles itself. In its design, it has a number of aluminum (by the way, quite thick compared to previous cooler models) plates. Four copper nickel-plated tubes with a diameter of 8 mm each pass through them. The first change that immediately catches the 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, do not be surprised, because we are dealing with a supercooler.

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

As already mentioned, there are four heat pipes. Studying the products, Xigmatek, we noticed a long time ago that the company relies not on quantity, but on the total area of ​​removal. 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. It is this method that is used in the Xigmatek Achilles cooler. At the moment, all Xigamatek solutions designed for processor cooling work on this principle.

In general, he justifies himself. After all, we do not have a loss of efficiency due to the absence of such a thermal mediator as the sole. 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 probability of local overheating in the region of "dead zones", i.e. where the soleplate does not come into contact with the processor. However, this disadvantage cannot be called otherwise than theoretical, because. in practice, products that work according to 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 lame. 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. Then you can safely place the cooling system in the case. Removing the motherboard in this case is not required. By the way, it will not be required in the case of AMD platforms either. For fixing, a metal swing bracket is used there, clinging 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, fasteners are distinguished by quality. The pressure is quite strong, there are no problems with uniformity either.

True, there are complaints about the VTMS clips. This is not the first time we have encountered this problem. It is present in almost all products from Xigmatek. Its essence lies in the fact 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 stand, you can see how seriously the motherboard flexes. If we were the company, we would pay attention to this. The main thing in the clamp is uniformity. It is not worth pressing the cooler like a vise 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. For sure, for lovers of spectacular coolers, this will be a nice addition.

So, the inspection of the products is completed. It's time to move on to the most important thing - testing. However, first we will tell you about how the testing process takes place.

Test stand 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, a list of the main provisions of the testing methodology:

All testing of air cooling systems is carried out in a normal room, without the use of an oven, which brings the results as close as possible to those that most users can have. Testing can be carried out both when using an open stand, and in the case. At the same time, the relevant information is present on the graphs with the results.

The basis for any comparison is the similarity of conditions. Therefore, coolers are always tested on the same day. the next day the room temperature may change significantly. In addition, testing begins only after a sufficiently long warm-up of the system and complete stabilization of the temperature in the room. After that, the doors and windows no longer open, which ensures the stability of conditions.

Before the main start of the heating program, the cooler warms up in the system for some time. Only after the completion of this operation is it possible to start testing. The basis for the results is the maximum temperature reached during heating. After that, the load is stopped and the system is idle. Only when a stable minimum temperature is reached, this indicator is removed.

All data on the temperature indicators of the processor are taken from the corresponding sensor of the motherboard. A lot of ongoing test studies clearly show that this method can be trusted, because the output values ​​are close enough to the real ones. As a test motherboard, a product from ASUS, model P5B-Deluxe, is used. Information about this board is also included in the configuration test stand described above.

The second source of information for us are special thermocouples. In total, there are two of them 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 keep them at the same level. The second thermocouple is installed on one of the capacitors of the motherboard power system. Experiments have shown that all capacitors have close temperatures, so the output of information about at least one of them is quite enough to find out the level of cooling efficiency of the zone near the socket.

It's no secret that most manufacturers put branded thermal interfaces along with their products. Often they have a decent level of quality and, accordingly, in practice they can achieve an excellent level of efficiency, however, to compare coolers, we always use one specific thermal interface. Previously, KPT-8, a domestic product manufactured by Khimtek, acted as such a thermal paste. However, test studies have shown that the use of this thermal interface does not make it possible to judge the effectiveness of a particular product as objectively as possible. Therefore, at the moment, thermal paste from Arctic Cooling - MX-2 is used.

Studies also show that many thermal interfaces may change certain properties over time. Thus, performance can either improve or deteriorate. In order to prevent such changes from affecting the compared performance of different coolers, the thermal interface is reapplied during any manipulation with the cooler (change of platform during testing: transition from an open bench to a case-based version). 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 with alcohol, which leads to a complete cleaning of the processor cover. Thus, a greater "purity" of comparison is achieved.

Another point that can affect the objectivity of product comparisons is that different manufacturers use different fans for their products. Accordingly, these fans can differ not only in terms of efficiency, but also in terms of noise. Thus, to equalize the conditions, we use several modes of testing certain coolers. Typically, when the product uses a RPM level between 1300 and 2000 rpm, we test the first and second cases. If, even at minimum speed, this 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. 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 more extensive study needs to be carried out within the framework of a particular 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 refers to coolers whose design does not allow changing the fan. However, many tower-type coolers, as well as other solutions, make it quite easy to change the fan to 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 testing and the number of participants, the theses described above can be somewhat adjusted within the framework of a particular study.

The utility used to heat processors has changed over time. The main reason for this was that over time, programs came out that could heat processors much more efficiently than their predecessors. Of course, in this case, our choice during testing fell on them. At the moment we are using several utilities. For processors manufactured by Intel, in particular, Generation Core, the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool is used.

According to our observations, this program manages to create the most atypical level of heating, which allows one or another product to open up to a greater extent. In this case, the loading mode of both processor cores is used at 100%. At the moment latest version utilities - 2.05.

However, for AMD processors it is necessary to use a different heating tool, and therefore the already classic S&M utility fits perfectly. It provides high-quality, atypical heating 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 temperature information, including on a real-time graph. At the moment, the version of the utility is 1.9.0a.

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

Test results

Today, a non-standard solution takes 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, the batteries of the motherboard and the video chip of the video card.

The results are rather controversial. The reason for this is the incredible density. It is difficult to talk about the winners, to put it mildly. We can consider Xigmatek Achilles as the nominal leader. This cooler managed to outperform the Big Typhoon VX by 0.2 degrees. But you understand, all this is a measurement error. In fact, all products showed an almost equal level of effectiveness. However, here another moment comes into force - the level of turnover. "Winner" works unlike the quieter Typhoon, seriously noisy at 2000 rpm. But when the impeller 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 a confrontation between the two Typhoons, then there is a draw, which was to be expected. Of course, theoretically, an additional fan could lower the temperature in the case itself and help itself. But that did not happen. We have absolutely identical level of efficiency. The difference is within the margin of error.

Finally, let's take a look at the Achilles results again. Yes, of course, this decision can be considered a winner, given the level of speed and relatively quiet operation. However, note that the advantage over the "Red Scorpion" is some 1.5 degrees. This is rather strange, because the design of the heatsink has been redesigned in the new product, a heat pipe has been added, and, given its diameter, this should have given a decent bonus in efficiency. What is the reason? And the reason was on the surface. After the test, we studied 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 worked out completely. The fourth performed its function with large losses in efficiency. As a result, it is easy to understand why the novelty failed to unambiguously establish itself as a leader. What is it - special case, or do other instances have this problem as well? It's hard to say, after all, this is one of the first copies of the cooler. Such blunders are quite common among manufacturers. We will not fail to report this problem to Xigmatek so that the engineers turn their attention to this aspect.

And now let's see how the coolers proved to be in terms of cooling the board elements. Here Achilles is an outsider. It is explained simply. The radiator has become noticeably thicker compared to previous models. Air hardly passes through it, and, accordingly, blowing the board is seriously difficult. Hence the loss not only to Thermaltake coolers, but also to the previous model - S1283.

Typhoons did not show anything special. It has been said for a long time that 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 will hardly feel any serious airflow. Of course, there is some advantage over some tower-style products, especially when compared to the massive Scythe Mugen. However, compact towers like the Xigmatek S1283 are not inferior in cooling efficiency to the zone near the processor.

Finally, let's turn our eyes to the chip temperature graph Radeon video cards 3870x2. We used this card for a reason. It has significant heat dissipation. The extra airflow obviously won't hurt her. However, a turbine is responsible for its cooling, scooping cold air in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe hard drive. It's not difficult 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 of the GPU board. As you can see, the difference is small, however, keep in mind that the card worked in idle time at the minimum turbine speed.

As a result, an additional element in the form of a fan gives a small increase in blowing efficiency. Of course, in the case of a different video card, everything could be different. However, isn't it easier to take advantage of the standard capabilities of the case itself by using the fan pads? This, in our opinion, will be quite enough. Thermaltake obviously hastened with the release of a 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 him in this. But why will it be needed even at a higher price, when it is no different?

Conclusion

The novelties left a very ambiguous impression. Let's face it, manufacturers needed to think twice before releasing them. On the one hand, they are, of course, highly efficient. In this regard, Achilles and the updated Typhoon can give odds 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 was frankly disappointing. The efficiency is no different from the standard modification, and the dimensions of the cooler are downright obscene. Xigmatek Achilles also makes me happy and sad at the same time. It certainly has some interesting ideas. This applies to both the four heat pipes and the redesigned heatsink. However, lapses in quality (in this case this applies to our copy) did not allow the novelty to fully open. As a result, we have a minimal advantage over the previous model - Xigmatek S1283. So the bottom line is:

Thermaltake Big Typhoon VP- in general, a good product with good efficiency and versatility in installation on various platforms. However, there are no advantages over the VX version, so there is not much point in acquiring the VP modification.

Xigmatek Achilles-S1284- certainly an interesting solution. The company's engineers designed a well-thought-out design of the radiator, while including four copper heat pipes with a diameter of 8 mm each. In addition, the cooler is endowed with a pleasant appearance, thanks to the presence of nickel tubes in the coating and the installation of a spectacular backlit fan. In a word, a real supercooler. However, for the full disclosure of the potential was not enough workmanship. 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 the champion will come out with an Achilles' heel.

The holiday season has been around for a long time. And many could already taste the beauty 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 hard worker" - a computer feel in such conditions? Frankly, in such conditions it is difficult for him. But no one asks him, and he just as obediently continues his daily work. But the biggest hardships at such moments are experienced mainly by the processor ...

Instead of the cool air that its cooler must receive from outside the case 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 vastness of our country, this has long ceased to be a problem. On the market now in a large assortment you can find a stunning selection of different cooling systems. And if with the choice of water systems, there are small 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, the 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 who is knowledgeable in this area can also enter the stopper. Since the choice and variety is too great. Various manufacturers sometimes they offer coolers that are very similar in appearance. Their designs and method of heat dissipation are often similar. In such a situation, the buyer raises the question of the advisability of buying a particular cooling system. In such cases, he turns to the media to clarify the situation in this issue. It's good that today there are a lot of different tests of most coolers on the Internet. We are such an institution. Today I will try to answer some questions that a person who is faced with the question of buying a processor cooler may have.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Today our guest is a representative of the well-known company Thermaltake, Big Typhoon. We meet!

It comes to us in a bright beautiful package, without opening which you can already see the appearance of the cooler, or rather its fan. Only when you take this box in your hands, you feel the weight and dimensions of this cooling system. It is worth saying that we will not recognize anything other than the name on the front of the package. This also applies to the side part. But 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 finally, he appears before us. Its dimensions are really big. This impression is created, first of all, 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 orange color typical for Thermaltake, covered with a metal casing with the emblem, respectively, of the same manufacturer. "TT" - this is how it is customary to abbreviate the name "Thermaltake". For me, this is an extra 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 by the presence of a speed controller, whose presence, to be honest, is incomprehensible to me. Something like this would have been useful in the Volcano days, also made by Thermaltake. But here we have a "low-speed" low-speed fan. He does not really need such a regulator, however. 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 cases of their production. Returning to our configuration, we do not have a speed controller. But to be honest, 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. That will help embellish your case with blue backlight. With this, let's move on from describing the fan to looking at the design of the cooler, fortunately, we have something to look at. The power cord, which is a fairly standard 3-pin, is covered in a nice white aesthetic material to my surprise. To be honest, you don't see this very often. But this once again emphasizes the great look of the cooler. But this cord has a serious minus. This is its length. She is very small. Therefore, you will not be able to install the cooler in any way, otherwise it will not allow you to use the power cord, 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 (and here they are!), Soldered to the base, and passing through a heatsink consisting of thin aluminum fins with a relatively small thickness. The ribs are quite close to each other. The distance between them is very small. How this will affect how air flows through these slots is hard to say. 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 fins will be clogged with dust, and it will be quite problematic to clean it out of there. So, if you decide to use this cooler in your case, don't forget to make sure that your case does not have dust clods. This may affect the future in the best way on the effectiveness of the "Great Typhoon".

Now let's look at the base. And here already Thermaltake obviously did not try. We can see the very poor quality of the base processing. The traces of the cutter are clearly visible to the eye. However, most coolers from this manufacturer have a similar omission. Not really a problem in too in large numbers orders, and the fact that the gentlemen from Thermaltake do not have time to process the base? It is worth noting that such a flaw can greatly affect the efficiency of the cooler. Now let's move on to the equipment that comes with the Big Typhoon. Everything, 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, the installation instructions. With this, I must admit, the manufacturer pleased me. We have an instruction manual illustrated with color photographs with printed comments. You will not find this even at Zalman. Whose illustrations are still black and white and are pictures rather than photographs. Such approach of Thermaltake cannot but rejoice. And when evaluating a cooler, such moments can play an important role. Since the correct installation is exactly what most experts from various sites have problems with. Because of what we can meet serious discrepancies in the results. We could observe a similar situation in the case of Zalman 9500. In the case with which, however, there was some defect in the base, namely a slight bulge in the center. But it was also often possible to see problems associated with insufficient cooler pressure, which inevitably led to poor performance. Returning to our cooler, it is 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 the Back-Plate for various sockets, as well as mounting frames. What else the manufacturer can please us with is thermal paste. However, today each manufacturer equips its cooler with a similar thermal interface.

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

And now let's move on to installing Big Typhoon on the motherboard. In this case, on Socket 939. Speaking of other sockets, it's worth saying that everything seems to be enough. In all cases, we use the standard Back-Plate from Thermaltake, which we fasten from the back of the motherboard with long screws, on which, on the other hand, we put red spacers and wind 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, which can be seen in the photo.

Next, from the top, we fasten the screws with small nuts, which, frankly, is like death. This is a fairly long procedure, if done carefully and to achieve good rigidity. I personally used a small wrench for this and painstakingly tightened the nuts with it. In general, the installation for Socket A,478,775 is the same, the only difference is that we use a different mounting frame for Socket 775. For mounting on Socket A,478,775, two installation options are used. One is called Alternative, and I have already described it. It is identical for all sockets. The second is referred to as Standard. Theoretically, this method is very simple. We use the standard Back-Plate that comes with the motherboard, and we already screw the mounting frame from Big Typhoon to it. But it didn't work for me. The screws were not long enough. No matter how much effort I made, it did not lead to anything other than scratching the base. Having tightened one of the screws, it was not possible to cope with the second one. From my efforts, the metal mounting frame began to bend, and I decided to stop trying to install it. Unfortunately, I could not find suitable screws for installing the cooler. I decided to use a method called Alternative, but instead of nuts, I decided to tighten with yellow washers, with which we secure the Back-Plate. As a result, it looked like the photo above.

It is worth saying that due to the fact that the fan on the cooler is located on the top part, this immediately removes all sorts of problems with the necessary rotation. Since all the air is taken from above, and not from the side, as is the case with most heat pipe coolers.

Further, respectively, the motherboard was placed in the case. 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, nevertheless, this is not so convenient, since by sticking your hands between the wires, sometimes a not so correct installation is possible, or rather uneven clamping, due to different tightening of the washers.

In the case, the cooler looks amazing. It is worth noting that there are no problems with contact with wires or heatsinks of the north bridge. Typhoon got up in the hull very well. About 1.5 cm remains 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 placed a little lower than the cooler fan. And in the area where the heat pipes and the radiator are located, there should not be any contact. At the base, Typhoon also does not touch any batteries on the motherboard. And it is worth noting the important fact that among the tested coolers today, it was the Typhoon that had no problems with tightening the screw that secures the motherboard in the central part, not far from the processor.

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

Despite the fact that the system used an IDE hard drive, there were no problems with the cables. There is no contact either with them or with wires from Molex going to the motherboard. In our case, the cooling on the northbridge 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 location of the radiator on the northbridge.

After carrying out some tests and removing the cooler from its rightful place, the cast of 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. After that, I decided to re-test, but during installation, carefully monitor the spin 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 accurate and correct as possible during installation. Then the cooler went through a full cycle of tests. The results we will see later.

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

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 revolutions according to the declared characteristics are 1300RPM, during my testing, a value of about 1400RPM was recorded. It is worth saying that in this version the cooler works very quietly. For me, this mode can be considered almost silent. The noise level is much lower than that of standard cabinet 80s. When the fan was connected to 5V, the cooler turned from almost silent to completely silent. And for this Thermaltake thank you very much. True, it is worth saying that despite the statements of both the company itself and the owners of this cooler, Typhoon does not at all have such an advantage as blowing the elements of the motherboard. At 5V, it's quite hard to feel the air flow even with a hand placed close to the cooler's heatsink, 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, which can somehow reach the elements of the motherboard. But, sorry, I wouldn't call it a blowout. On the other hand, it is worth noting that after installing the fan from Titan, the airflow really began to take place and, moreover, it was very serious. The temperature of the batteries on the motherboard after that 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 the efficiency of the cooler after switching from 12V to 5V. In this case, 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 immediate rivals.

cooler master Hyper 6+

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

Let's move on to review it. It comes with a 100mm fan, which pales a bit compared to Thermaltake's 120mm fan. Since these coolers need a large air flow to adequately blow the radiator, which can only be created by a large fan. In our case, it is slightly less than one might expect. In this case, it is worth waiting for a sufficiently high noise level. The manufacturer claims fan speed from 1800 to 3600! Moreover, in the latter case, we can get such speed only if there is PWM on the motherboard. Our current motherboard DFI nForce 4 Ultra LP, unfortunately, does not have such, so the tests were carried out at a relatively minimum speed of 1800RPM. It is worth saying that the model with the “+” index differs quite strongly 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. Also increased in size and fan. Now, as I said, it is 100mm, instead of 80m, like the model without a plus. The weight has 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 is already a fairly standard scheme for most heat pipe coolers. These are six heat pipes made of copper, which in turn are strung with aluminum fins. The ends of the tubes are soldered to a copper base. The cooler fins are covered with metal sidewalls.

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

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

The base of the Hyper 6+, like all tested coolers today, was treated with GOI paste. But it is worth saying that in the initial delivery Hyper 6+ comes with a very good base quality. There are no traces of cutters, no roughness. There is also a slight mirror reflection. In this case, we have a polar situation in comparison with the cooler from Thermaltake. IN this moment Cooler Master did their best. The quality is comparable to that of Zalman.

Next, we will proceed with the installation. It is worth saying that it is the same for all sockets, as in the case of 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 fasten it with large nuts at the back. Unfortunately, the use of the Back-Plate had to be abandoned due to a problem with the length of the screws. And here we meet the same shortcomings that we could see from Thermaltake. So it was decided to install Hyper 6+ in the same way as Big Typhoon. Used Back-Plate from Thermaltake:

But this time the screws were not fixed with washers, but a cooler was immediately placed on them, since otherwise the mounting frame rests against the washers. So as a result after installation it looked like this:

There was also a problem with the cooler's power connector. The capacitor next to it did not allow to insert the power cord, which, unlike the Typhoon, has a longer length and is gifted with 4 pins. So I had to use a nearby case fan connector.

After installing the cooler on the motherboard, we see that one of the holes for mounting the motherboard is rather complicated. It will take some serious effort to tighten the screw. However, the previous cooler had no problems with this.

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

But the cords from Molex already rest against the casing of our cooler:

When installed, the Hyper 6+ was positioned in such a way that the air was blown back to the case fan on the back of the case.

Turning on the system, we see a pleasant illumination near the fan of our cooler. We can see something similar, for example, on the Zalman 9500.

After removing the cooler, I found serious problems with the contact between the base of the Hyper 6+ and the processor. This conclusion can be drawn based on the fact that the main part of the thermal paste remained on the processor's heat-distributing cover. Several times I had to remove the cooler. I used various methods of fastening, but this did not lead to positive changes. It is worth saying that the cooler itself was held on the motherboard rather rigidly. It was not clear to me what the bad clamp was connected with. I can assume that the matter is in a defective mounting frame, perhaps in something else. But one thing is clear that there are problems in the mount. This was also indicated by the fact that during the tests the cooler almost did not heat up. The upper part of it was completely cold! And this is in situations where the processor worked at temperatures of about 70 degrees! Speaking about the noise emitted by the cooler, it's worth saying that there are no problems with it. At 1800RPM it's pretty quiet, though 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, Hyper 6+ emits an incredible level of noise. According to Cooler Master about 46.4 dBA! On the whole, the cooler is made of high quality, and if there were incomprehensible problems with the pressure, it could show more serious results than what I got. The retail price of Cooler Master hyper 6+ fluctuates around $45-50, and in general, this is a rather rare guest on our market. On this we move on to the next rival TT Big Typhoon, but already made in Japan.

Scythe Ninja

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

I'll start with the fact that this cooler is made in Japan, which is somewhat rare these days due to more Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese production. First of all, such a pedigree inspires some confidence among most users. Whether the cooler justifies it remains to be seen.

Ninja has very large dimensions compared to the cooler we just reviewed. The dimensions are 110x110x150, which cannot but cause a feeling of respect for such a structure. Although, in general, the structure itself is quite standard for heat pipe coolers. Since we can once again observe 6 heat pipes on which aluminum plates are strung, and the copper base is also characteristic. But what, perhaps, is out of the scope of this cooler's analogues is the length of the tubes. From the side it may seem that there are 12 of them, in fact, as I said, there are 6 of them, but they are very long, and, forming a semi-oval, they 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 is a large round hole.

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

First of all, the cooler is a passive cooling system. But we have the ability to install a fan with a diameter of 120mm on it. By the way, it is worth mentioning that Scythe has a solution already with the fan already installed. It is referred to as the Scythe Ninja Plus, which retails for just over $45 for the regular version. The price of the passive version is about $40. The fan is installed using the wires provided for this purpose, which are included in the kit. Also, we have the opportunity to install a second fan. But for this, you yourself need to come up with what you will use to fasten. An ordinary copper wire is quite suitable for this role, which, if properly bent, would allow the fan to be fixed. And theoretically, the cooler allows the installation of as many as 4 fans!

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

It's time to start installing. 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 an overall cooler is capable of chipping a fragile crystal with appropriate pressure. Athlon processors xp. In general, their warnings are not in vain, because the weight of the cooler is 665g. Although in the case of Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and Thermaltake Big Typhoon, even with a much higher weight (the difference is more than 100g), the manufacturer still endowed these coolers with Socket A support. Although in the case of Scythe Ninja there are some specific points. But more on that later. Let's start with the simplest installation 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 slightly more complicated. We will have to install the Back-Plate from the back of the motherboard, screw the appropriate fasteners to it from the front and hook Ninja on 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 that we can find on Socket 478:

Unlike the last time (in the previous article on Socket 775), the installation was quite easy. The latches fit easily into the corresponding holes. Remembering the last installation, it is worth mentioning one important fact. Namely, after a long use of the cooler (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 still remove the Back-Plate, they did not lead to success. A metal plate with a sticky base did not want to separate. More precisely, the metal part could be separated, but what was located under it, unfortunately, was not. So before I started testing today, I didn't have a Back-Plate for Ninja. But fortunately, it is not needed for installation on Socket 939, since the standard Back-Plate is used. I advise 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 during 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 fiery option in the face of an overclocked SmithField) to constantly seriously heat up the near-socket platform of the motherboard boards, which will encourage more sticking of the Back-Plate.

Let's get back 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 is very tough. This mount provides excellent clamping. The Japanese were very successful in this approach.

The Ninja takes up a lot of space in the case. Although, for example, a fairly large distance remains to the video card. The cooler does not come into contact with any of the elements of the motherboard. And even with past testing on the mother Asus motherboard P5WD2, near the socket of which there is an overall heatsink on the northbridge, there were no problems.

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

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

During its operation, the fan from the Titan at maximum speed is quite noisy, although there are no problems with noise at 5V.

AMD box cooler

The last tested opponent of the TT Big Typhoon was the standard BOX from AMD.

An all-aluminum heatsink with thick fins and a small rather noisy fan. All this is characteristic of standard cooling. Although, it's worth saying that AMD still makes BOX quite efficiently and soundly unlike Intel, which, even when SmithField appeared on the market, continued to assemble them with the same inefficient, noisy coolers. The fan speed ranges from 1200 to 3600RPM.

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

Prior to this testing, this cooler has already been used for quite a long time on today's system, so the thermal paste cast 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 about it only in a positive way. And now, after a long rhetoric, it's time to start the main thing, namely testing. But first, let's take a look at the summary table of the characteristics of the tested coolers, with the exception of BOX:

Characteristics of tested coolers

Cooler Specifications	Cooler Master Hyper 6+	Scythe Ninja	Thermaltake Big Typhoon
Cooler dimensions, mm	88x88x35	110 x 110 x 150	122x122x103
Rated voltage, V	12	0	12 (7 starters)
Rated current, A	—	—	—
Power consumption, W	—	—	~3.6
Radiator material	Aluminum plates strung on 6 heat pipes and a copper base		Aluminum plates on a copper base and 6 copper heat pipes
Dispersion area, sq.cm	—	—	—
Fan speed, RPM	1800 ~ 3600	—	~1400
Air flow generated by the fan	31.33 ~ 72.14	—	54.4
Noise level, dBA	20.6 ~ 46.4	0	16
Number and type of fan bearings	1, rolling	—	1, slip
Gross weight, g	795 (no fan)	665	813
Ability to install on CPU sockets		Socket 478, LGA 775, Socket 754/939/94	Socket 462(A), Socket 478, LGA 775, Socket 754/939/940
Additionally comes with	Thermal paste from Cooler Master	Thermal paste from Scythe based on silicone	Thermalpaste from Thermaltake
Approximate retail price, $	~45-50	~40	~35-38

Test stand and testing methodology

It is worth saying that on the day of testing, the temperature in the room was about 32 degrees! Outside the window it was possible to observe approximately the same values. It is this value that the results of coolers in a calm state will rest on. Before proceeding with the description of the equipment used and the 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 an equal to it?
• Cheap case and heat pipe cooler, does it make sense?
• Does the Athlon Venice require 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 [email protected]
• Samsung 80Gb 7200RPM (IDE)
• Thermaltake ToughPower 550W
• Inwin S508

A cheap solution from Inwin was deliberately used as a case. It was interesting for me to establish the real rationality of using "super-coolers" in such conditions.

When testing in the case, we used 80mm Thermaltake fans, with a speed level of up to 3000RPM. One of them was located on the front of the hull below and worked for blowing. The second was on the back of the case and worked for blowing. The third was installed on the case door and worked for blowing. Testing was carried out in two versions: with and without a side fan.

Tested coolers (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 a very high voltage level in order 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 in two ways. In the first case using BurnK7:

And in the second case with the help of S&M, the processor load is 100%.

Finally, let's move on to the test results.

Test results

And here are the long-awaited test results. In such an easy mode, even in such heat, there were no surprises. All coolers are approximately on the same level. Outsiders can only be attributed to Box, operating in 5V mode and Scythe Ninja, which was deprived of its fan and was a passive option. It is also worth mentioning that "TT BT 12V*" means TT Big Typhoon, on which the Titan fan is installed. It is worth saying that the temperature in Idle completely rested on the temperature of the room, and therefore it could not be less than 32 degrees.

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

But in the most severe mode, clear leaders are revealed. Most coolers at such a voltage on the processor could not work correctly at all, having missed the temperature of the stone by 70 degrees. This applies to both the boxed cooler and the passive Ninja. However, even when using a 5V fan, the Japanese cooler also failed the S&M test. The Big Typhoon had a similar take into account, but only at the minimum speed. Since at the maximum, he had no problems at all. This cooler showed an excellent level of performance with a small margin surpassing the Scythe Ninja.

Next, I turned on the fan on the case door. Such a manipulation allowed the cooler from Thermaltake to improve its result a little more, while Ninja didn't improve much. Well, we can say with confidence that Big Typhoon succeeded in cooling the processor even in such difficult conditions, but what can we say about cooling the motherboard elements?

In general, the results of the coolers are on 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 TT Big Typhoon and Scythe Ninja again. But it is worth noting that when using a standard fan, Typhoon shows very modest results, yielding even to BOX, this is primarily due to a rather weak air flow. Still, at 1400RPM, the airflow is too low to adequately cool the motherboard. But what is most interesting, when using a 5V TT fan, we observe the most modest results at all. Only in this case the temperature of the motherboard went over 60 degrees! So, in the standard configuration, Typhoon, as a means of blowing the motherboard, is still rather weak, although when using a more resourceful fan in this component, it can become a leader.

Well, we have reviewed 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, overclocking is very weak. Of course, the fact that the processor initially had a rather high voltage of -1.4V, and not 1.3, also had an effect. So, after a voltage of 1.55V, the processor hardly reacts to its increase. But most importantly, such overclocking turned out to be 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 a heat pipe cooler is almost necessary. But cold Venice doesn't need it. With moderate voltages, even BOX can handle overclocking this processor.

As we can see, even in such heat, at a not very high voltage during overclocking, Big Typhoon keeps the processor within 50 degrees. For this he can put a solid five! Efficiency is top notch.

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" justified itself once again, showing excellent results, which once again proves the rationality of conducting all tests using this thermal interface.

conclusions

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

Speaking about the effectiveness of KPT-8 thermal paste, it is worth saying that there were no surprises. She once again proved that she has no equal yet, having outperformed her rivals with a serious backlog.

Further, today's testing clearly showed that the use of 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 high-performance coolers on the Athlon Venice, it is worth saying that from my point of view, this is rather unreasonable, due to the lack of influence of the cooler efficiency on overclocking potential processor. In this case, the Box option is quite enough.

Thermaltake Big Typhoon— a great cooler with an amazing level of efficiency and at the same time a very low price. But despite this, there are shortcomings in terms of execution (quality of base processing) and equipment (insufficient length of fixing screws). I would gladly recommend this cooling system to most users as one of the best coolers at the moment.

Scythe Ninja — excellent level performance. The ability to install several fans, which allows us to call this solution the most efficient, but still quite extreme in terms of noise. The recent price drop 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 handles not-so-hot CPUs with even a little overclocking.

Cooler master Hyper 6+— relative rarity, overpriced, impossibility to use the cooler at maximum speed on most motherboards, all this makes it impossible to speak positively about this cooler. Unfortunately, incomprehensible problems with the clamping of the base have not been resolved. This product can be called quite raw. This can be seen both in not the most rational decisions in terms of installing the cooler, and in the terrible noise at maximum speeds. 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 not made any competition.

box— Standard cooling pleased me. It has a decent level of efficiency, and does not irritate with noise. This cooler copes well with its duties of cooling the processor, both in normal mode and in overclocking.

The cooler, which will be discussed in this review, does not require long introductions, it has long established itself as a quiet and at the same time efficient processor cooling system and, in a way, has become a benchmark for other coolers. Yes, this is Thermaltake Big Typhoon, more precisely Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX. The latter is a modification of the original version, having received a faster fan with a maximum rotation speed of 2000 rpm and changing the mounts.

Full specification:

	Thermaltake BigType 120VX (CL-P0310-01)
Support for processor sockets	LGA 775, Socket 754/939/AM2
Processor support	Intel Core 2 Exterme, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Pentium Extreme Edition, Intel Pentium D, Intel Pentium 4, Intel Celeron D, AMD Athlon 64 X2, AMD Athlon 64 FX, AMD Athlon 64, AMD Sempron
Radiator material	Copper base + aluminum plates (142) + 6 heat pipes 6 mm
Radiator dimensions, mm
Fan dimensions, mm
Rated voltage, V
Starting voltage, V
Power consumption, W
Rotation speed, rpm
Air flow, CFM
Air pressure, mmH2O
Noise level, dB
Power connector	3 pin
Resource, hours
Thermal interface	in a bag
Products webpage
average price

The Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX cooler is packed in a plastic case, placed in a red and black cardboard box with a window through which the cooler's appearance is quite clearly visible. The cardboard box is quite informatively filled, the full specification of the product is applied on the side.

Listed on the back of the box best qualities, and posted photos of the Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX cooler from different angles.

The package includes a small number of components. It's just a shame for such a miserable amount of thermal interface, it is enough for only one installation.

The cooler comes with:

• small installation instructions;
• clamp on four latches for LGA 775;
• clamping clip for AMD platforms;
• thermal paste bag.

Cooler Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX has a fairly large size and weight of 827 grams. The radiator consists of 142 aluminum plates mounted on six 6 mm heat pipes. A large 120 mm fan is mounted on top of the heatsink, which blows air downwards, thus cooling not only the heatsink, but also elements around the processor socket, such as modules random access memory and a processor power stabilization unit.

The fan is attached to the radiator frame with four screws.

In profile, the shape of the bend of the heat pipes is clearly visible. The name of the company "Thermaltake" is engraved on the frame of the radiator.

To control the rotation speed of the 120 mm fan, a small regulator is installed in the top corner. With it, you can change the speed from 1300 to 2000 rpm. According to the specification, at maximum speed, the air flow reaches a value of 2.45 cubic meters per minute (86.5 CFM). The fan wires are in a protective casing. The catchy orange impeller is covered with a protective black grill, which reduces the chance of foreign elements getting into it. In addition to the main function, it also performs a decorative role; in the center it is decorated with the Thermaltake logo. At a speed of 1300 rpm, the fan runs almost inaudibly, but with an increase in speed, a noticeable noise appears.

The thickness of the base of the BigTyp 120 VX cooler is not very large. For better heat exchange with heat pipes, troughs are made in it to the depth of the entire diameter of the tubes. The heat pipes are soldered to the base, and covered on top with a fairly thin copper plate with a limiter for fasteners.

The quality of the surface treatment of the base leaves much to be desired, and there is no need to talk about some kind of mirror surface.

Finally, let's say a few words about the mount. The Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX cooler is attached to AMD platforms according to the box principle - with a clamping clip with a lock. The Intel platforms with the LGA 775 processor socket come with a special clip with latches, the same as for the "boxed" cooler. The process of installing and removing the cooler is quite simple and fast, but still there are some doubts about the reliability of fasteners, given the weight of the Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX.

Testing

The test configuration of the platform with an AMD and Intel processor was assembled from the following components:

On the AMD platform:

Motherboard	ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe on nForce 570SLI (AM2, DDR2, ATX)
CPU	AMD Athlon 64 3600+ X2 (ADO3600JAA4CU), AM2, @2600MHz
RAM	2 x DDR2-800 512MB Transcend PC6400
video card	Gigabyte GV-NX76G256D GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2 PCI-E
HDD	Samsung HD080HJ 80GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA-300
optical drive
Power Supply	Fortron ATX400-PNF 400W 120mm low noise fan
	COLORSit ATX-L8032 + 92mm SilverStone FN91

On the Intel platform:

Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-965P-DS4 (Intel P965 Express)
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (LGA775, 1.86GHz, L2 2MB) @2.8GHz
RAM	2x DDR2-800 1024MB PQI PC6400
video card	EVGA GeForce 8600GTS 256MB DDR3 PCI-E
HDD	Samsung HD080HJ, 80 GB, SATA-300
optical drive	ASUS DRW-1814BLT SATA
Power Supply	Chieftec CFT-500-A12S 500W, 120mm fan
	CODEGEN M603 MidiTower, 2 x 120mm fans for intake / exhaust

We tested the cooler in three processor modes, with different fan speeds:

Idle. Idle mode, in which the processor load is minimal. In this mode, the computer is running when the user is working in office applications or browsing the internet.

Normal. The processor load is at the level of 60%, as when performing simple tasks or tasks not intended for multi-threaded execution. We got this mode of operation when transcoding uncompressed wav to mp3 using the LAME codec, which works in single-threaded mode.

Burn. The maximum processor load mode, which is typical for many resource-intensive tasks and modern games, was simulated by the CPU stress test of the EVEREST program.

Who would doubt, quite expected excellent result is shown. The difference in readings at a speed of 1300 and 2000 rpm is 2-3 degrees, which can be sacrificed for the sake of more comfortable and quiet operation.

Conclusions.

Cooler Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX is one of the best in terms of price and features. Maybe some "aesthetics" will not like its appearance much, but people who need functionality in the first place will stop at it. A large 120mm downward blowing fan not only cools the heatsink, but also the motherboard components surrounding the CPU socket, which is very important during long-term operation of the system. The Thermaltake BigTyp 120 VX cooler, even at a minimum speed of 1300 rpm, at which it is almost inaudible, is able to provide sufficient processor cooling. Therefore, it can be fully recommended not only for gamers and overclockers, but also for people who simply appreciate peace and quiet.

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

Today, there are many different coolers on the Ukrainian market. Among them there are both expensive and affordable models, 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 are not always bad. There are many well-known companies on the market, but sometimes there are also small ones that are trying to gain celebrity and popularity for themselves with high-quality and more affordable models.
The first one is Thermaltake, 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 to overclock even old 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 have selected an opponent for Typhoon from the Noctua camp, the NH-U12P cooler. The company has been selling its products in Western Europe for a long time, but it is practically not common in Ukraine.
Perhaps today there is a situation where you can buy good processor for the corresponding 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 adequate 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 test conditions.

So, the introduction is over, let's move on to practice. For testing, I used the following system:
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Quad Q6600(G0)
MotherboardASUS 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 drive Seagate ST3750330AS 750gb
PSUThermaltake ToughPower 750W
Drive ASUS DRW-1814
Housing Cooler Master Elite 331 (1x12 cm blowing)
UPSAPC Back-UPS CS 500
Operating systemWindows Vista 64bit sp1

The day before, I did a preliminary setup of the system and a stability test. I must admit, I failed to overclock the processor to a frequency of 3.6. More precisely, it was possible, but the system worked in the OSST for about an hour, and then I watched the “death screen”. And so it was repeated several times. Perhaps the reason was the overheating of the north bridge, although this is not known for sure. But I set myself the task of squeezing the maximum while maintaining FULL stability, and when the system worked steadily 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 test subjects:
P.S. I will not dwell on cardboard and plastic boxes, however, I note that outwardly the Taufun packaging looks more solid, about the configuration - read below:

Thermaltake Big Typhoon 120VX

Next in line is a popular model from Thermaltake, which has already gone through several changes. 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 traditional red colors for the company. The cooler itself is perfectly visible through the transparent plastic casing.

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

Declared characteristics:

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

Of all the tested coolers, the Big Typhoon turned out to have the worst base processing quality. As you can see, despite some evolution of this cooler, it doesn't get to 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 control located directly on it, and is not taken out of 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, the Big Typhoon looks huge. The red color of the impeller and the curved lines of the grill grate make the appearance aesthetically pleasing.

Given the weight of the cooler, the reliability of fastening with plastic latches is questionable. But, unfortunately, the manufacturer decided that no additional funds to strengthen the motherboard is not needed.