Hardware News

CPU Cooler Review Roundup - ASUS, Noctua, Scythe & More

Patrick "MACMAC" MacMillan

2009-04-27 22:00:00.0


Frostytech, Guru3D, PC Perspective, PureOverclock, and t-break have reviewed CPU coolers from ASUS, Cooler Master, Noctua, Scythe, and Vigor Gaming.

Let's see what they had to say:

  • Frostytech: Cooler Master Hyper N520 Heatsink Review‏:

    "Ultimately the Coolermaster Hyper N520 heatsink proves itself to be a good mainstream CPU heatsink on both Intel and AMD thermal test platforms. Noise output from the twin 92mm fans remains at a fixed 49.0 dBA, which is neither whisper quiet nor unnecessarily loud. The Hyper N520's 142mm height is slightly more compact than a lot of tower heatsinks out there, but not enough to really separate it from the kind of thermal performance that class of heatsinks offer."


    Click here to read the full review.


  • Frostytech: Scythe Kama Angle Heatsink Review‏:

    "Bottom line - at full fan speed the Scythe Kama Angle is a very good lower-noise heatsink for both Intel and AMD processor platforms because it is able to keep temperatures low without excessive noise generation (43dBA according to our real world measurements). Users with full tower computer systems will find the Kama Angle a worthy low noise heatsink to consider, particularly as the unit is able to maintain good-to-average cooling at its slowest fan speed of 500RPM when it's virtually silent."


    Click here to read the full review.


  • Guru3D: Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler‏ Review:

    "The Cooler Master Hyper N520 is an interesting CPU cooler for the average PC consumer. It's not priced too high at 30 EUR. Though in USD the price could be a little lower as right now it starts at 40 USD.

    The performance of the cooler is very adequate and as such it is competing with the OCZ Vendetta 2, a cooler that is exactly in the same price range. The design is great, and esthetically the Hyper N520 is a very pleasing cooler. With two fans and lack of proper PWM control; however, we do feel it's a tiny little bit on the noisy side. You will hear this fan, it won't be loud .. but it's there alright. Some of you guys hate that, some just do not bother. I like my cooler quiet though."


    Click here to read the full review.


  • PC Perspective: Vigor Gaming Monsoon III LT CPU Cooling System Review‏:

    "Vigor’s Monsoon III LT definitely delivered during testing and I think it could have even handled a mild overclock on our Intel i7-920 CPU. I was also a bit surprised at how well it kept up with our Zalman CNPS9900 LED heatsink. The dual 120mm fans and dual fin arrays seemed to be a winning combination that should give other third-party heatsinks on the market a run for their money.

    At around $55.99 before shipping, the price point for this heatsink is a little less than many high-end heatsinks on the market. One item to note is the overall noise created by the heatsink during operation was not overbearing and didn’t seem to raise our system’s decibel rating much during testing. We already had three 120mm fans and one 230mm fan going, so maybe that’s why we didn’t notice much of a difference when we added the Monsoon III LT to our system."


    Click here to read the full review.


  • PureOverclock: Noctua NH-U12P 1366:

    "The Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 is a very good looking cooler that showcases a rather conservative aesthetic, though the fan colour combination may not be to everyone's preference. We do think that performance is where it counts, however, and this Noctua cooler does indeed get the job done very admirably. In our testing we found that it's not quite as efficient as the top HDT coolers, but it is nipping at their heels, doing a very good job at keeping a highly overclocked Core i7 chip in check.

    The installation of the NH-U12P SE1366 is better than most other coolers we've reviewed due to its backplate mounting method, so it's a boon to enthusiasts looking for quality and straightforward installation"


    Click here to read the full review.


  • t-break: Asus Axe Square:

    "The Asus Axe Square packaging is rather extreme; it’s almost as if the heatsink were made out of real gold! The huge heatsink with its’ five copper heat pipes that are all plated in nickel really does make the Axe Square eye grabbing.

    Installation of the heatsink is painless; mounting it on an AMD chip requires little effort and LGA 775/LGA 1366 brackets only need the supplied screws to hold it onto the motherboard using Intel’s standard “push-pins” system.

    Comparing it to other heatsinks in our lab, we ended up seeing 70°C under load and 50°C when idle in our stress program, OCCT (OverClock Checking Tool) while using the default CPU voltage. When we upped the CPU voltage to 1.32V, OCCT showed 57°C when idle and 105°C under load, at which point the system became unstable. We can assume that the high temperature could be due to the slow rated fan that’s mounted on the Axe Square, as the heatsink is in full contact with the CPU, meaning that inadequate heat transfer was not the issue here."


    Click here to read the full review.


    Enjoy!

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