Air Coolers

Air CPU Coolers

Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review

June 12, 2013
By

nocu7
Noctua is always innovating with new product designs and they’ve just introduced a new tower style cooler, the NH-U12S which is what I have for review today. This cooler is a thin design, it’s only 45mm deep which makes it ideal for using with performance style ram that utilizes large style heatspreaders as it doesn’t protrude over the ram slots of the majority of motherboards made today. The cooler utilizes the Noctua NF-F12 which is a 120mm forced focus fan that’s made specifically for use with CPU coolers. The NH-U12S can use one fan or you can purchase an additional fan for even more cooling performance, with one or two fans the NH-U12S runs virtually silent like most all Noctua products. I’ve put the NH-U12S up against several other coolers for comparison, and it performs very well indeed, so read on to learn more…

 

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Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

January 16, 2013
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Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler Review

Noctua is company known for high quality and excellent performing CPU coolers and fans. It’s safe to say that most of their product line is aimed at the high end user who wants to push their system or CPU to the limits. Enthusiasts, or overclockers they would be called, and that’s all fine and good if you’re that type of person, Noctua certainly has a cooler for you that will keep your CPU cool even under overclocked conditions. What happens if you’re not one of those types of people? What about those who really don’t care much about overclocking, or those that much prefer an SFF or HTPC style system? Your choices are pretty limited when it comes to choosing a CPU cooler that is quiet and yet performs well and one that’s high quality. Noctua has a solution for you now, they’ve ventured into making coolers made for more cramped systems, and they’ve brought all of their knowledge and skills from making enthusiast style coolers to do this so you can expect a top-notch product . They’ve come out with two of these coolers, one of which I have for review today called the NH-L9i, where the ‘I’ in the name stands for Intel, the other cooler is the NH-L9a which is for AMD CPUs specifically. So I have the NH-L9i for review and I’ve put it up against a larger Noctua cooler for comparison as I was curious to see how well this tiny cooler would perform. So Read on…

 

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Noctua NM-I3 Mounting Kit Review

January 13, 2013
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Noctua makes great coolers, but as time goes on the older ones just won’t work with the new sockets that keep coming out. The coolers Noctua makes are excellent quality and perform well and they do come at a price, a higher price than most other out there, but they’re well worth it as you know if you’ve ever owned any. I have several of them and I recently decided to upgrade one of my kids computers with my old Core i5 setup and wanted to use a good cooler with it, and that meant I grabbed one of the unused Noctua ones that I had sitting around but I found it wouldn’t work with the socket 1156. Noctua has a solution for this though, the NM-I3 Mounting Kit that works with any of the new and old Noctua coolers so you can use them with newer sockets. The kit essentially makes them never become obsolete so that Noctua cooler you bought three years ago can still be used with the latest CPUs of today. The kit can be obtained free of charge actually from Noctua if you provide proof of purchase or it can be bought for only $10, which is well worth it I think to be able to use the older cooler with the newer platforms. So read on for a quick review of the NM-I3 kit….

 

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Phanteks PH-TC14CS_RD CPU Cooler Review

May 22, 2012
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Phanteks PH-TC14CS_RD CPU Cooler Review

Up for review today is another CPU cooler, this one is the latest and greatest from a company called Phanteks. I’ve not had the pleasure of reviewing their products before so this is a treat for me. The cooler is the PH-TC14CS_RD where the RD means red, yes the cooler is red in color but there are several other color options available. The PH-TC14CS is a rather beefy cooler and it comes with two 140mm fans making it even larger in size, but it’s meant to be a top-notch performer and I can tell you that it is easily keeping my Core i7 2600K cool even while overclocked. The cooler can be used in different configurations offering several mounting options in your case, one of them is the ability to use one fan on top allowing you to use larger style ram in your system. This Phanteks cooler is well made and it performs very well, so read on to learn more…

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Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler Review

May 8, 2012
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Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler Review

Noctua is well known for their excellent cooling products, when it comes to the enthusiast end of things Noctua knows what it’s doing that’s for sure. Many of Noctua’s products are aimed at the high-end or enthusiast user who likes to overclock their systems and get the most out of them. Not everybody falls into that category though and they just want a decent cooling solution for their CPU, one that’s quality made and one that’s quiet. I for one prefer both in my systems with quiet being one of the more important things on my list of requirements for a CPU cooler. Making products for enthusiasts usually means big, but Noctua has recently introduced a cooler that’s surprisingly not aimed at the enthusiast market, or at least not the overclockers out there anyway. The Noctua NH-L12 is a low-profile style cooler meant for smaller systems like small form factor or HTPC where space is quite limited. The NH-L12 is meant to keep your CPU cooler but yet keep things running quiet. Let’s continue on…

 

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Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review

September 30, 2011
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Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review

The CPU cooler is probably one of the most important parts
of your computer system; it’s what keeps your CPU cool and working great. Today
for review I’ve got the Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU cooler which is big and bold
with styling based on Starcraft II actually. The cooler is meant to keep your
CPU cool whether you overclock it or not. So read on…
 

 

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Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler Review

May 22, 2011
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Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler Review

Noctua is a company known for making quality and well
performing CPU Coolers, some of the best on the market today surely. They’ve
recently introduced a new cooler called the NH-C14 which gets its name from
the ‘C’ shape that the cooler is. The NH-C14 comes equipped with two Noctua NF-P14
140mm fans for excellent cooling performance. The two fans are mounted, one on
top and one on the bottom, and you can configure it however you like. If you
need more room beneath the cooler then just use the top fan. The NH-C14 is made
to be versatile and have good performance at the same time.

 

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Silenx Effizio EFZ-80HA2 Compact CPU Cooler Review

August 21, 2010
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Silenx Effizio EFZ-80HA2 Compact CPU Cooler Review

The CPU cooler is probably one of the
most important parts of your system, and a lot of people just deal
with the stock cooler. A cool CPU is a happy CPU, but most decent
coolers are large and they just won’t fit in all cases, especially if
you want to use a microATX case or maybe an HTPC case. A small cooler
is what you need, and the one I have today might be perfect for a
situation where a small but good performing CPU cooler is needed.
It’s from Silenx and it’s called the Effizio EFZ-80HA2 Compact CPU
Cooler. So read on to learn more about it and see how it performs…

 

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Zaward Vapor120 CPU Cooler Review

May 7, 2010
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Zaward Vapor120 CPU Cooler Review

 

A heatsink that breathes, say what? Yep
today I’ve got for review the Zaward Vapor120 that is a breathable
heatsink On the heatsink fins are dimples that allow the cooler to
breathe thus improving heat exchange efficiency by up to 30%. Does
it work? Well that’s what we’re here to find out. I’m testing it on
my Corei5 750 CPU and i’ve put it up against a couple other coolers
for comparison, so read on to learn more about this cooler and see
how it performs..

 

 

 

 

 

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Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler Review

April 11, 2010
By

Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler Review

 

Today for review I’ve got another CPU
Cooler from our friends at Thermaltake called the Frio. This cooler
is aimed at those that like to overclock their CPUs. The Frio is
fairly large but it performs very well especially when running on an
overclocked CPU. It comes with two fans that have in-line speed
controllers on them, and the cooler itself features five U-shaped
heatpipes. I’ve put it up against my current CPU cooler, the Noctua
NH-U12P on my Corei5 750 CPU running at both stock and overclocked
speeds and I have to say that I am truly impressed by the performance
of this cooler. So read on…

 

 

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