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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 01 April 2016 22:37
Over the past eight years of reviewing, even with all of the different heatsinks and water cooling options we have covered there has been one constant. In nearly every build or test bench if we weren’t going with water cooling Noctua coolers have been at the top of our list. Recently as far as full sized builds go everything that wasn’t a test bench has been water cooled, but the small form factor builds have nearly all been sporting Noctua NH-L9i’s. This has partially been because I like Noctua’s low noise but more than anything the NH-L9i just kept them all cool and took up less space than even a stock cooler. Recently though I have been working on building a new Lunchbox project build, we have been collecting parts and covering them in various reviews. Well when I got everything together the NH-L9i just couldn’t handle the higher heat output that the i7-6700K was putting out. This wasn’t a big shock given the coolers 65 watt cooling rating and the heat issues that same CPU gave us even with a full sized cooler on our test bench. So this gave me the chance to test out the slightly larger NH-L9x65 from Noctua. Today I’m going to talk about how it performed and run through its features. You can also get a sneak peek at our upcoming build!
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 11 March 2016 23:41
So you have built your new rig but it feels like it is missing something. Well you might be running the stock cooler or you might even have a decent air cooler installed. They might get the job done but when it comes to putting so much money into your computer it’s hard to know that you spent that much while still skimping on your cooling. You could just throw down and build a full custom water cooling loop, I know I’ve done that on a few of my builds. But things have gotten so much easier with all in one water cooling kits coming out from basically every manufacture. Well in the case of my LAN rig I had installed an AIO water cooler last year but recently is has been driving me crazy with water in the lines. Because of that I reach out to our old friends over at Swiftech about their new H220 X2 AIO kit. The difference between their kits and most other manufactures is they are basically an all in one custom kit that you can expand and upgrade later. The new models add in LED lighting, a visible reservoir, and many more features over past models. So not only does it give me a chance to check out what the new kits are all about, it also helps give the LAN rig an upgrade before I make it out to a few events over the summer.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 03 February 2016 02:07
With both AMD and Intel, the stock coolers that they bundle with their CPUs seem like they have been the same forever. There have been changes in the Intel cooler over the years but AMD has stuck with it, mostly because their mounting system has been consistent forever. Well this year at CES AMD announced changes in theirs. They brought their new Wraith cooler to CES and were showing off the performance. Well last week they sent out their new cooler along with the AMD FX 8370 CPU. We have tested the FX 8370 before but it does give me a chance to see how the new cooler performs. So today I’m going to test the new coolers cooling and noise performance as well as the old AMD cooler to see how they compare.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 02 January 2015 09:27
While water cooling has been especially popular over the last few years, there are still a lot of people who would prefer to not deal with the additional risks and installation complication. On top of that, when you are looking for really high end cooling it actually costs a lot more than you think to go water cooling. This is where companies like Noctua come in. You see cheap water cooling doesn’t always compete with air cooling, especially when it comes to noise. So Noctua continues to innovate in the air cooling market. Their top dog is called the NH-D15. Well they sent one out a while back and being the slackers that we are it ended up pushed back. Today I will finally have the chance to check out their biggest and best to see just how it compares to the completion both on the air and water cooling sides.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 05 December 2014 14:09
I remember just over 5 years ago at CES was the first time I had ever seen a sealed water cooling system. At the time, it seemed a little crazy. How would it fit various PCs? What about maintenance? At that time the only real options were custom setups using parts designed for fish tanks. That company introduced their kit later on (Cool-It’s Domino), it had its share of problems, not to mention trying to convince people you weren’t crazy when you said you want to put water inside of their PC. Years later it feels like everyone has gotten into the market and those designs have improved year after year. Cooler Master for the last few years has been trying there hand at it. Today I have the chance to dig in check out their latest model, the Nepton 240M. They have had a few Nepton models before but this is the first 240mm model.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 05 November 2014 11:02
For years now I have been a huge fan of Noctua products, especially their fans. I will admit though, it took me a while to get used to the odd brown colors that they use. After a while I came to the conclusion that it was worth having fans that didn’t necessarily go with my builds because their performance is amazing. Recently Noctua finally introduced two new fan product lines that feature two new color schemes that most likely will fit a little better with most builds while still being unique enough to still stand out as Noctua fans. Today I will be checking out their IndustrialPPC and Redux fan lines. IndustrialPPC is black with a dark brown and Redux are light grey with a dark grey. We know how well Noctua fans perform so today I will mostly just be showing off the new color schemes. Enjoy!
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 02 July 2014 23:24
It is easy to get carried away with size and bulk in the air cooler market. Many tower coolers have moved on to incorporate 140mm fans into their designs and push the limits on available board real estate around the CPU socket. Still there is a market for value market air-cooling that doesn’t take up space and still gives you competitive performance for your dollar. Recently we took a look at the NH-U12S and today we are back with a smaller cooler offering by Evercool. This four heat pipe 120mm air cooler promises to offer you a cooler processor without the need to hand over your wallet. Join me as we take a look at the Venti and see if this budget cooler is worth your time and money.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 28 April 2014 07:39
Recently we reviewed the NH-U12S from Noctua, an efficiently designed tower cooler sized to combat most of the negative aspects that air coolers tend to face and we were pleasantly surprised by the performance. Today we take a look at the much larger NH-U14S from Noctua with a similar focus reasonable sizing and space for RAM and other board components while still bringing that top tier Noctua performance we have all come to expect. Will the U14S improve upon its smaller counterparts numbers or will we be left wanting? Join me to find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 16 April 2014 11:50
Noctua has always been known for their quality products and high performance air coolers. The issue with tower air coolers is that they often tend to be large, heavy and cover up portions of your motherboard under their bulk. While most companies have shifted their focus to the less intrusive all-in-one liquid coolers, Noctua has stayed true to their air cooling roots. Today we take a look at their NH-U12S performance cooler; a tower cooler in a smaller, more space friendly package that promises the same performance you would get out of larger, bulkier models and run it through our tests. Is the age of air cooling at an end or just in transition? We’ll find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 27 November 2013 20:16
Lately we’ve been taking a look at CPU coolers for larger ATX setups in more traditional cases but with the recent Lunchbox build it is clear that the little guys need some attention. To that end we will be taking a look at the AXP-100 cooler from Thermalright and designed for ITX systems. We’ll be running the cooler through the same battery of tests as the rest of our coolers to see its performance against the big boys. Unfair for sure but as we have seen, ITX builds aren’t just for media centers anymore.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 20 November 2013 11:39
Today we are back with another AIO water cooling solution, this time from Corsair’s award-winning Hydro series. While Corsair has certainly been the king of the mountain for a while in the AIO market, competitors have recently made some quite impressive challenges to the throne. The H80i promises high performance cooling and unparalleled control via its built-in Corsair Link controller in a package fitting the Corsair name. With integrated Corsair Link functionality and a push-pull fan configuration where will the H80i land on our charts? Read on to find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 04 November 2013 16:37
Having recently reviewed a cadre of big block, multi-heat pipe air coolers it is about time to switch things up and today that is exactly what we will do by taking a look at an AIO water-cool solution enthusiasts have been anticipating. Back in July, many were troubled by the news that Swiftech would be ceasing sales on its popular H220 AIO/DIY hybrid cooling kit due to a patent dispute. While some chose to import units, others simply took the news in stride and searched elsewhere for their cooling hardware. Today is the day that all ends as Cooler Master have partnered with Swiftech to bring us a spiritual successor in the form of the Glacer 240L.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 01 November 2013 12:50
Today we are back again with another multi-heatpipe CPU cooler, this time from one of the larger names in performance cooling. Gelid Solutions has been around since 2008 and have proven themselves to be manufactures of quality cooling products and accessories. Slated for the test bench is The Black Edition, a seven heatpipe air cooler that promises both quiet operation and high end performance. Will this cooler be able to stand up to our tests and impress or be relegated to the bottom self and forgotten? Let’s find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 30 October 2013 17:18
Today we take a look at our second cooler from Be Quiet! and while I was left impressed by a few features and performance found in the Dark Rock Pro 2, the massive size of the cooler left a bit to be desired in the board real estate department. This time around we are looking at a few less heat pipes, one less fan and a drastically different design in the Shadow Rock TopFlow. Will this different design match its sibling in performance and hopefully offer us a bit more space to stuff our components? We shall see.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 29 October 2013 11:56
Today we take a look at a much more basic cooling component that no build can be without. I am, of course, talking about the simple case fan and whether you are packing your case full with the intent to air cool or just need a few good radiator fans for water cooling there are numerous choices available to you. Cooler Master seems to think they have just the answer you’ve been looking for with their JetFlo 120 and we got our hands on a pair for a quick round of testing.We will see how they stand up once installed and the air starts moving.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 28 October 2013 11:42
Processor cooling is one of the most important choices a builder can make for their system. While the market is flooded with many options and styles to choose from, one market has always remained competitive and populated with choices year after year. I am, of course, talking about the large, multi-heat pipe air coolers and today we are going to take a look at the Dark Rock Pro 2 from Be Quiet! to see if it holds up through installation and our new testing procedures. Is it worth your money? I don’t know but I hear the Germans make good stuff.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 26 June 2013 13:00
Great cooling is essential to PCs now more than ever. Most PCs will rely at least partially on air cooling crucial componets. One of the case fan manufacturers that is rising in popularity is Cougar. Cougar is a company from Germany that seem to have a grasp on what enthusiast crave when look for fans for thier rigs. Constantly increasing is the demand for cooling fans that are quiet, have great airflow, and are visually appealing to the consumer. Today we are taking a look at the Cougar Vortex PWN 120mm case fan to see how it performs in a large market of cooling fans.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 04 June 2013 13:00
For the past few years Cooler Master has really been pushing their Notepal notebook cooling product line. They have introduced a wide variety of coolers with various cooling designs, different sizes, and for different uses. Even so, of their product line there has been one line specifically that I have been especially fond of. I have been using my Notepal U3 on my 18.4 inch notebook every time I travel. This is both because of its portability and also it’s cooling capabilities. Cooler Master is now introducing a new version of its U2, the Notepal U2 Plus. I’m not sure what they can improve on the original, but I’m excited to find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 22 January 2013 14:24
When it comes to keeping your fancy new CPU cool there are so many options available that it can be very confusing. You really can have just about any style and performance if your budget allows it. Recently sealed water cooling kits have been all the rage and in the past 6 month/year larger 240 kits have been popping up from all of the manufactures as well. Cooler Master is no different than everyone else, they recently jumped in with their take on them with the Seidon 120M and now today they are introducing the Seidon 240M variation. Let’s take a look to see how it performs.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Saturday, 03 November 2012 18:52
When Noctua comes to mind, I think of a company truly dedicated to innovative cooling solutions.When the opportunity came to review there Noctua NH-L12 my curiosity was peaked to say the least. The NH-L12 is a low profile CPU cooler with a L-shaped heatsink to maximise its cooling capability.The NH-L12 comes with two premium fans, a 120mm and a 92mm. It can be setup in either dual or single fan configurations to fit your specific needs. At the coolers lowest setting it's a mere 66mm high. This is ideal for small form factor cases and HTPCs. The Noctua NH-L12 has some impressive features, but will that be enough to blow away the competition?
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