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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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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 23 October 2012 13:42
The GX-7 is the first CPU cooler in GELID's 'Gamer' product line, the same line which the DarkForce mid-tower we recently covered belongs to. It is however only their second tower cooler, the Tranquillo occupying the 'Silent' product family along with a handful of compact and low profile coolers. Though we generally enjoyed GELID's maiden chassis voyage, the GX-7 is relates more to the company's cooling roots, and we're looking forward to seeing how their newest cooler performs.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 16 October 2012 15:49
Noctua’s products have always been considered quiet, high quality, and innovative cooling solutions. Noctua’s NF-F12 is no exception. The NF-F12 stands for Noctua focused flow 120mm premium fan. This fan is an improved version of the popular NF-P12 model. Noctua refined there new design over a two-year development cycle. This might seem excessive for a fan; however, the features Noctua has incorporated into this fan are impressive to say the least. The focused flow system is intended to force air through heatsinks or radiators more effectively, due to the fan’s static pressure. Noctua's contentious attention to noise reduction has led to a few new implementations on this front as well. The Noctua NF-F12 was built to perform, so without further a due, let’s see how this premium fan fairs.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 20 July 2012 15:17
From a quick glance, the TPC 812 looks very similar to the Hyper 612 PMW from Cooler Master we reviewed recently, and given the similarities in their name, you'd be likely to accept that and move on. Cooler Master has engineered many subtle differences with the new cooler in hopes of improving functionality and performance, including vertical vapor chamber to pull the heat up into the heatsink away from the CPU. So take another look and read on as we put the latest air solution from Cooler Master to our tests.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 30 March 2012 20:50
When Sandy Bridge E launched we went from everyone running the fairly cool Sandy Bridge processors to people actually having to worry a little more about what they select. This was made even more important because Intel didn’t include a stock cooler this time around, opting to sell their own water cooling kit for those looking to cool their 3960X’s. Soon after Cooler Master approached me about putting their Hyper 612 PWM, a heatsink that runs half the price of the Intel water cooling, up against the Intel Water Cooling. You want me to put your cooler up against something twice its price? SURE! Let’s dig in and take a look at the Hyper 612 PWM and its performance.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 14 December 2011 20:09
Just a few weeks ago I had the chance to tell everyone about the Noctua heatsink that we have been running on our LGA 1155 test bench for almost a year. Because of how happy we have been with it we decided to give another Noctua heatsink a chance for our new LGA 2011 test bench. We went with the NH-D14 for the ultimate performance. We have actually taken a look at that same heatsink before in the past HERE, but with the special edition we decided to go over the new brackets and compare the NH-D14 to Intel’s water cooling. Will the monster air cooling outperform water cooling? Let’s find out.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 25 November 2011 12:59
It’s been a while since our last review of a Noctua heatsink. Part of that has to do with their patients and dedication to make their products perfect before introducing anything. The other reason it’s been so long is just plain delay on our part. We have actually had one of their heatsinks here in the office for quite a while. In fact, some of our more dedicated readers may recognize this one from our test rig. Noctua’s NH-C14 is a top flow cooler design that both helps cool your ram and motherboard while also being shorter than most high end traditional tower designs. How does that effect cooling? Let’s jump in and take a look.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 06 September 2011 16:02
Cooler Master has presented us with another laptop cooling product. In our previous review we talked about how some aim for cooling, comfort, portability or any combination of the three. The Cooler Master NotePal LapAir clearly aims more for the comfort range of the laptop cooling market.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 17 August 2011 01:31
Cooling components is critical. This is why when you buy a processor it comes with a CPU heatsink and fan. Heat wears components out faster and reduces their reliability. The first thing I do when working with a new machine is replace the stock heatsink with an aftermarket one. They are more efficient and depending on the configuration, could even be quieter. Cooler Master has sent us a CPU cooler that caught my attention. The GeminII S524 is a square shaped cooler that instead of sitting directly over the CPU itself extends over one side to cool additional components. I have always been a big fan of aftermarket CPU coolers with two fans in a push/pull configuration. Typically CPU coolers with a single fan don’t seem to work as well, and I am unsure of how the overhang will impact the general airflow in the case itself.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 09 May 2011 10:38
Any computer enthusiast will tell you the two things you can never have enough of: USB ports and cooling. Having finally moved into an office that will hopefully survive the summer with me, I was ready to make my desktop as practicle as it could be comfortable. A combination of great timing, psychic abilities, and a few hundred emails to Artic Cooling resulted in them sending us a care package to help.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Tuesday, 03 May 2011 10:19
A few years ago if I told you that the Ram manufacture Corsair was going to make a name for themselves in the cooling market you might have laughed me out of the room. A few short years later they have not only made a name for themselves in cooling, but in audio, power supplies, ssd’s, and cases. Looking back, the reason they have been so successful is probably because they can look at a problem and break it down to what the enthusiast really needs and then focus on making it the best product in that nitch. Today, we are going to take a look at the H50 their first foray into the cooling market to see if it is still the top performer that has made it so popular over the last two years.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 18 October 2010 00:00
Following the success of the original TherMax, Spire is introducing the TherMax Eclipse. Powered by Innovation and awesome looks, this CPU Cooler is ready to cool the extremely hot 130W Micro-processors that are on the market today. Universally compatible with the Intel 1156/1366/775 platforms in combination with the AMD AM3/AM2/940/939 platforms, giving professionals and gamers a huge scope to utilize this impressive diablo. I think we've heard enough from the marketing department, let's see what this baby can do.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 23 August 2010 19:43
When I was told that I was doing a review of a heatsink from a company called Zaward, I asked around to see if I was the only one who had never heard of them. Since I wasn't the only one, I was glad to be the first to see what the guys from Taiwan had to offer.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Thursday, 19 August 2010 00:00
A lot of us overclock our computer because we want high end performance without the high end price tag. But it seems all the cool guys want to convince you that you just have to go with water cooling. What? A good water cooling set-up can set you back more than the cost of the CPU. So why not get something that will keep your CPU cool, look cool, and won't break the bank. The Titan Fenrir Evo certain fills the "look cool" requirement. Let see how it does in the other two.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 26 July 2010 09:00
Overclocking is useful not only for pushing enthusiast cores to new records, but also for budget builders to get the most out of their money. Therefore, it would only make sense that a CPU cooler also be affordable, while of course keeping the processor from overheating. Today we review the Thermaltake Frio, a goliath cooler designed for overclocking capacity.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 28 June 2010 00:00
Over the last few years Cooler Master has reinvented heatsink design and helped many car guys get their fix with their V8 and V10 coolers. Both have amazing performance and good looks. However, both are also a little pricy. Today Cooler Master is officially announcing their newest addition to their lineup, the V6GT. The idea behind the V6GT is to get good performance while keeping the cost a little lower than their V8 and v10. Let’s take a closer look.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Wednesday, 23 June 2010 00:00
One of the best ways to keep the noise level of your high end gaming rig down is to look at water cooling options. Some of the all-in-one kits perform well, but are still hit and miss. Putting together your own kit is more complicated, but will give you much better performance, not to mention great looks. One of the big names in water cooling parts is a company called Danger Den. With help from Acoustic PC we were able to update our old water cooling kit with the parts needed to keep our i7 930 cool.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Friday, 04 June 2010 00:00
Budget builds have become more and more popular as the economy sees more falls and the industry sees more rises into the world of PC gaming. Regardless of if you have an entry level build or an enthusiast, cutting corners to save dollars only ends up costing you more in the end. There are several companies that strive to provide quality performance matched with affordable price-points, and XtremeGear has sent us such a piece: the HP1216B.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Monday, 03 May 2010 00:00
Appearance has become a large part of any PC gaming enthusiast's rig, with more and more chassis coming with windowed sides standard in order to to show off your hardware. This addition is yet another decision to factor into the buying process. Thermaltake has a large line of CPU coolers, many with a unique design and performance. My favorite has always been the SpinQ line and today I sit down with the new SpinQ VT to see how it performs, in both the eye of the user and the processor.
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Category: Cooling Hardware
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Published: Sunday, 25 April 2010 00:00
The simple case fan that we know and love has truly taken on a few extra roles over the years, including making our towers look kick-ass. Few methods can top the simplicity and functionality of LEDs, when they're done right. It should be silent of course and you can't forget adequate cooling either. Just as easy as any fan can make a build, it can also break a build. Gelid Solutions recently sent us their newest entry, the Wing 12PL, to see how well it performs in the demanding field of case cooling.
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