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Introduction

The LOKI from Xigmatek is in for testing today, very similar to its bigger brother, the Gaia.

We’ve all heard of Xigmatek, they came out of know where in 2005 with HDT (Heatsink Direct Touch) technology that not only performed well, but was very well priced too.  The Loki seems to be very similar to what we first saw from Xigmatek so we’ll see if the performance stacks up!

Specifications

Dimension: 92(W)x50(H)x134(D) mm

Fan starting Voltage: ≥7V

Fanspeed: 1200-2800 R.P.M.

Fan bearing Type: Hypro Bearing

Air Flow: 52CFM (Max.)

Air Pressure: 3.7 mmH2O (Max.)

Fan life Expectance: 40,000 hrs

Noise Level: 20-28 dBA (Max.)

Connector: 4 Pin with PWM

Weight: 330g

Unboxing

The box is made of a high quality card, shiny and is well designed.

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The back of the box has most of the important specifications listed.

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The bundled items include: Instructions, Intel and AMD backplate, Intel and AMD mounting bars, eight rubber fan clips, 16 mounting nuts and screws and a sachet of thermal compound.

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Introduction

The Gaia from Xigmatek is in for testing today, we’ve all heard of Xigmatek, they came out of know where in 2005 with HDT (Heatsink Direct Touch) technology that not only performed well, but was very well priced too.  The Gaia seems to be very similar to what we first saw from Xigmatek so we’ll see if the performance stacks up!

Specifications

Dimension: 120(W) x 50(D) x 159(H) mm

Fan starting Voltage: ≥9V

Fanspeed: 800~1500 R.P.M.

Fan bearing Type: Hypro Bearing

Air Flow: 56.3CFM (Max.)

Air Pressure: 1.57 mmH2O (Max.)

Fan life Expectance: 40,000 hrs

Noise Level: 16-24 dBA (Max.)

Connector: 4 Pin with PWM

Weight: 460g

Unboxing

The box is made of a high quality card, shiny and is well designed.

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The back of the box has the most of the important specifications listed.

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The bundled items include: Instructions, Intel and AMD backplate, Intel and AMD mounting bars, eight rubber fan clips, sixteen mounting nuts and screws and a sachet of thermal compound.

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Mounting system

The mounting system of a cooler is an important part as without good contact between the base of the cooler and CPU heatspreader, you won’t get good CPU temperatures and could even damage your CPU.

The mounting system that comes with this cooler is excellent, it is clear that Xigmatek has taken time over refining and perfecting the system, I found it very easy to mount the cooler, fitting the fan after attaching the heatsink was fairly easy too. Intel socket 2011 mounts are provided too which is also good to see.

The provided thermal paste isn’t the highest quality in the world, in my testing the thermal paste did its job just fine but it would be nice if Xigmatek included some higher quality thermal paste.

Introduction

Today I’m reviewing the Prolimatecjh Lynx, a smaller version of the Panther. It features many of the features of its larger sibling but will the performance keep up to the outstanding performance of the Panther?

Let’s find out.

Specifications

Heatsink Dimension: (L)118mm X (W)70mm X (H)159.5mm

Heatsink Weight: 400g (heatsink body only)

Included Fan: 120 x 120 x 25 mm Black PWM

CPU support: Intel Socket LGA 1156/1155, AMD Socket AM2/2+/3/3+

Unboxing

The box is made of a high quality card board and is well designed.

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The bundled items include: Instructions, Intel and AMD backplates, Intel and AMD mounting bars, four fan clips, eight mounting screws, a Prolimatech sticker and thermal compound.

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The mounting system of a cooler is an important part as without good contact between the base of the cooler and CPU heatspreader, you won’t get good CPU temperatures and could even damage your CPU.

Fortunately the Lynx makes very good contact with the CPU, it’s the tightest mounting system I have used. So much so, it bent the steel mounting bars slightly.

Installing the heatsink was a real pain and required a lot of force, definitely a two person job.

The thermal paste is the same as PK-1 thermal paste that Prolimatech sell but the included thermal paste is a far smaller quantity. The thermal paste is good and I have tested it with multiple different coolers and compared it against some other thermal pastes, the performance is very good. It’s easy to get out of the syringe and spreads nicely too.

Introduction

The Noctua NF-F12 120mm PWM fan is Noctua’s latest PWM fan. The main things we look for in a fan are performance and aesthetics. Noctua is known for extremely high quality products and aesthetics that not everyone agrees about. Today we’re going to see whether Noctua can maintain their claimed quality by looking at the NF-F12!

Specifications

Size: 120x120x25 mm

Connector: 4-pin PWM

Rotational Speed (+/- 10%): 1500 RPM

Min. Rotational Speed (PWM): 300 RPM

Airflow: 93.4 m³/h

Acoustical Noise: 22.4 dB(A)

Static Pressure: 2.61 mm H2O

Unboxing

The front of the box is pretty normal for a Noctua product, very clean with a window into the product.

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The back of the box has the specs of the fan and information in eight different languages.

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The rear of the box opens up like a book, showing all of this feature packed fans features.

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The second page.

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The bundled items include: four fan screws, four anti-vibrational fan mounts, an inline speed reducer, Y-cable and an extension cable.

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For a fan, this is the largest bundle I have ever seen.  Thing’s like the y-cable aren’t even required, they’re just very handy to have.

Introduction

To conclude these last few Cooler Master reviews, I’m going to look at the Hyper 412S. It’s the only tower style cooler that I’ve had from them this time. The cooler has quite a low FPI (Fins Per Inch) which should make for a cooler that performs well at low fan speeds. Hopefully it makes for another quiet cooler from Cooler Master!

Specifications

CPU Socket support: Intel LGA 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775, AMD FM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+
Dimension: (W / H / D) 132 x 99 x 160mm (5.2 x 3.9 x 6.3 in)
Fan Dimension: (W / H / D) 120 x 120 x 25mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 1.0 in)
Fan Speed: 1,300 RPM ± 10% (900 RPM with silent mode adapter)
Fan Airflow: 52.6 CFM ± 10% (36.4 CFM @ 900RPM)
Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 22.5 dBA (16.1 dBA @ 900RPM)
Bearing Type: Long Life Sleeve Bearing
Connector: 3-Pin

Unboxing

Great box design from Cooler master. It clearly displays the information you need to decide if this cooler is correct for you along with really looking good.

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The back has information in multiple languages and some technical drawings of the cooler.

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The bundled items include: a manual, AMD and Intel mounting parts, thermal compound and nuts, rubber pieces, nut setter, fan mounts, screw driver and the silent mode adapter .

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This version of Cooler Masters mounting system is my least favourite. The reason for this is once you have the backplate assembly attached, you have to push the screws with some force into the holes. While doing this the mounting piece is moving around and wants to change size for a different socket. I don’t like having to apply lots of downwards pressure to a screw inside a computer due to the possibility of slipping and damaging something.

Next up you have to attach the fans to the heatsink which isn’t always easy inside smaller cramped cases. Fortunately once the heatsink was mounted it was firm and wasn’t going anywhere. The mounting solution for a cooler is becoming more and more important as part of a bundle like this. It’s good to see Cooler Master trying lots of different systems.
The thermal paste is the same standard thermal paste Cooler Master provides with all of their coolers. It’s of a high quality and has a good viscosity for a thermal compound, making sure it spreads well when you mount it.

Introduction

So it’s time for my next review. What have we got?

Today it’s the Cooler Master Gemin II SF524. A mixture of high performance and top down cooler. We’ve seen quite a few companies try this style of cooler and they have some real advantages such as being able to cool RAM modules or the VRM area. The disadvantage is that the heat has further to travel along the heatpipes compared to a tower style cooler. Will that affect the results? Only one way to find out.

Specifications

CPU Socket support: Intel LGA 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775, AMDFM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2
Dimension (W / H / D): 144 x 144 x 105 mm (5.7 x 5.7 x 4.1 inch)
Fan Dimension (W / H / D): 120 x 120 x 25 mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 1 inch)
Fan Speed: 1,300 RPM ± 10% (900RPM with silent mode adapter)
Fan Airflow: 52.6 CFM ± 10% (36.4 @ 900RPM)
Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hours
Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 22.5 dBA
Bearing Type: Long Life Sleeve Bearing
Connector: 3-Pin

Unboxing

Again we see great box design from Cooler master. It clearly displays the information you need to decide if this cooler is correct for you.

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The back has information in multiple languages and some technical drawings of the cooler.

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The bundled items include: a manual, AMD and Intel mounting parts, thermal compound and nuts, rubber rings, nut setter and the silent mode adapter.

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The provided mounting system is another variant of Cooler Master’s mounting solutions. It is the simplest and easiest of theirs that I’ve used so far. The four included rubber rings needed to be stuck to the motherboard to ensure there is no metal contact.

The mounting solution for a cooler is becoming more and more important as part of a bundle like this. It’s good to see Cooler Master trying lots of different systems.

The thermal paste is the same standard thermal paste Cooler Master provides with all of their coolers. It’s of a high quality and has a good viscosity for a thermal compound, making sure it spreads well when you mount it.

Introduction

Not everyone wants a giant tower CPU cooler. Some people want dual fans and monstrous fin real estate, but some prefer something a bit squatter.

My latest CPU cooler reviews is the Cooler Master GeminII M4, a new low profile cooler. It’s a squat, copper heatpipe sporting, many aluminium finned heatsink fan combo that thanks to its unique shape could cause clearance issues; it’s going to be an interesting review.

Specifications

• CPU Socket: Intel® LGA1366/1156/1155/775, AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2
• Dimension: (W / H / D) 137 x 122 x 59mm (5.4 x 4.8 x 2.3 inch)
• Weight: 289g (0.64 lb)
• Heat Sink Dimensions: 120x 118 x 44 mm (4.7 x 4.6 x 1.7 inch)
• Fan Dimension: (W / H / D) 120 x 120 x 15mm (4.7 x 4.7 x 0.6 inch)
• Fan Speed: 500 – 1600 RPM (PWM) ± 10%
• Fan Airflow: 17.4 – 58.4 CFM ± 10%
• Fan Air Pressure: 0.18 – 1.76mm H2O ± 10%
• Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hrs
• Bearing Type: Long Life Sleeve Bearing
• Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 8 – 30 dBA
• Connector: 4-Pin

Unboxing

The box of this new cooler is typical of Cooler Master’s new box designs, very professional and clean while still clearly displaying the information you need to decide if this cooler is correct for you.

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The back has information in multiple languages and some technical drawings of the cooler.

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The bundled items include: a manual, AMD and Intel mounting parts, thermal compound and nuts, screws and a nut setter.

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The provided mounting system is another variant of Cooler Master’s mounting solutions. I definitely like this version the most. For my AMD setup, the four included rubber rings needed to be stuck to the motherboard to ensure there is no metal contact with the motherboard. The system was easy to install and very firm once fixed.

The thermal paste is the same standard thermal paste Cooler Master provides with all of their coolers. The paste is of a high quality and has a good viscosity for a thermal compound, making sure it spreads well when you mount the cooler.

Introduction

The second in my series of Antec reviews is the Kühler H²O 620, another self-contained liquid cooling unit for your CPU. The Kühler H²O 620 is a more basic, simple and cheaper version of the Kühler H²O 920. Although lacking some of the features of its bigger brother, we will see if the 620 wins in the value for money department.

Specifications

CPU Socket Compatibility: Intel LGA 775, 1155 / 1156, 1366, AMD AM2, AM3, AM2+, AM3+
Fan Speed: 1450 – 2000 RPM
Tubing Length: 13.0″ / 330 mm
Radiator Dimensions: – 5.6″ (H) x 4.7″ (W) x 1.1″ (D) / 151 mm (H) x 120 mm (W) x 27 mm (D)
Fan Dimensions: 4.7″ x 1.0″ / 120 mm x 25 mm
Air Flow: 81.3 CFM
Cold Plate + Pump Height: 1.1″ / 27 mm
Net weight: 1.5 lbs / 0.7 kg
AQ3: Antec Quality 3 year limited warranty on parts and labour

Box and bundle

The box that the unit comes in is very clean and professional looking. Brief specifications and compatibility information are also shown.

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The rear of the box shows many details, features and information about the main components of the device.

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On the side we see a graph comparing to an Intel stock cooler, a first generation liquid cooler and the Kühler 620.

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The bundled goods include:

• Manuals
• Intel Brackets
• AMD Brackets
• Fan screws

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Introduction

Antec, Inc., is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in these industries and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of efficient, quiet, and reliable products.

The Kulher H20 920, which I am testing today is a self-contained liquid cooling unit for your CPU. The 920 has an extremely feature packed package, with a thick radiator and changeable LEDs in the pump/waterblock. This being the top performing unit Antec produces,  it should make for an interesting test.

Specifications

• CPU Socket Compatibility:
- Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366
- AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+
• Included software provides essential tools to control and monitor the KÜHLER H₂O 920
• Non-corrugated easy-bend tubes for maximum flexibility in radiator positioning
• Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) radiator fans generate the quietest high performance cooling
• Customizable RGB LED creates brilliant illumination
• Cooling Liquid – Safe, environmentally-friendly, anti-corrosive
• Fan Speed: 700 – 2400 RPM (PWM controlled)
• Tubing Length: 330 mm /13,0″
• Radiator Dimensions:
- 151 mm (H) x 120 mm (W) x 49 mm (D)
- 5,6″ (H) x 4,7″ (W) x 1,9″ (D) /
• Fan Dimensions:
- 120 mm x 25 mm / 4,7″ x 1,0″
• Air Flow:
- 110 CFM
• Noise Level:
- 43 dBA
• Cold Plate + Pump Height:
- 29 mm / 1,1″
• Net weight: 2,4 kg / 1,1 lbs
• AQ3 – Antec Quality 3 year limited warranty on parts and labor

Introduction

Cooler Master have been in the market since 1992 and have produced many CPU air coolers along with lots of other computer related products. The heatpipe tower design has been proven to provide a cost effective and high performing style of air cooler and that’s what I’m going to be looking at today.

The cooler I’m going to be putting through its paces is the smaller version of my last CM cooler review, the Hyper TX3 EVO. Positioned towards the budget segment of the market, we’ll see what kind of value for money the cooler offers and how it performs on an overclocked 6 core CPU.

Specifications

Supported CPU Sockets: Intel Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775 AMD Socket FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2
Dimension (W / H / D): 90 x 79 x 136 mm (3.5 x 3.1 x 5.4 inch)
Heat Sink Dimensions: 90 x 51 x 136 mm (3.5 x 2.0 x 5.4 inch)
Heat Sink Material: 3 Direct Contact Heat Pipes / Aluminum Fins
Heat Sink Weight: 306g (0.68 lb)
Fan Dimension (W/ H/D): 92 x 92 x 25 mm (3.6 x 3.6 x 1 inch)
Fan Speed: 800 – 2200 RPM (PWM) ± 10%
Fan Airflow: 15.7 – 43.1 CFM ± 10%
Fan Air Pressure: 0.35 – 2.63 mmH2O ± 10%
Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hours
Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 17 – 30 dBA
Bearing Type: Long Life Sleeve Bearing
Connector: 4-Pin
Fan Weight: 73g (0.16 lb)
Weight: 386g (0.85 lb)