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1 2 3 4 5 6 NextZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM
October 27, 2009 by Lawrence Lee
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Product
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ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM
CPU Cooler |
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Manufacturer
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ZEROtherm |
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Street Price
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US$40 |
Nirvana is the successor to ZEROtherm's earlier Zen
CPU cooler. The Zen was a very proficient heatsink that had a great
mounting system and a reasonable price. It fell a few degrees short of achieving
elite status in our test arena, but a new and improved model might be able
to crack that barrier. It will not be easy as the market is
saturated with affordable high performance coolers.
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The box.
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The heatsink.
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Nirvana retains many of the Zen's core design elements: Four heatpipes, thick,
tightly grouped fins with a "honeycomb" style pattern at the center,
and a translucent fan with blue LEDs. This heatsink is nickel-plated,
giving it a less generic appearance and protecting it from the oxidation. The fan
is also frameless, attached to a metal stand like a windmill — this will
undoubtedly affect acoustics. To catch any air spilling out from the
sides of the fan, the fins at the edges have been extended further outward.
Truth be told, at a glance it doesn't seem to have any feature or design element
to give it an edge over the Zen. We'll see if testing supports this impression.
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The box contents include LGA775 and LGA1366 backplates. There is also
a "premium" version of the NV120 which includes a fan controller.
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Feature & Brief
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Our Comment
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Best Performance among 120mm air cooling
CPU coolers |
To be determined. |
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Effective 8-line Heat pipe effect |
Technically 4 U-shaped heatpipes, but effectively they act like 8. |
Honeycomb structure for optimized air flow.
More than 6,748 cm²
heat dissipation area |
The honeycomb structure increases surface
area but also impedes airflow. |
120mm fan for max.
air-flow (up to 60CFM) |
Okay. |
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PWM Automatic Fan Speed Control |
As it should. |
Ultra Low - Noise
Max 30 dBA at 1,800 rpm |
We're more interested in the noise floor. |
Polished NI-Plated
Copper Base |
Wards off rust. |
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Support Latest Intel & AMD CPUs |
But not LGA1156. |
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| Dimensions |
128 X 95 X 150 mm (5.04 X 3.74 X 5.83 inch) |
| Weight |
638g (Without Components) |
| Material |
Base |
Pure Copper |
| Heat pipe |
Pure Copper |
| Fin |
Cr/Ni Plated Aluminum |
| Heat Dissipation Area |
6,748 cm² (1,046 inch²) |
Cooling Capacity
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Over 150W |
| Fan Size |
120x25 mm w/ 2 blue
LEDs |
| Fan Speed |
900 ~ 1,800 rpm (± 10%) PWM Auto
Speed |
| Acoustic Noise |
Under 30 dBA (± 10%) |
| Bearing Type |
Long Life Bearing |
| Operating Voltage |
5.0 ~ 13.8 VDC |
| Airflow Rate |
Max. 60 CFM |
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Compatibility List
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Intel
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Core™2 Extreme
Core™2 Quad
Core™2 Duo
Pentium D
Pentium 4 |
Socket-T (LGA775)
Support All Speeds (Models) |
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Core™ i7
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Socket-B (LGA1366)
Support All Speeds (Models) |
| AMD |
Athlon64 FX
Athlon64 X2 / BE
Athlon64
Sempron
Opteron |
Socket 939 / 940 / AM2
Support All
Speeds (Models) |
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Incompatibility List
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| Intel |
Socket 478, 771, 603, 604 |
| AMD |
Socket 754, Socket F or Socket A |
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