One thing about TT is they're consistent.

That is a very impressive looking cooler, I wonder how long it will be until they "do a Zalman" and make an identical design, but bigger. If they did, but used the same fan but a thicker ring of ALU they could really be onto something.


Andy

It would seem the only reason to buy this is because of looks. Performance is poor, the fan is loud and the price is high. 3 things that an SPCRer would look for this heatsink lacks.
So just another TT product then.

I really feel sorry for the engineers at ThermalTake. They seem to have some genuine creativity going on, but just can't quite make the connection between that and effectiveness.

I'm curious, though, to try pulling out the radial fan and plugging up one end, then installing an 80mm box fan on the other end. You would still get radial airflow, and although I don't know how the cooling performance would be, the result would be quiet and unique.

Nope, I don't think the airflow would compare. This fan blows a LOT of air. Like we said in the article, just a smaller diameter fan thus leaving more metal on each fin would probably make a big difference. Also, at 7V and below, it's not bad for noise, and at almost every speed, there's more turbulence noise than buzzing or clicking; this is a good thing.

That spiral is interesting looking.
but I wonder what they would get by just mounting the cooling fins strait up & down -- perpendicular to the motherboard ?

That plus your suggestions of soldering the fins to the heatpipe and they might have something.

I'm wondering how much of a difference this would actually make. Almost crys for some experiments with a heatsink before and after baking in an oven to remove solder.

Also, didn't Bluefront try some liquid metal filling on one of his heatsinks? Anyone remember if that led to something useful?

I'm still waiting for a cheap blowdown version of the Scythe Mine with HDT.

I think the concept is sound but the execution is rather lacking as with so many other good ideas in any field.

I think MikeC has it right on where the design is sorely lacking in heat dissipation area. I also wonder how it would have been had the heatsink and blower been designed as a vertical cylinder from the socket (as kittle mentioned). I feel tower style coolers really benefit from not having bends or kinks in the heatpipes. Since the squirrel cage style fan shouldn't suffer from deadspots, a smaller tighter heatsink fins could have been used to save space while maintaining the surface area size.


I like the idea of squirrel cage style blowers. The one in my old 8800GTS did a fair job idle and those videocards spit out much more heat than most cpus.

Engineers at TT are called Corperate Spy's to the rest of the world. They dont design any of their own stuff. Just copy other peoples' work.

Well, go on. Post a link to the company who originally came up with this cooler.

It's entirely possible that many TT products resemble things made by other companies; welcome to a free market. I'm sure you also scorn every manufacturer of heatpipe tower coolers except for Scythe. After all, they made the NCU-1000 way back in 2003. Surely every remotely similar design since then has just been a rip-off copy.

You can't really make a blanket statement blaming the engineers for that, though, because the engineers in almost any company work out the detailed design of a product after they've been told what to make by their superiors. If you want to hold a grudge against a company, look to the managers.

I tend to really like the looks of TT designs and this one is no exception. It definitely has potential. I would eagerly anticipate another go at this design that matches the fin area of the other top heatsinks. They could easily make the fins a bit wider.

the various comments in the review that this heatsink is "unique" and a never-before-tried design are a bit wide of the mark.

the coolermaster eclipse has been out for a while:

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/pr ... te=1&id=41

the zaward sylphee:

http://www.zaward.com/products_detail.php?Pid=2289

the cm sphere:

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/pr ... =1&id=4470

obviously none of these are identical to the TT product (although the CM Eclipse is very similar), but they all use blower fans in an innovative way.

Thanks for that, Jaganath, it's all news to me. They all look interesting but none look very promising for acoustics.

Two 404 found in the article:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sou ... b-11db.mp3
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sou ... b-30db.mp3

They both return a page not found.

Good article, I wonder about the sharpness of the fins if they are a hazard. Are they sharper than other similar designs?

MP3 file links in article corrected -- the above were incorrect.

What about the CM Eclipse? It seems to have the larger fins and smaller fans you recommended in the SpinQ review. The mounting system is not push-pins. It does only have 4 heat pipes, though, which is pretty low for such a massive beast.

I just like the Darth Vader-style airflow deflector, if you're into bling it would be an awesome addition to a modder's case.

I know we all like to rubbish TT at every opportunity, but I think we should welcome their ongoing, if a little unsuccessful, relationship with SPCR. I'm sure Mike and the team enjoy testing out their gear, regardless of the thermal and acoustic results. In this instance, it wasn't terrible either. Not great, but not terrible. It helps TT and other companies to improve their product, and keep the current champions on their toes.

I applaud Mike also for his always balanced and constructively critical reviews which I can read through without any fluff or nonsense.


"Copying" other peoples' work has been going on since time began. Before the days of copyrights and patents, it was common practice for writers, artists, and composers to copy, imitate, transcribe one another's work and pass it off as their own. In modern times, this is a lot more difficult, but it doesn't stop companies "borrowing" ideas from someone else. This happens in almost every industry you can think of. Motorcar companies disassemble each other's vehicles for "new ideas". Musical instrument makers do the same thing. The Western pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest offenders in this regard. Doing everything it can to demonise traditional Eastern medicine but doing a better than fair job of ripping it off and handing it to gullible consumers in a highly marketed capsule form. Anyway, off topic.

I'm glad it's unique .. 'cos it's not that good.

They should have stuck 6 heat pipes from both sides on it, instead of the single sided setup there is now.

I'd like them to submit their BigTyphoonâ„¢ 14 Pro to SPCR, because that looks like an excellent top-down cooler. Btw, what is the cause of the ongoing ThermalTake mockery?? Ok, they're not making any of the top coolers, but neither are Zalman and tons of other companies. In fact, I'd rather mock Zalman for not coming up with anything useful for years!

Hi,

To do 2-sided heatpipes on this cooler would be physically impossible -- the fins could not be pushed on in both directions at once. I think the only improvement that would work, would be greater fin area, by increasing the outer diameter. Make 'em round; losing the "rotating points" would also help in this regard.

Changing the design from horizontal to vertical would solve that problem.

Cheers
Olle

That would less up airflow and i still cant see how it would allow heatpipes from both directions.

What you'd get is essentially a Scythe Ninja 2 with a radial fan mounted in the (enlarged) centre hole.
The heatpipes would go out both ends from the contact plate, but only enter the fin package from one end.

Cheers
Olle

Reminds me of the spinny tunnel thing from Event Horizon.

Thermalright Wheel

Looks as if another company has continued the evolution of this design.