Cooling

The be quiet! Dark Rock 2 is a big tower CPU cooler with an odd 135 mm fan. Unfortunately, our sample has trouble living up to its German manufacturer's name. Note: Addendum on final page (8), 1 Aug 2012.

The Enermax ETS-T40 tower CPU heatsink/fan is equipped with an impressive looking mounting system, a surprisingly smooth sounding fan, and an affordable price. Unfortunately the one thing missing is great performance.

The Thermalright HR-02 Macho takes the design elements that made its predecessors excellent low noise coolers and successfully combines it with the massive size of a modern high-end heatsink.

Cooler Master's GeminII M4 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Scythe Big Shuriken 2. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the M4 is only a half-hearted compliment.

SpeedFan is a free, but extremely powerful and customizable sensor monitoring and fan control utility that works with a huge range of motherboards. Our comprehensive guide walks you through the complex configuration and allows you to unlock the full power of this enduring software utility, a favorite of SPCR for years.

Reeven, a relatively unknown PC cooling company, looks to make a name for themselves with a pair of oddly named heatsinks. The Kelveros is a classic tower heatsink with direct touch heatpipes while the Arcziel is a traditional, but rather tall down-blowing model.

Thermalright goes in a slightly direction with the Archon SB-E, an unusually tall and wide 8-heatpipe cooler with an equally unusual 15 cm fan.

The Scythe Big Shuriken 2 is a high performance CPU cooler in a low profile package, looking to improve upon the performance of its popular predecessor. The Reeven Vanxie is almost comically small by comparison, a tiny low profile offering for use in ultra compact cases.

At Computex 2012 last week, there were two fan developments worthy of serious note for SPCR readers. The first and more revolutionary of the two is an Active Noise Cancellation fan project from Noctua, with partner RotoSub. The second is from a more unlikely source, Corsair, of memory, PSU and case fame.

The NH-L12 exhibits the same qualities as Noctua's other CPU heatsink/fans in a much smaller form factor, standing only 66 mm high in single fan configuration. For a lower profile cooler, it delivers top-notch performance at a luxurious price.

The Kühler H20 620 and 920 are self-contained liquid CPU cooling units from Antec (manufactured by Asetek). Hopefully they are improvements over the the first water cooler we reviewed, the Corsair Hydro H50, which was sunk for SPCR audiences by a noisy pump.

Though it stands just 40 mm tall, the Scythe Kozuti sports three heatpipes and 57 fins, similar to its established brethren Shuriken. This just might be the low profile cooler we've been waiting for.

The Havik 140 is a single tower cooler with a Prolimatech/Noctua style mounting system and a pair of interesting 14 cm fans attached using rubber isolators. NZXT's first heatsink has all the ingredients for success.

The Venomous X Silent Edition is a combination of a potent Thermalright heatsink and a pair of extremely low speed fans. Though not completely "silent," it is probably the quietest actively-cooled CPU heatsink available.

Prolimatech joins the dual-fan giant heatsink fray is with the unusually-shaped Genesis. An amalgam of a vertical tower cooler and a horizontal down-blower, the Genesis proved potent enough to take the CPU cooling crown.