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Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound Review |
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Written by Tom
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Friday, 11 September 2009 00:00 |
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Often overlooked and taken for granted, thermal paste is a necessary component in PC assembly and while the retail packaging for CPUs typically come with a heatsink and fan with thermal paste applied at the factory it typically isn't the best for ensuring that the maximum amount of heat is transferred from the processor to the heatsink especially if the CPU is going to be overclocked. Thermal paste is designed to take up the gaps between the heatsink and the IHS of the processor, thus eliminating the air in the gaps. Metal to metal contact is best for maximum heat transfer. There are many thermal pastes available, so which one does one choose from? We hope to shed a little light to this confusing topic.
In the past we have talked about the significance of ensuring that components stay within operating conditions to ensure long life and continued functionality. Let us rehash it a little bit, electronics, in normal operations, generate heat. This heat needs to be moved away from the component and expelled. If the heat is not moved away or is allowed to remain, electromigration can occur. Electromigration is physical damage/wear to the traces cause by electrons moving through them. The more heat that is allowed to build up, the faster the electrons move, causing more damage. While there are numerous heatsink/fan combinations available, often over looked is the thermal interface material that resides between the IHS of the CPU and the base of the heatsink. Metal to metal contact is best for optimum heat transfer, but due to manufacturing and machining processes that may not be possible in many cases. So we have to use a thermal interface material. The main purpose of the thermal interface material is to fill minor gaps that can allow air to get trapped between the IHS of the processor and base of the heatsink, air is a great insulator and allows heat to remain close to the component.
Today we are taking a look at Noctua's NT-H1 Thermal Interface Material. Noctua has a reputation in the industry for producing very competitive CPU coolers and fans. As the NT-H1 is non-conductive it can be used on GPUs and chipsets as well as CPUs. Maintaining the maximum amount of heat transfer will ensure long life of the components being used.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 12 September 2009 15:21 |
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CoolerMaster Hyper N620 CPU Cooler Review |
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Written by Tom
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Monday, 10 August 2009 05:43 |
With the plethora of good performing tower coolers that are out on the market, how does one set their self's apart from the rest of the pack? Every fan attached to a heatsink has a dead spot in the center where the fan blades attach to the hub. How do you eliminate or reduce the size of the dead spot? CoolerMaster has the answer with their latest cooler in the Hyper Series: the Hyper N620. CoolerMaster choose a unique design with the cooler that is designed to handle two fans configured in a push/pull configuration that takes the dead spot out of the cooling equation by offsetting the fans from one another. This configuration leads to a quite different shape of the finsink as compared to other tower style coolers.
CoolerMaster chose to use a more traditional design with the base of the Hyper N620, which unlike the Hyper TX3 and Hyper 212 +, eliminates the heat pipe direct touch technology and returns to the polished copper base attached to numerous heat pipes. This type of has proven to be a great performer and offers lesser chance that air will become trapped between the base and the IHS of the processor. A smooth flat base will provide the best heat transfer. So how does the CoolerMaster Hyper N620 perform? Read on to find out.
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Last Updated on Monday, 10 August 2009 13:11 |
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ThermalTake MeOrb Low Profile CPU Cooler Review |
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Written by Tom
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Monday, 06 July 2009 20:06 |
Today's modern processors generate a lot of heat and modern coolers can generally wick away the heat and keep the processor running cool. Industry standard is the tower style cooler. The tower style cooler, just in case you have been living under a rock for the last few years, is designed with a base that comes in contact with the IHS of the processor. The base houses a number of heat-pipes that travel upwards through a finsink and attached to the finsink is a fan of some sort. That's all fine and well in a mid or full tower case and even some desktop cases but what about small form factor cases or mATX and mini-ITX cases such as an HTPC case? Most of these cases take a special cooler as they have a limited height between the CPU and the top of the case. Granted the stock Intel and AMD coolers will fit, but who wants to stay with stock cooling performance? The cooler you can keep the processor, the longer it will last.
Enter ThermalTake and their MeOrb cooler. This miniscule powerhouse stands a meager 47mm from the base to the top of the finsink. It packs a 90mm integrated PWM fan to help with the cooling duties. At 47mm it is bound and determined to fit in all but the smallest of cases and cool quietly and efficiently.
With all the "smallness" that surrounds the MeOrb is its function as good as its form? Read on to find out, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.
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Last Updated on Monday, 06 July 2009 23:06 |
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Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Heat Pipe Direct Touch CPU Cooler |
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Written by Tom
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Sunday, 14 June 2009 16:00 |
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A few weeks ago CoolerMaster introduced their first heat-pipe direct touch cooler; the Hyper TX3 and it performed very well considering the fan size is of the 92mm variety. A 92mm fan is almost considered too small by what other manufactures are shipping in their tower coolers. Being a top tier manufacture, CoolerMaster couldn't just sit idly by and soon released their 120 mm heat pipe direct touch cooler: the Hyper 212 plus.
Cooling your CPU is one of the most important areas to keep in mind when you decide to either upgrade or build a computer. Unfortunately there is a trade off between cooling and noise when selecting a cooler. Most coolers today have hit that "happy medium" when it comes to said trade off and CoolerMaster follows suite here with the Hyper 212 Plus. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 02 July 2009 18:18 |
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XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm CPU CPU Cooler |
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Written by Tom
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Saturday, 06 June 2009 16:00 |
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On the test bench today, we are taking a look at another of Xigmatek's coolers: The Dark Knight. While the name is synonymous with the D.C. Comic character Batman, Xigmatek's Dark Knight doesn't fend off any super villains, but it does have a job which is to keep that CPU under the hood at a nice chilly temperature. In today's computers the never ending search for more MHz leads one to overclocking, overclocking leads to an increase in heat, increasing the heat leads to premature failure of the part which in this case is the CPU. Electromigration is the main cause of premature failure due to an excess amount of heat over long periods of time that basically wears the traces on the CPU out. I guess this would be more of a physical failure, although on a microscopic scale. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 02 July 2009 18:20 |
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