I notice on your photos that you've mounted the VX120 such that the heatpipes are working maximally against gravity for the condensate inside to return to the evaporation point on top of the CPU. I can't say I'm thoroughly versed in heatpipe design, but it is generally best to have them oriented such that the condensate capillary-action return is not fighting against gravity. In fact, if you mount the VX120 correctly, three of the six heatpipes will experience gravitational assistance in returning the condensate from the cooling fins back down to the CPU, and the other 3 heatpipes will be experiencing only a very slight negative gravitational gradient. The way Anandtech has mounted the VX120 is, in my option, incorrect for vertical motherboard mounting in a tower case.
You people complain that having this sort of HSF is like owning stock to a big company. You guys act like Anand has done you wrong in a test of a HSF that doesn't reflect what you would do, furthermore; complaining that the results are not efficient because the lack of case fans.
First off who cares, second we want to buy things that are more efficient and thats why side blown HSF are better then down blowing HSF. Conclusion is that if you have to do more to get a side HSF to work efficiently then why bother?? Why argue the points that this HSF style works far better when adequate exhaust fans are used. The comparison shows little to no difference when using side case fans to get this VX working more efficiently.
I would much rather use side blown HSF and have to do less configuarations to get it to work optimaly then to use a down blowing HSF that you have to have more exhasut fans and better configurations of the case airflow.
The point is that DOWN BLOWING HSF SUCK PERIOD!! Does not matter, we see that side blown HSF work better and ideally generate less static heat around the mobo, so why argue that you can improve the down flow HSF designs to get better performance and have to do more then just using what works best.
It seems as though that everyday some company comes up with another gimmick for the clueless. There must be a lot of suckers with more money than brains.
The reviews lately on the downward blowing coolers seem to imply that we only care about cooling other system components with that airflow to increase our overclock. Not so.
I like downward blowing coolers because I like my other components running cooler. They will potentially last longer, and I won't need to add on additional fans or heatsinks for each part.
The differences and performance between the 2 can be vastly different in a real world setup
A PC case with a Side Door Fan which most have would greatly benefit the Down facing Heatsink since cool outside the case air is pumped through the cooler. Where in any instance the side mounted fan is gettimg all its air directly once it has passed over the already hot Sticks of Ram which had already passing over HDD cage, hardly cool air to start with
The other benefit of downfacing fans is that they cool both the base of the CPU and Mosfits that surround the CPU socket area
I totally see the point the downwards-facing-coolers people are trying to make. All they're saying is that Anandtech's test-bed is unrealistic as it lacks a case exhaust fan that virtually everybody interested in this type of coolers would have installed.
A backwards-facing tower cooler will tend to push the heated air out the back vent whether there's an exhaust fan there or not, since it's pointing directly at said vent in many case designs. It sort of doubles as a case fan. Meanwhile, a downwards-facing HSF will just keep recirculating the hot air.
On another note, how do you (Anandtech) compensate for differences in ambient temperature when testing the coolers? I didn't notice it mentioned on the testing methodology page.
It seems that what you're saying is that cooling towers are inherently superior to the downward-blowers, since with the latter you need a case fan but you don't with the towers. I can't recall any cases I've seen in recent history where the rear of the case doesn't have perforations/fan mounts, and the fact remains that blowing air down at the motherboard is a great way to create turbulence. But hey, if you have two case fans - one at the front as intake and one at the rear as exhaust - then the downward blowing HSFs are maybe competitive with the cooling towers. Except then you have three fans instead of one or two, which almost certainly makes more noise.
Wes also pointed out above that testing with four coolers didn't appreciably alter the results. The testbed is consistent and appears reasonably fair. "What if you use case X with a mod so that cooler Y blows air out the side vent that just happens to match up perfectly with motherboard Z?" Well, in that case you're probably already familiar with the setup and you just want someone to give you the thumbs up. Here you go: thumbs up! Sounds like a great setup for that particular case/HSF/mobo combination. A typical case+mobo seems a better idea as a testbed, however.
Personally, I have my PC located such that a wall blocks the left side, so the front and rear vents are MUCH more important and any case that has vents on the side wouldn't work well. I've seen quite a few computer desks that do the exact same thing, so I'd say more people than not will benefit from a heatpipe tower cooler over a downward blowing cooler.
I remember when I used to come to AT for reviews of real hardware like motherboards and CPUs. I am glad another 8 pages of "content" gets to devoted to a CPU cooler and says what could have been said in a paragraph. I would much rather see a large cooler roundup and get down to what people care about, which coolers are the best performing, and which are the best value. That is all people really care about, no one (and I mean no one) need 8 pages of information for every half decent CPU cooler on the market.
As I said in a previous review, I hate those Intel-style push clips. I've only installed one Core 2 Duo machine, and the retail fan installation amazes me at how bad it was. I can't understand for the life of me why any aftermarket heatsink would use anything other than a screw down design that let you press the heatsink down evenly.
I understand the ability to install a heatsink while the motherboard is in the case is desirable but it's no problem for me to pull the motherboard. The added insurance is worth it.
I have a TT 120 VX & with down blower coolers you need to have an extraction fan in the case as the air gets pushed down onto the mobo instead of towards the back fan opening of the case as is the case with tower coolers. I use mine in an Antec P182 with both the top & rear fans set to low (580 RPM) which is inaudibile @ 1m and pulls very little air but still lowers the temp @load by 6-8 degrees depending on what you're doing.
Further evidence of this is that in your review the 120 VX has the 2nd lowest stock idle temperature, just 1 degree behind the ultra!
The cooler is good, it just needs a little assistance in getting the hot air out of the case and who doesn't have at least 1 exhaust fan running above 580RPM in their case?
Could Anand tech maybe add 1 case fan@ low RPM's and re-test the down blowers against the ultra 120?
Maybe the real point is that those who bought these down-fan coolers for better cooling are just disappointed to find out they don't work as well as the top guns.
The point I was making was that the 120 VX (& down blowers inparticular) benefit more from exhaust fans than tower coolers do and a proper case setup will nearly always include at least 1 120mm extraction fan.
Seriously who buys an after market HSF & then uses no case fans (HTPC users maybe but most HSF units will be 2 big for those cases)?
As for your sour grapes implication, you're being very close minded...
Is it not possible that other people's opinions & real world experience of the 120 VX could be different & that they're trying to simply get people to take a 2nd look at this HSF instead of being petty individuals in a vindictive jealous rage trying to steer others to the same mistake?
As for Anand techs dissing of Hexus's tests this doesn't seem fair.
Sure they used a different testing methodology than yours but that doesn't make their results worthless and although I disagree with some of their methodology as well it doesn't negate their results. Just as it doesn't negate yours.
To me these 2 reviews make it clear that a case with good ventilation & 2-3 fans will benefit the 120 VX more than a tower cooler & perhaps skew you in that direction but cases with 1 or no fans should go with a tower cooler for better results.
And yes I am happy to seed the crown of best HSF to the Ultra 120 as I do believe it is the best around at the moment. I just believe that the 120VX is a better cooler in real world cases then you give it credit for as your test setup does not reflect the type of system setup that most people will be using in their PC's.
Still good job Anand Tech for providing a review at all.
Am I dense? If the down facing fan coolers need case fans to approach cooling as well as the towers with side fans isn't this proof the towers cool better?
It is also interesting that Wesley found the down fans and side fan models both benefited from adding a case fan. So what's the point?
quote: However if down-facing cools better, then why can't these down-facing designs compete with the best heatpipe towers in performance on our Core 2 Duo test bed?
As I mentioned in your last heatsink review, it's because you don't have a case fan. All you're doing with the down-facing fan on this heatsink is circulating the same hot air around and around the case. All it does (all it CAN do) is get hotter. No one in their right mind would run a computer without at least one case fan, ESPECIALLY when over-clocking. In this artificial (and incorrect) test environment you've created, those side-blowing heatsink have a definite advantage since they can force some hot air out through that empty case fan slot.
I realize you did this test in the same environment as the last one so you could compare apples to apples. But, there's no point in a proper comparison across tests when the tests themselves are faulty. Put the case fan back in your test bed and at least re-test one down-blowing and one side-blowing heatsink.
Our current case does have a PS fan that removes hot air from the top of the case and rear vents to exhaust rear air, but no case fans. All coolers were tested under these consditions.
We did test 2 of the down-facing coolers with a rear case fan installed. Cooling performance was improved a few degrees, but overclock remained about the same. We then tried the rear case fan with two of the heatpipe towers. Cooling performace was also improved using a case fan on the heatpipe towers but overclock was almost the same. We suspect that if we were testing with much lower output fans the case fan would make more of a difference.
In the end we would need to retest all coolers with a case fan installed, not just the down-facers. Right now we doubt it would reveal more than we already know, based on quickly checking 4 coolers with a case fan.
Our new test bed will include a "quieter" variable speed PS with a different fan configuration. We will also include a large low-rpm case fan. We do plan to retest a cross-section of the coolers for new baseline results when the new cooler test bed is finalized and updated.
I know that I have written in both of the previous reviews that blowing the hot air back onto the component is counterproductive, and that turing the fan around would help that part at least. But, the side blowing fan is just a better design. It has better airflow, and doesn't end up with the turbulence and back pressure that a downward facing fan has. Side blowing fans aren't always practical though, because they stick out much farther, and cause much more strain on the motherboard.
The height of the VX is 150mm, including the control knob on top, so say 135mm for the top of the fan. Most of the weight is far away from the motherboard. The Tuniq
The Tuniq is 155mm tall and the Thermalrights 160.5, and I would not be surprised if they put less of a moment on the motherboard due to the mass not being all concentrated at the far end.
Very nice review. I love the dig at Hexus at the end. Their review really did piss me off in the fact that they used such a crappy fan on their Ultra-120.
AnandTech never reviewed the BT VX before, and when it did, it had concluded that this cooler is bad, why just coz another type of coolers are better !!
the problem with this review is that the Cooler is very good, but the conclution did not give it what it deserve. it just said that a 90 degree mounted fans coolers are better.. ok I agree and thanks for AT for this, infact I just knows that thanks to Anand, but the problem is where the conclution for the VX as a cooler not as heatpipes tower vs. downfacing fans coolers comparision..
We did NOT say the BT was a bad cooler. We talked about the performance being the best for this type of cooler and the good things about installation and design. Don't you think It would be unfair to say the VX topped our perfromance list when it didn't?
In our conclusion we also said "There is no doubt the Big Typhoon VX is, along with the Cooler Master GeminII, the best of the down-facing cooler designs." and "While performance does not top our charts, there are still many things to like about the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX. It is one of the easiest to mount coolers we have ever tested. While we do have concerns about two pounds being supported by Intel-style push clips, the installation itself is easy and does not require you to remove your motherboard. It is equally easy if you are mounting the VX on an AMD processor.
The attached fan speed control is also very useful on the Big Typhoon VX, particularly since it is attached to a very high-output fan capable of 86.5CFM at high speed."
It isn't a bad cooler at all. However, there are some ways to make it perform well under its potential.
First off, it needs a side air duct or side case fan blowing down onto it so it can breathe efficiently. Give it that, and it will be far less likely to cycle hot air through its fins at high operating temperatures.
Secondly, it does need a fairly strong exhaust fan.
The Big Typhoon (standard and VX) has put in impressive showings on open-air testbeds that showcase its potential strengths. In restricted air environments, you wind up with a cooler that can not efficiently pull cool air into the case or move hot air out of the case (the latter of which is a nice feature of a properly-positioned L-shaped cooler).
I managed to get good operation out of mine using a Centurion 5. All I did was pull the side air duct off (the VX is too big to be mounted with that thing still screwed on to the side of the case) and use the VX's included fan as an exhaust. Then I put a Silverstone FM-121 on the VX itself. It serves as the intake fan for the case, cooling everything but the HDDs, plus the HSF fan as well. The exhaust fan more or less takes care of everything else. It's a simple and cheap solution that cools very well. In contrast, an L-shaped cooler in a similar setup would have problems due to there being no strong or direct intake . . . it would essentially be pulling air from inside the case which would, ideally, pull cool air from outside the case through various vents, but for the most part, it would also be pulling in air heated by other system components.
All this might account for why the VX did so well at idle but so poorly at load.
My Tuniq on an E6600 in a Centurion 5 idles at 27-28*C and goes to 33-34 at load with ambient around 75*F and just the stock case fans (80mm at front blowing in over hard drives, 120mm at back blowing out). The Tuniq is set to ~1350RPM.
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34 Comments
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Zarf - Thursday, August 23, 2007 - link
I notice on your photos that you've mounted the VX120 such that the heatpipes are working maximally against gravity for the condensate inside to return to the evaporation point on top of the CPU. I can't say I'm thoroughly versed in heatpipe design, but it is generally best to have them oriented such that the condensate capillary-action return is not fighting against gravity. In fact, if you mount the VX120 correctly, three of the six heatpipes will experience gravitational assistance in returning the condensate from the cooling fins back down to the CPU, and the other 3 heatpipes will be experiencing only a very slight negative gravitational gradient. The way Anandtech has mounted the VX120 is, in my option, incorrect for vertical motherboard mounting in a tower case.neweggster - Sunday, June 10, 2007 - link
You people complain that having this sort of HSF is like owning stock to a big company. You guys act like Anand has done you wrong in a test of a HSF that doesn't reflect what you would do, furthermore; complaining that the results are not efficient because the lack of case fans.First off who cares, second we want to buy things that are more efficient and thats why side blown HSF are better then down blowing HSF. Conclusion is that if you have to do more to get a side HSF to work efficiently then why bother?? Why argue the points that this HSF style works far better when adequate exhaust fans are used. The comparison shows little to no difference when using side case fans to get this VX working more efficiently.
I would much rather use side blown HSF and have to do less configuarations to get it to work optimaly then to use a down blowing HSF that you have to have more exhasut fans and better configurations of the case airflow.
The point is that DOWN BLOWING HSF SUCK PERIOD!! Does not matter, we see that side blown HSF work better and ideally generate less static heat around the mobo, so why argue that you can improve the down flow HSF designs to get better performance and have to do more then just using what works best.
neweggster - Sunday, June 10, 2007 - link
Edit, I meant to say Down blowing on this sentence but said Side.Conclusion is that if you have to do more to get a side[/B(should be Down) HSF to work efficiently then why bother??
cornfedone - Sunday, June 10, 2007 - link
It seems as though that everyday some company comes up with another gimmick for the clueless. There must be a lot of suckers with more money than brains.Avalon - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
The reviews lately on the downward blowing coolers seem to imply that we only care about cooling other system components with that airflow to increase our overclock. Not so.I like downward blowing coolers because I like my other components running cooler. They will potentially last longer, and I won't need to add on additional fans or heatsinks for each part.
tallman45 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
The differences and performance between the 2 can be vastly different in a real world setupA PC case with a Side Door Fan which most have would greatly benefit the Down facing Heatsink since cool outside the case air is pumped through the cooler. Where in any instance the side mounted fan is gettimg all its air directly once it has passed over the already hot Sticks of Ram which had already passing over HDD cage, hardly cool air to start with
The other benefit of downfacing fans is that they cool both the base of the CPU and Mosfits that surround the CPU socket area
strikeback03 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
Of course if you already have side door fans then you have airflow over the motherboard, making the largest benefit of a down-facing fan less needed.erikpurne - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I totally see the point the downwards-facing-coolers people are trying to make. All they're saying is that Anandtech's test-bed is unrealistic as it lacks a case exhaust fan that virtually everybody interested in this type of coolers would have installed.A backwards-facing tower cooler will tend to push the heated air out the back vent whether there's an exhaust fan there or not, since it's pointing directly at said vent in many case designs. It sort of doubles as a case fan. Meanwhile, a downwards-facing HSF will just keep recirculating the hot air.
On another note, how do you (Anandtech) compensate for differences in ambient temperature when testing the coolers? I didn't notice it mentioned on the testing methodology page.
Frumious1 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
It seems that what you're saying is that cooling towers are inherently superior to the downward-blowers, since with the latter you need a case fan but you don't with the towers. I can't recall any cases I've seen in recent history where the rear of the case doesn't have perforations/fan mounts, and the fact remains that blowing air down at the motherboard is a great way to create turbulence. But hey, if you have two case fans - one at the front as intake and one at the rear as exhaust - then the downward blowing HSFs are maybe competitive with the cooling towers. Except then you have three fans instead of one or two, which almost certainly makes more noise.Wes also pointed out above that testing with four coolers didn't appreciably alter the results. The testbed is consistent and appears reasonably fair. "What if you use case X with a mod so that cooler Y blows air out the side vent that just happens to match up perfectly with motherboard Z?" Well, in that case you're probably already familiar with the setup and you just want someone to give you the thumbs up. Here you go: thumbs up! Sounds like a great setup for that particular case/HSF/mobo combination. A typical case+mobo seems a better idea as a testbed, however.
Personally, I have my PC located such that a wall blocks the left side, so the front and rear vents are MUCH more important and any case that has vents on the side wouldn't work well. I've seen quite a few computer desks that do the exact same thing, so I'd say more people than not will benefit from a heatpipe tower cooler over a downward blowing cooler.
tallman45 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Why test the most used replacement fans on the market, the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro and 64 Pro.They may not be the best cooling but they are under $20 delivered and are virtually silent.
Arguably the best bang for the buck
Amuro - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
I found this review that compares the Freezer 7 Pro with the Big Typhoon VX, and the Freezer 7 beats it:http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/bigtyphoon...">http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/bigtyphoon...
qquizz - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Thermaltake just hopes people confuse their name with Thermalright ;)brian_riendeau - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I remember when I used to come to AT for reviews of real hardware like motherboards and CPUs. I am glad another 8 pages of "content" gets to devoted to a CPU cooler and says what could have been said in a paragraph. I would much rather see a large cooler roundup and get down to what people care about, which coolers are the best performing, and which are the best value. That is all people really care about, no one (and I mean no one) need 8 pages of information for every half decent CPU cooler on the market.nbowman - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
hehe, don't read the Hexus review then, its like 125 pages long (no bull) for 25 coolers.strikeback03 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
Don't forget, there is a page devoted to the all-important packaging.nsx241 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Um, in that case, just skip to the conclusion. No one's forcing you to read all of it.MageXX9 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
As I said in a previous review, I hate those Intel-style push clips. I've only installed one Core 2 Duo machine, and the retail fan installation amazes me at how bad it was. I can't understand for the life of me why any aftermarket heatsink would use anything other than a screw down design that let you press the heatsink down evenly.I understand the ability to install a heatsink while the motherboard is in the case is desirable but it's no problem for me to pull the motherboard. The added insurance is worth it.
n7 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Results are not bad for what's basically an old cooler revised.Any plans for an Enzotech Ultra-X review?
stepone - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I have a TT 120 VX & with down blower coolers you need to have an extraction fan in the case as the air gets pushed down onto the mobo instead of towards the back fan opening of the case as is the case with tower coolers. I use mine in an Antec P182 with both the top & rear fans set to low (580 RPM) which is inaudibile @ 1m and pulls very little air but still lowers the temp @load by 6-8 degrees depending on what you're doing.Further evidence of this is that in your review the 120 VX has the 2nd lowest stock idle temperature, just 1 degree behind the ultra!
The cooler is good, it just needs a little assistance in getting the hot air out of the case and who doesn't have at least 1 exhaust fan running above 580RPM in their case?
Could Anand tech maybe add 1 case fan@ low RPM's and re-test the down blowers against the ultra 120?
magreen1 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
See Wesley's response above -- they already did briefly retest 4 coolers with a case fan.rjm55 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Maybe the real point is that those who bought these down-fan coolers for better cooling are just disappointed to find out they don't work as well as the top guns.stepone - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
The point I was making was that the 120 VX (& down blowers inparticular) benefit more from exhaust fans than tower coolers do and a proper case setup will nearly always include at least 1 120mm extraction fan.Seriously who buys an after market HSF & then uses no case fans (HTPC users maybe but most HSF units will be 2 big for those cases)?
As for your sour grapes implication, you're being very close minded...
Is it not possible that other people's opinions & real world experience of the 120 VX could be different & that they're trying to simply get people to take a 2nd look at this HSF instead of being petty individuals in a vindictive jealous rage trying to steer others to the same mistake?
As for Anand techs dissing of Hexus's tests this doesn't seem fair.
Sure they used a different testing methodology than yours but that doesn't make their results worthless and although I disagree with some of their methodology as well it doesn't negate their results. Just as it doesn't negate yours.
To me these 2 reviews make it clear that a case with good ventilation & 2-3 fans will benefit the 120 VX more than a tower cooler & perhaps skew you in that direction but cases with 1 or no fans should go with a tower cooler for better results.
And yes I am happy to seed the crown of best HSF to the Ultra 120 as I do believe it is the best around at the moment. I just believe that the 120VX is a better cooler in real world cases then you give it credit for as your test setup does not reflect the type of system setup that most people will be using in their PC's.
Still good job Anand Tech for providing a review at all.
Thanks... (boy that was way too long :-)
rjm55 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Am I dense? If the down facing fan coolers need case fans to approach cooling as well as the towers with side fans isn't this proof the towers cool better?It is also interesting that Wesley found the down fans and side fan models both benefited from adding a case fan. So what's the point?
DaveLessnau - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
As I mentioned in your last heatsink review, it's because you don't have a case fan. All you're doing with the down-facing fan on this heatsink is circulating the same hot air around and around the case. All it does (all it CAN do) is get hotter. No one in their right mind would run a computer without at least one case fan, ESPECIALLY when over-clocking. In this artificial (and incorrect) test environment you've created, those side-blowing heatsink have a definite advantage since they can force some hot air out through that empty case fan slot.
I realize you did this test in the same environment as the last one so you could compare apples to apples. But, there's no point in a proper comparison across tests when the tests themselves are faulty. Put the case fan back in your test bed and at least re-test one down-blowing and one side-blowing heatsink.
Wesley Fink - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Our current case does have a PS fan that removes hot air from the top of the case and rear vents to exhaust rear air, but no case fans. All coolers were tested under these consditions.We did test 2 of the down-facing coolers with a rear case fan installed. Cooling performance was improved a few degrees, but overclock remained about the same. We then tried the rear case fan with two of the heatpipe towers. Cooling performace was also improved using a case fan on the heatpipe towers but overclock was almost the same. We suspect that if we were testing with much lower output fans the case fan would make more of a difference.
In the end we would need to retest all coolers with a case fan installed, not just the down-facers. Right now we doubt it would reveal more than we already know, based on quickly checking 4 coolers with a case fan.
Our new test bed will include a "quieter" variable speed PS with a different fan configuration. We will also include a large low-rpm case fan. We do plan to retest a cross-section of the coolers for new baseline results when the new cooler test bed is finalized and updated.
Martimus - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I know that I have written in both of the previous reviews that blowing the hot air back onto the component is counterproductive, and that turing the fan around would help that part at least. But, the side blowing fan is just a better design. It has better airflow, and doesn't end up with the turbulence and back pressure that a downward facing fan has. Side blowing fans aren't always practical though, because they stick out much farther, and cause much more strain on the motherboard.strikeback03 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
The height of the VX is 150mm, including the control knob on top, so say 135mm for the top of the fan. Most of the weight is far away from the motherboard. The Tuniqstrikeback03 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
typo submitted the comment unfinished.The Tuniq is 155mm tall and the Thermalrights 160.5, and I would not be surprised if they put less of a moment on the motherboard due to the mass not being all concentrated at the far end.
Bull Dog - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Very nice review. I love the dig at Hexus at the end. Their review really did piss me off in the fact that they used such a crappy fan on their Ultra-120.jkostans - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I agree, this review is 10x better than the Hexus one. The Hexus review was a slap in the face to legit reviews.Xajel - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
AnandTech never reviewed the BT VX before, and when it did, it had concluded that this cooler is bad, why just coz another type of coolers are better !!the problem with this review is that the Cooler is very good, but the conclution did not give it what it deserve. it just said that a 90 degree mounted fans coolers are better.. ok I agree and thanks for AT for this, infact I just knows that thanks to Anand, but the problem is where the conclution for the VX as a cooler not as heatpipes tower vs. downfacing fans coolers comparision..
Wesley Fink - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
We did NOT say the BT was a bad cooler. We talked about the performance being the best for this type of cooler and the good things about installation and design. Don't you think It would be unfair to say the VX topped our perfromance list when it didn't?In our conclusion we also said "There is no doubt the Big Typhoon VX is, along with the Cooler Master GeminII, the best of the down-facing cooler designs." and "While performance does not top our charts, there are still many things to like about the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX. It is one of the easiest to mount coolers we have ever tested. While we do have concerns about two pounds being supported by Intel-style push clips, the installation itself is easy and does not require you to remove your motherboard. It is equally easy if you are mounting the VX on an AMD processor.
The attached fan speed control is also very useful on the Big Typhoon VX, particularly since it is attached to a very high-output fan capable of 86.5CFM at high speed."
I don't think this is saying the cooler is bad.
DrMrLordX - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
It isn't a bad cooler at all. However, there are some ways to make it perform well under its potential.First off, it needs a side air duct or side case fan blowing down onto it so it can breathe efficiently. Give it that, and it will be far less likely to cycle hot air through its fins at high operating temperatures.
Secondly, it does need a fairly strong exhaust fan.
The Big Typhoon (standard and VX) has put in impressive showings on open-air testbeds that showcase its potential strengths. In restricted air environments, you wind up with a cooler that can not efficiently pull cool air into the case or move hot air out of the case (the latter of which is a nice feature of a properly-positioned L-shaped cooler).
I managed to get good operation out of mine using a Centurion 5. All I did was pull the side air duct off (the VX is too big to be mounted with that thing still screwed on to the side of the case) and use the VX's included fan as an exhaust. Then I put a Silverstone FM-121 on the VX itself. It serves as the intake fan for the case, cooling everything but the HDDs, plus the HSF fan as well. The exhaust fan more or less takes care of everything else. It's a simple and cheap solution that cools very well. In contrast, an L-shaped cooler in a similar setup would have problems due to there being no strong or direct intake . . . it would essentially be pulling air from inside the case which would, ideally, pull cool air from outside the case through various vents, but for the most part, it would also be pulling in air heated by other system components.
All this might account for why the VX did so well at idle but so poorly at load.
strikeback03 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
My Tuniq on an E6600 in a Centurion 5 idles at 27-28*C and goes to 33-34 at load with ambient around 75*F and just the stock case fans (80mm at front blowing in over hard drives, 120mm at back blowing out). The Tuniq is set to ~1350RPM.