Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsQuiet and effective, and was able to reclaim two PCIe slots. Cores run cooler than ambient at idle.
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2017
This cooler replaced an Noctua Heatsink fan combination. There was nothing wrong with it's operation, but I had two issues. One, it was a huge hunk of metal hanging off the motherboard. It didn't seem to affect operation, and I always transported the computer lying flat, but still.
The other issue was the profile. It hung over the first PCIe slot, and since I have a double width video card, I gave up a second PCIe slot. When I replaced the Noctua with the Arctic cooler, I found there is a gap between the first and second PCI slots (EVGA MB) so I didn't get one PCIe slot back, I got two.
I have a Thermaltake Chaser II case. It's massive. The CPU socket is close to a dual fan opening in the case. I had the Fry's tech install the cooler there, and there was plenty of length in the hoses to reach. I wanted him to set it up for intake , but he insisted on setting it up to exhaust. I had to change another fan to intake to try to keep up with the exhaust, especially since my video card exhausts air, too.
The case has a cover, and the fans are too tall to allow the cover to sit on the case top. I solved that by putting lengths of weather stripping on the case top, and letting the cover sit on it. I thought about modifying the cover, but then the fan blades would be exposed. The unit has two radiators, and two fans per radiator. Theoretically, I could have only put one fan per radiator, but since I have an 8 core Haswell CPU, I wanted maximum possible airflow.
A really neat feature is it's thermoelectric cooling. I have a CPU temperature gadget, and at least at idle, the cores run a couple degrees F cooler than ambient. How neat is that?
I have no idea how difficult it was to install. I had a Fry's tech remove the Noctua HS/F and my 6 core Broadwell CPU and replace them with an 8 core Haswell, and this cooler. He had them done in an afternoon.
The cooler and the fans sandwich the case where they are installed. There wasn't enough clearance to put them all inside the case, and if he'd put them all outside the case, they wouldn't fit under my computer desk.
