MaximumPC 2007 06

reviewsTes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

7 MAXIMUMPC june 2007

A

h, innovation. We’re always excited

to see a CPU cooler arrive at the

Maximum PC doorstep because it

usually means one of three things: a new

product will wow our pants off, a device

will look so neat we’ll put the accompa-

nying product shots in our wallets, or a

device will just plain suck. To our delight,

this month’s batch of coolers covers all

the bases.

—DAVID MURPHY

OVeRwAY TecHnOlOgY

VAcUUM S UPeRcOnDUcTIVe

HeAT cOOleR

Our biggest frustration with Overway

Technology’s awesomely named Vacuum

Superconductive Heat Cooler (VSHC) is

that it didn’t injure us. For the product

proved to be so entirely abysmal, we were

hoping it would earn the sacred one score.

Unfortunately, the uno is for products

that cause physical harm during use—no

blood, no uno.

Where to begin? The

installation mechanism

is hands-down the

worst we’ve ever

encountered. It requires

you to forcefully push

on the razor-thin edge

of a clip, which began to

hurt like all hell after the first 30 minutes.

Yes, it took more than half an hour to get

the device in place. And for all that, we

were rewarded with a cooler that actually

performs worse than the cheap-o stock

cooler we use for all our benchmarks.

THeRMAlTA ke V1

We’ve been operating under the assumption

that Zalman’s CNPS9700 is the Highlander of

CPU coolers—immortal and utterly immune

to the benchmarking threats posed by other,

lesser devices. That’s until we ran across

Thermaltake’s newest V1 cooler. As far as

we can tell, the blue-lit device is the guy who

brings the chain saw to a swordfight. It looks

great, fits great, and outcools our reigning

champion ever so slightly.

Installing the cooler was almost a

breeze (ha ha), save for one hang-up.

The locking mechanism for our AMD X2

rig ran into the cooler itself. It’s not a

deal-breaker, but in this case, you really

have to push on the little lever to set the

cooler in place. It’s a minor flaw for such

an explosive device.

Ul TRA^

cHIllTec

Ultra wins points for

having a solidly func-

tioning thermoelectric

cooler and including

accessories that really push the “neat-o”

factor. Although installing the peltier cooler

requires motherboard removal, the sheer

delightfulness of the included front-panel

display makes up for the time spent. Not

only do you get a pleasant temperature

indicator, but you can change its colors

and even watch an animated guy dig a

hole—the faster he goes, the harder the

ChillTec is working.

As one might expect, the cooler does

an astounding job when the CPU sits idle,

but it sputters a bit during a full burn. In

some ways, that makes the ChillTec both

warmer and colder than a pure air-based

model. But considering the accessories—

and the aesthetics—we remain quite happy

with the total peltier package.

Three’s a Cooling

Crowd

Something great, something new, something bad,

and, well, that’s about it

Thermaltake’s V1 cooler really shines—in

both looks and performance.

If you ever find Overway’s cooler on a

store shelf, send us a picture—then put

a stake through it.

To heck with the cooling; you’ll be mes-

stock cooler VsHc cHilltec tHermaltake V1 (low speed) tHermaltakeV1 (HigH speed) merized by the chillTec’s “digging guy.”

benchMARkS

Idle (C) 25  26  12  21.5    19.5   

100% load (C) 49     51  43  42  38

Best scores are bolded. Idle temperatures were measured after 30 minutes of inactivity, and full-load temps were

measured after running CPU Burn-in for one hour.

thermaltake V1

$60, http://www.thermaltake.com

9

MAXIMUMPC

KICKASS

3

$35, http://www.overway.com.tw

oVerway VSch

8

$150, http://www.ultraproducts.com

ultra chilltec