The Basics:
If you were to take a quick look at the
Thermalright Ultra-120 in the below left image you might not be able to distinguish it from a handful of other heatpipe coolers on the market. What you can't see in this view are the variety of things that make it unique; such as its size, number of heatpipes, orientation of cooling fins, and overall sense of quality. The below right image shows you one special feature, where you can see the "Z" like pattern in the tight array of cooling fins. Not only are there plenty of fins to exchange heat with the air flowing over them, but the bends in opposing directions force the air to touch the fins, generate a bit of turbulence, and make sure that about as much air as possible is picking up some heat on the way through. Thermalright calls this fin design "bent winglet", which sounds humorous but appropriate.
The images below take a look at the base of the cooler, where we can see there are four heatpipes on either side, for a total of eight pipes, leading from your processor up through the fins. Heatpipe coolers have been throwing more and more pipes at reducing heat, and eight is about the most you are going to get right now. Another thing that strikes me about the Ultra-120, especially noticeable in these views, is the high quality finish. The cooler is well built, and all of the interfaces between different components are clean and fit nicely.
The below left image shows the bottom of the cooler. This surface is nickel plated copper, as are the heatpipes. All of it has a nice silvery look to it, which matches nicely with the aluminum fins. The base is smooth and flat, but obviously doesn't have a mirror finish. Thermalright really doesn't go for the mirror finish look, and they seem to know what they are doing! The below right image shows the top of the cooler, where you can see all the heatpipes crimped shut, as well as the Thermalright logo stamped into the upper most aluminum fin.
The next image shows off the balance of accessories included with the Ultra-120. They are all packed into the white box shown, and include: mounting brackets for AMD and Intel processors, spring loaded mounting screws, a syringe of thermal paste, fan vibration reducing rubber strips, and fan mounting clips. What you do not see is a fan, and you rarely do from Thermalright. This allows you to choose the best fan for your tastes/needs, but also means you have to spend even more money once you have purchased your cooler. If you were saving money by not getting a fan I would be all for it, but many comparably priced coolers come with a fan (and maybe even a fan speed controller).
