A few manufacturers have recently launched "direct touch" heatpipe CPU coolers; a design that seems to make sense in terms of optimizing heat transfer from the processor to the cooler. By eliminating the solid base plate found on most coolers and letting the copper heat pipes come in direct contact with the processor, one interface is removed and the efficiency should be increased.
After our
first review of such a cooler I was left wondering if this design development was really such a good idea, as performance was less than impressive. We're going to give direct touch heatpipe CPU coolers another shot, this time in the form of something from
OCZ Technology. They have provided their Vendetta CPU cooler, which as the promotional image below may reveal, looks a good deal like the Kingwin Revolution cooler we reviewed just about a month ago.
This review will analyze the performance of the Vendetta to see if it can out perform Kingwin's direct touch CPU cooler, despite the physical similarities. Before taking a closer look at the Vendetta CPU Cooler provided for review, let's look at the rest of the published data taken from the
OCZ Technology website...
Features and Specifications:
» For Sockets AMD 754/755/939/AM2, Intel LGA775
» 3 Pure Copper heat pipes for superior heat dissipation
» Pure Aluminum fins for ultimate durability
» 1 year warranty
» Fan Specifications:
» Size: 92mm
» Rated Voltage: 12V DC
» Fan Speed: 1200-2800RPM
» Fan Air Flow: 39-54.6 CFM
» Noise Level: 22-34 dBA
» Bearing type: ball
» Connector: 4 pin with PWM
» Heatsink Dimensions: (L)97 x (W)79 x (H)134mm
» Includes:
» 92mm Fan with rubber connectors
» Mounting Hardware for all above CPUs
» Thermal Compound
» Part Number: OCZTVEND
Packaging:
The packaging for the Vendetta CPU cooler is shown below. While it doesn't give you much of a look at the cooler itself, except for a bit of the fan, there are plenty of details and pictures on the various faces of the box. The below right image is of one side, which includes a list of the supported processors and basic specifications.
All of the components are well protected inside the box, as shown in the below left image. In addition to the
OCZ Technology Vendetta CPU Cooler, you receive an installation manual, a 92mm fan you have to install yourself, a sleeve of white thermal paste, a 3-pin to 4-pin power adapter, 4 rubber vibration isolating fan mounts, 2 bolts for attaching the motherboard retention brackets, and a variety of brackets that make this cooler compatible with most modern AMD and Intel processors.
