Cooler Master has come up with a wide variety of designs for their coolers over the years. Some units have provided high end thermal performance, some have offered outrageous aesthetics, and others have simply offered the mainstream user a budget friendly solution that gets the job done.


This review is going to take a look at two of the newer products in the Cooler Master line up, and they are definitely not your run of the mill CPU coolers. The Z600 and the Sphere have interesting designs for different reasons; the Z600 is an absolutely massive heatpipe tower advertised as being capable of passive cooling, and the Sphere is a funky little Copper orb with an LED illuminated core.

Before taking a look at the two coolers provided for review, let's take a look at some of the published data on them.

Z600 Features and Specifications:

The list of features and specifications shown below were all taken form the box, since I could not find any data on the Cooler Master website.

» Dimensions: 127.28mm x 127.28mm x 160mm
» Material: Cu base, 6 heat pipes, Al. fin
» Heat Pipe Dimensions: 6mm diameter
» Weight: 1045g

» Universal Design:
   » Intel: Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, etc.
   » AMD: Phenom, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon X2, Sempron, etc.
» Three Optimum Thermal Solutions:
   » Passive cooling for silent operation
   » Optional single fan for advanced cooling results
   » Optional dual fan for ultimate cooling results
» Rapid Heat Transfer Design:
   » Mirror coated copper base, 6 heat-pipes for efficient heat dissipation
» Aerodynamic Fin Design:
   » Aerodynamic fin design allows airflow to pass through the fins more rapidly and increases the dissipation area to remove heat efficiently
This thing is a beast... Incredibly large dimensions and a weight over 1kg!

Sphere Features and Specifications:

The list below provides a brief summary of some of the Cooler Master Sphere's key features and specifications. For a complete list of the most up to date information, please visit the product page on the Cooler Master website.

» Compatibility:
   » AMD: Compatible with AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core / AMD Athlon 64 FX
   » Intel: Compatible with Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Duo
» Heatsink Material: 100% copper with 4 heatpipes
» Weight: 685g
» Heatsink Dimensions: 132 x 113mm
» Fan Dimensions: 66 x 68mm
» Speed: 2200 RPM
» Airflow 84.7 CFM » Noise Level: 22 dBA
» LED: Blue
» Bearing Type: Sleeve