Thermaltake is one of those brands that most enthusiasts have heard of. Over the last 10 years, they’ve been suppliers of everything from cases to power supplies and coolers. They are definitely one of the companies most of us equate with quality, performance, and reliability.
Today we take a look at their V1 AX CPU cooler, as provided by
Xoxide.com. It is one of eight CPU coolers currently offered by Thermaltake for the Socket 1366 platform, and like many of their coolers the V1 AX is capable of cooling most modern processors. This is a nice feature if you plan to upgrade from either socket 775 or K8 in the future. The V1 AX is similar to their V1 cooler in every way, except that it has aluminum cooling fins rather than copper, which gives it a different look and ultimately makes it a less expensive solution for the consumer.
The promotional image above gives us a good idea of the layout of this beast. This cooler is quite large which may be something to take into consideration if you’re using an HTPC or a mATX case. You also get a good look at the four heatpipes wound throughout the massive number of cooling fins, and the installation brackets are mounted via four screws on the bottom of the base. Before taking a look at the sample provided for review, let's take a quick look at the specifications from
the official product page on the Thermaltake website:
Features:
» Innovative V1 Design Series (4 Channels w/ Dual-VTM Heatpipe Cooling)
» Silent & Powerful 110mm VR Fan (w/ Blue LED Lights)
» Superb Cooling Performance Structure
» Intelligent CPU & System Thermal Management
» Smart CPU & System Thermal Management (w/ Multi-Directional Air Intake)
Compatibility:
» Intel® Core i7 / i7 Extreme (Socket LGA1366)
» Intel® Core 2 Extreme / Quad / Duo (Socket LGA775)
» Intel® Pentium D / Pentium 4 (Socket LGA775)
» Intel® Celeron / Celeron D (Socket LGA775)
» AMD® Phenom / Phenom II (Socket AM2+)
» AMD® Athlon 64 FX / 64 X2 (Socket AM2/939)
» AMD® Athlon 64 (Socket AM2/939/754)
» AMD® Sempron (Socket AM2/754)
Specifications:
» Heatsink Dimensions: 147 x 92 x 143mm
» Heatsink Material: Aluminum Fins w/ Aluminum Base
» Heatpipe: Copper Pipe Ø 6 mm (x4)
» Fan Dimensions: Ø 110 x 25 mm
» Fan Speed: 1300 ~ 2000 RPM
» Noise Level: 16 ~ 24 dBA
» Max. Air Flow 86.5 CFM
» Max. Air Pressure: 2.22 mmH2O
» LED Fan: Blue
» Power Connector: 3 Pin
» Rated Voltage: 12 V
» Started Voltage: 7 V
» Rated Current: 0.25 A
» Power Input: 3W
» MTBF: 50,000 Hours
» Weight: 420 g
The thing that most intrigues me is the variable speed fan. Most coolers come with a 4-pin plug that allows the system to control the fan speed.
Thermaltake has added a knob for the user to control the fan speed on the V1 series which may or may not prove to be useful – we shall see later. We can only hope that we find a happy medium of cooling power and silence.
