Thermalright Ultra-120 Heatpipe CPU Cooler

**Jason** · Posted: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 06:33:31 Post Subject:

Thermalright boasts that they are number one, and they may have a case with the Ultra-120 under the right circumstances. The Tuniq Tower 120 might have something to say about Thermalright's self proclaimed championship, but the differences in performance are so slight that they may have to settle for being co-champions. - The Review

Case Cutter · Rated PG Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 2 Location: So Cal.

Just a question… was such testing done with mobo laying flat and the heat pipes standing vertical? I’ve seen in such a position you get optimal wicking from the pipes, but when mount inside a case those results diminish dramatically. To achieve real world data heat sinks need to be mounted inside a case rather than flat-out in the open air on the test bench. Two Cents

Spell Chek ....Cool Wink

**Jason** · Posted: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 15:19:49 Post Subject:

The heatsinks were all tested in a position where the motherboard was horizontal and the heatsink was standing upright. This method is chosen because different cases may contribute to the performance of the cooler thanks to fans, vents, etc...

Although some people may want to see the results inside a case and "vertical", that adds variables. No additional airlfow was provided inside a 'still' room, and the resulting temperatures may be best judged in terms of rise over ambient. What is important to note is that all coolers included were tested in the same manner so that all the results are directly comparable.

bruceleeon · Rated R Joined: 15 Jun 2003 Posts: 59

COD Tests heatsinks in a working system, but fortunately for us, me being the only reviewer, all the sinks are reviewed with the same variables negating them in the comparisons. If this weren't the case, I would implement the same testitng methdos the bru uses to keep things consistent among different reviewers.

**Jason** · Posted: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 22:49:52 Post Subject:

Well, that is just how I do it at my place. Other guys do use other formats (if they want). But, considering I have reviewed so many of these big heatpipe coolers in the past year (with two more on the horizon), it has made things easier.

When you do it in a case... Case fans on or off? Side panel on or off? Tower or desktop case? PSU with how many fans? These are issues I prefer to just avoid.

You put a cooler with a 120mm fan pointing to the back of a case with a 120mm exhaust fan and your bound to see better things than in a case with a 80mm rear fan... Or perhaps in a case where the cooler needs to point at the psu... 120mm PSU fan versus no PSU fan... big difference. So, with so many cases, PSUs, and motherboards out there, I just prefer to eliminate them all from the equation.