Pros: This cooler is just stellar in every regard- it can be great for even an overclocked rig's cooling needs and at the same time works as a solid option for a quiet HTPC system if you just dial the fan down. With the 92mm fan size, it's short enough to fit inside a CM 343 mini-tower with lots of room to spare. Mounting hardware is very easy to use and well designed. It secures the unit firmly in place. Much more firmly attached than anything you'd mount with clips onto the AMD factory bracket.

Cons: None for me or for anyone who builds their own systems. Almost all ATX towers allow enough access to the back of the motherboard to make installing the backplate for the cooler no sweat. For those who are installing into a retail machine, having to remove the motherboard to install the cooler might be a bit daunting.

Overall Review: I have two of these- one cools a Phenom X4 965 overclocked @4.3ghz, and the other cools my HTPC rig that runs an Athlon X3 455 CPU. Using the provided extra clips to add a cheap 92mm Rosewill fan, the push/pull setup keeps the overclocked 125w Phenom under 55c during stress testing. Very impressive considering that most individuals can't keep the same CPU that cool at that clock speed using the CM 212 Evo, which is a full-size 120mm fan tower. For my HTPC, I run the provided fan by itself, tuned via BIOS to around 1400 RPM speed. It is hardly audible from outside the case, and still keeps the 95w processor under 30c idle, 45c under extended heavy load. Could be much cooler if I didn't restrict the max fan speed. Overall, this gets the nod over the Logisys DeepCool Ice Edge 400 as the best cooler I've used that stands this short. To do better, you'd need room for a cooler running 120mm size fans.

Pros: It was the cheapest AMD AM3-compatible mATX board I could find for a budget project I had intended to finish in one or two evenings total.

Cons: The board would NOT allow me to install windows using an AHCI configuration. It would then crash after within two boots of me installing using the default IDE profile and properly changing the registry and BIOS for an AHCI disk. This made having a nice SSD for the boot drive pointless. Beyond that, it was giving me core temp readings of around 17c when the room temp was over 24c at startup. I won't even mention the trainwreck that was the BIOS "Overclock Genie" tool. I wasted days on this before giving up. Now the headache of removing all the components, returning it, and starting from scratch with a functional mobo. Wish I would have just spent the extra $20 for an Asus to start.

Pros: I promise you, this WILL cool whatever processor you are running. If you want to do much better in terms of thermal performance, you'd have to look at H20 options. Initially, I was using this with the provided fan alone and kept a Phenom X4 965 overclocked @4.2ghz under 60c during two hours of stress testing. It kept it under 50c when the overclock was only 3.8ghz. Impressive. But it gets better. Added a second 120mm Xiagmatek fan in a push/pull config using the provided extra fan clips. This now keeps the same X4 965 overclocked to 4.3ghz under 55c regardless of testing duration. It's been used during benchmark overclocks of up to 4.6ghz and has never once cracked 60c. Install is easy and the result is a secure mount to the motherboard. This is assuming you have a case that allows for access to the rear of the board, but that would apply to any cooler that doesn't use the cheesy AMD clip system.

Cons: None, unless you absolutely insist on the convenience of using the existing AMD cooler bracket over the secure fitment of using a custom backplate.

Pros: Solid design for processors that are rated <95w TDP. Quiet compared to most effective options that are this size.

Cons: The fan may be different, but the actual structure of the heatsink is not manufactured by Xiagmatek- or at least not exclusively by them. The Silenx EFZ-92HA2 is identical in all but color for half the price. I had to actually google and confirm what I immediately had suspected upon seeing the cooler in person. Neither are bad coolers, but I think that it's fair to not expect this one to measure up to usual Xiagmatek quality standards.

Pros: This is a very, very good low-profile cooler for anything up to 95w of power. The other review talks about a Phenom II 955 having cooling issues- that is a 125w chip! I ran this cooler for a while on my Athlon II X3 455 and it kept the temps nice and cool even under stress testing. I also have tried running it on my Phenom II 965 system (125w) and obviously, it came up a bit short. If you are looking for something that's going to fit a tight spot inside your case and still cool a mid-range chip very well, don't hesitate.

Cons: None, so long as you don't expect this to cool your 125w chip or make you dinner.