COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler Compatible with Intel 1366/1155/775 and AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2

Pros: I am now using this cooler with a 3570K CPU on a Gigabyte GZ-Z77-D3H board. This was a very smooth install compared to the problems that I had on my old XFX i750 board. The cooler works well and quietly and controls temps very well.

Cons: The cooler is large and the fins are sharp. It is very easy to cut yourself on them--work gloves are recommended for the install.

Overall Review: I had problems on my old XFX LGA775 motherboard with being able to position the backplate so that there were no sharp pins from the motherboard penetrating the insulating coating and causing shorts and tight lockups. That problem doesn't occur on the Gigabyte board, where there is plenty of space for the backplate. There were also issues with the XFX implementation of fan control in BIOS, which do not occur on the newer board.

Pros: There is a ton of metal on this thing. Even if the fan didn't work, the sheer mass of aluminum would keep your chip cool. My i5 2500K at 4.4GHz loaded 100% on all cores peaks at 67C. At 4.8GHz it peaks around 75C. It idles around 35C.

Cons: The size of this behemoth makes it difficult or impossible to fit a side case fan depending on the width of your case. I have a Cooler Master Storm Scout and cannot use the upper side fan mount. Minus an egg :(

Overall Review: I don't know where some of these previous reviewers are getting their temp readings... 17C loaded?! That equals 69F, which is colder than your typical indoor ambient air temps (unless you are an Eskimo). Using Arctic Silver 5. But aren't we all??

Pros: Shipped from Newegg early January WITH all the Socket 1366 hardware. THANKS NEWEGG! Keeping my Core i7 rig nice and cool. Idles at 18C which is just about room temp here, and after about 4 hours of playing COD4 and Bioshock it was around 22-25C. Can't ask for much more. Top tier at FrozenCPU, and it comes with Core i7 hardware... PERFECT.

Cons: Instructions for the Core i7 are kinda washy... I wasn't exactly sure what parts I needed... It was clearly thrown in as an afterthought to an already produced V8 package. Just one little sheet. It got the job done, but there could have been a little more detail.

Overall Review: This thing is gargantuan. It BARELY fits in my Coolermaster NV690 Nvidia Edition case. It's literally less than half an inch from the window glass. Not really a con, but just an FYI. MAKE SURE YOUR CASE CAN HANDLE THIS. It looks awesome too, little red LED's in the top. Very well put together and very well packaged.

Pros: It does a good job cooling the CPU, even when OC'ing, but I'm also only running an E8400. It looks pretty sweet. Lapping was easy, as it came out of the box pretty smooth already.

Cons: The only indication of airflow in the documentation actually suggested the fan was blowing the opposite direction of what it does. Fortunately, I powered it up before assembly and figured that out, otherwise it would have been trying to fight the airflow. In the documentation, it shows it moving air from front to back of case when mounted with wording upside down. This is in fact the opposite of the actual airflow direction. When holding it in front of you, with the words right side up, it will move air from your right to your left.

Overall Review: Would have gotten 5 eggs for sure, but it just can't be shipped with documentation that conflicts with the actual functioning of the unit. Sorry.

Pros: LOL!! Cons: The mounting hardware that shipped with this was poorly machined. It's impossible to thread the screws through the mounting brackets no matter how much force you put into it. It just won't go. After reading the 1 egg ratings against this product I realized that they were all because these "high tech knowledge" guys are complete "dummies". When installing the bracket to the cooler you need to turn the screws COUNTER-CLOCKWISE, yes I know it might not feel right but the nuts you add to the other side would undo the screws if they went in normally. The cooler works fine, its huge, has fan control, 4 heatsink spreaders, red LEDs, fits in an antec 1200.

Cons: Of course you must take out the original heatsink, which for the stock i7 was simple. Adding the new heatsick though of course required taking out the motherboard. Annoying but required. Also I have blue LEDs they gave me red. Oh well.

Overall Review: Still worth it no questions asked. Still sad that people put 1 egg reviews saything things like this guy named SystemBuilder Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg He thinks he can ruin the egg value of this product because he cant understand simple directions? "Cons: Such poor quality control on i7 brackets that the screws that were meant to screw the cooler, thru the motherboard to the back plate, would not engage in the holes. No amount of force using standard screwdriver or screwdriver/drill would allow the upper ferrule of the screw to screw thru the 1366 bracket. I spent 2 hours trying everything I could think of to make the screws work, but in the end, I wound up actually breaking a screw trying to install them." He broke screws trying to install it "his way" (im guessing) and of course righty tighty lefty loosey? No. I am embarassed for him, also newegg should have read through his reasoning for a return and just denie

Pros: Nice Heatsink visually, has a little red light. Keep my CPU (Phenom II X4 3.0 BE) @ 20-30c consistent under load (Crysis, CoD4, Fallout3) with some Arctic Silver Ceramique

Cons: HUGE. I only use caps for emphasis. I have an Antec 1200 Fulltower Case. Now, this literally a centimeter or less from the case door. It my CPU slot was a half a centimeter down I wouldn't be able to close the case, it would hit the side fan. It just slides in and sits right on top of it. Also, aside from making sure you have room in your case make sure you take the time to properly install this. It can be done with one person, but two might be helpful. The picture in the instruction booklet is upside down. To have the fan blow out the back make sure the letters on the V8 are facing upright (when your case is standing, the letter should be readable). The screws that need to mount the plate to the bottom need to be spun in counter-clockwise and you have to put the V8 upside-down and mount the V8 upside-down to screw the bottom mounting screws in.

Overall Review: Despite the long con post it's a very good heatsink, I conned those in as more like negative precautionary measures since I had to take the heatsink back off and re-apply heatpaste. It comes with a tube of heatpaste but I bought some aftermarket. Generally it keeps my CPU ice cold @ 20c, never goes above 30, hardly ever goes about 23c under load. Just make sure this thing fits in your case. It's MUCH MUCH bigger than it looks in the pictures.

Pros: The CPU temps run cool at 23-25 degrees idle, CPU Burn-in could only push it to 32 degrees, and my video work only pressed it to 33 degrees. I have yet to see more than 47 degrees on any of the four cores.

Cons: Some call the installation a "con", but to avoid those plastic snap-in pins employed on other coolers, this was much better. Yes, the installation on to my EVGA X58 LE board was a bit tricky, because of the high positioning of the processor on the board. But it's not even close to difficult on a new build. Since I installed this cooler on a Core i7 920 processor, I had the same problem that a number of others have had doing the credit card method that they recommend for the thermal compound. It required two installation checks to be sure I got even and ADEQUATE coverage... using an "adaptive frosting" method. This requires an eye for pressure spreading, after the CPU is installed, much the way bakers do with cakes.

Overall Review: I was disturbed by some bad customer reviews, but none of them described any experience that I had with this cooler. As far as directions... I'd love to see some good directions on anything I buy... try a kid's bike on Christmas Eve. I always wind up trying to read the non-English pages, somehow.

Pros: Sucker keeps my i7 OC'ed from 2.66 to 3.8 at around 25C (lower than the temps with stock cooler at stock speed) and after running prime95 for 6 and 1/2 hours, max temps of each core never exceeded 84C, does exactly what I needed it to do

Cons: None this works perfectly, check Other thoughts if thinking about getting it with EVGA X58 + ANTEC 900.

Overall Review: ATTENTION: EVGA X58 + ANTEC 900 BUYERS this will NOT fit without some case modding, (link below) unlike the most common problem with this getting in the way of the side fan clips, evga x58 cpu sits high making the v8 hit the top side panel track, this is fixed buy cutting out a tiny inch of metal, it's super easy. Once that's done it fits right in and hell I could even use the optional side fan yet if I want. http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e24/The_Carnage/SDC11123.jpg