Pros: Like most of the other reviewers, I have found this cooler to be very effective. My CPU averages 30'C during low processor requirements, and 35'C at high, like when playing COD. And I live in Puerto Rico where the temps in my house are around 30'C! (Of course turning on the A/C helps, but it costs money...) I installed this cooler on an ASUS P5N-D motherboard in a thermaltake Sopranop RS case and though it is HUGE it fits very well. In fact with the heatsink installed so that the fan blows the air towards the back of the case, the air goes through the fins, and then straight into the case exhaust fan which is only about 1.5 inches aft of the heatsink. My power supply is a Corsair 650W and there is 5/16" clearance between the bottom of the PSU and the top of the HS.

Cons: I found that with the fan installed as intended, because of the shape of the fins much of the air goes out the side of the HS instead of completely through it. I applied some 2' aluminum heat tape to the sides of the heatsink, forcing the air from the fan to go more completely through the entire heat sink. This gave me an additional 4' to 6' degrees of cooling at max CPU operations.

Overall Review: I've seen some reviewers noting the "open" heat pipes at the top of the HS, but they are not really open, just not rounded off. It looks like the copper collapsed slightly during the sealing process, as only one end of each pipe is collapsed. I don't think this has any effect on the effectiveness of the HS.