SilenX EFZ-92HA3 92mm 3rd generation fluid dynamic bearing Effizio CPU Cooler

Pros: I've used about 15 of the smaller 80mm version of this cooler and it only offers a medium level of cooling. They're a lot better than stock cooling but not as good as larger, heavier ones with more pipes. Then this 92mm model came along. It is definitely worth the slight price difference. I placed this on a vishera-6300 and an i5-4570. Both ran at a very safe temperature, around 15 degrees Celsius below stock on average. The best benefit is that it is slightly quieter than the smaller version, which is already very quiet. No other cooler I've used has this quietness vs cooling efficiency ratio.

Cons: The cooling level was sufficient and safe for long term system stability but I didn't try overclocking either of the CPUs. I have a feeling it wouldn't do very well. I've seen coolers that cost 50% more keep the same chips at room temperature under most normal operating conditions.

Overall Review: I used Arctic Silver thermal paste instead of the stock stuff, which didn't look very effective. That's always a good idea no matter what cooler you get.

Pros: Looks Pretty. Price is not unreasonable for what you get.

Cons: Hold down clamp is unreasonably hard to use. Not much give. You DO run the risk of damaging something. Fan is much too slow and doesn't move enough air for most overclockable processors.

Overall Review: I was looking for a CPU cooler to use on an AMD 965 BE processor. First of all, there are only two heat tubes in contact with the processor, not four. The base was fairly smooth with no perceptable joint between the copper tubes and the aluminum. Once I coated the base with Artic Silver 5 and worked it in, then applied compound to the processor, it came time to put the unit on the processor. This will scare the daylights out of most novices, as the mounting clamp is very hard to put on. It required me to remove the PSU from my unit to install. Really SilenX? It doesn't need to be that stiff. Once I got it on and everything up and running and the paste started to settle in, I found that the one fan was not going to move enough air to cool my non overclocked processor, even running Cool N Quiet. I ended up adding on another 92mm fan on the backside to keep the temps below 60C while doing video encoding. I would looks elsewhere at different coolers. There are better and safer choices.

Pros: Well constructed, fluided filled copper cooling pipes, cools well, reasonably quiet (WAY less noisy than the CoolerMaster this replaced, which was horribly loud from day one!,) CPU face very smooth with only one very slight imperfection on outer edge, fairly inexpensive, good value.

Cons: Tall (had to permanently remove intake duct on case side for it to fit, but knew this was likely before odering,) a real BIT&# to attach to mobo!...retainers difficult to push down far enough to catch tabs (poor design,) but clamps down exceptionally tight once installed.

Overall Review: Overall, a really nice cooler for the money. I have no legitimate complaints. Looks great, works great. Price vs performance, this is a very good buy.

Pros: I have a Pentium D system (2.8 GHz). The stock intel fan was unbearably loud...you can hear clearly in the next room. According to the "sensors" utility (linux), the fan ran at 4,500 RPM, with the temp about 45 C. In January, 2012, I moved the computer into a cabinet which only served to make it louder. So I spent several hours shopping for a replacement heatsink. I chose this model because it seemed to be a newer design, and was well reviewed. My main criteria, noise, was completely resolved. The computer is now whisper quiet. My wife, daughter, and I all thought the computer was not running (when it was left powered on). The fan runs at 1900 RPM with a temp of 35 C. The cost of this heatsink was less than half the others I had considered. In addition, installation was easy. It was not necessary to remove the motherboard (my system is LGA 775).

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: I guess my computer doesn't have to sound like a jet plane taking off after all.

Pros: This was very easy to install, didn't have to remove the mother board. Installed on an ASUS M2N68-AM Plus. It reduced the temp of the CPU by 15c over the stock heat sink and fan. Very quiet. May replace my others with this one. Can't beat the price. Shipping was very fast. Came with every thing I needed including the thermal paste.

Cons: NO cons,

Pros: cool, quiet,and inexpensive works as it should

Cons: none so far

Overall Review: I bought this to replace a LOUD stock cooler. Its not only much quieter it keeps my Phenom ll X 6 1055t running cooler.I saw a 10 degree drop in temps but I also added two more case fans. It was a little bit of a tight fit and you have to push rather hard to get the second clip on but it stays firmly in place.The fan almost covers my first ram slot. I plan on adding a second fan for push/pull. Asrock 990fx extreme3 mobo

Pros: Alrighty, the anodized Aluminum fins make this Heat sink look pretty good, and the finish on them is hard to remove/scratch off. The included fan is whisper quiet. The heat pipes and base are smooth and leveled. But unfortunately, that's it for me on the pros.

Cons: This thing is hard to mount, and installing it will require you to apply enough force to probably snap your Motherboard in half if you get impatient. However, the mounting isn't what got to me. What really bothers me about this cooler is that the base of the heatsink that contacts and transfers the heat does not even cover the entire CPU. The base could not entirely cover an AMD Phenom II x4 910. About 11% of the cpu was not contacting the heatsink contact, regardless of how it was mounted. The very first day I installed this, I went right to Cinebench and did a quick temperature test. Temp software reported that the IDLE temperature immediately went from 34c to 62c, after which the temperature finally dropped and stayed at 56c max( 2c better than stock ) for the duration of the benchmark. The tiny base of the heatsink doesn't do the halfway decent design any justice simply because, not enough heat is transferred to the heatsink if the heatsink doesn't cover the cpu entirely.

Overall Review: The fan does not move the air that I would like, but the amount of noise it makes compensates for that.

Pros: Provided your case has adequate cooling, this heatsink works like a charm.

Cons: See my other thoughts, but there are better ways to attach a heatsink than the traditional "spring-based clamp" which is scary easy to slip and punch a hole in the motherboard.

Overall Review: Many reviews are mentioning that this heatsink requires "extra" force to get the retention clip to secure to the motherboard. I don't feel this is the case. For those who have been building systems for 10+ years, we know how difficult the clips were from the early 2000's. This heatsink does not have the fancy hand-latch systems that other heatsinks have to make fastening effortless.