ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler

Pros: I've had this cooler now since it came out and I am still amazed every day. The quality and craftsmenship surpass any thing I have seen yet. I have punished this cooler (my chip really) running orthos, sisoft burn in, folding home,and surfin online. NEVER got it above 50*c. It is just amazing. Apack has quite a group of engineers.

Cons: You're kidding right?

Overall Review: I just thought I might help some new guys out there with the laws of thermal dynamics.I am not raggin on anyone just informing. I put down high understanding, but I still learn something new every day. I see some reviewers put down lower temps at idle and even at load, than ambient room temps. This is not possible with any fan heatsink combo. Excluding T.E.C and refrigerant coolers. If you are relying on motherboard software it is very often very way off. Download Core Temp and you will more often than not be quite surprized at what you see. But, even that can be off some too. The fan on the coolers job is too remove the heat being produced the cpu. And, done properly, like the Nirvana keep the cpu as close to ambient as possible. Just trying to be helpfull, no disrespect intended.

Pros: I don't know where to begin! I bought this the day it came out. I have their BTF cooler installed on my wifes board and it works very on a 6850-X. I have been waiting for Zero to figure out that not all men would want a butterfly shaped cooler in their system. I have built P.C.'s for a living for the last 8 years. You name it I've tried or installed it. I knew just by looking at the amount of fin surface area and 8 psuedo (look it up) heat-pipes, sintered no-less, that this was a serious cooler. I half to say I was floored. I expected it to be good, but 1-2 c* warmer than my TR-120-X at load? Unbelievable!! Zerotherm is now a definate powerhouse in aftermarket cooling. I say "Now" because this is not just for the overcker, enthusiast crowd. You can turn this baby down dead silent and it will stiil keep you in the 40's at load. This cooler is a perfect "10" Period.

Cons: None from this particular build. But, I did test fit this on several boards around the shop and some have clearance issues. So do a little checking first. Although it did fit most boards around here (we have alot). It's was not a chipset clearance issue(maybe ram) it has a high stance. But more of a forseable case size problem. I.E...Side fan and mor than likely top mounted psu,s. You need at least 64mm from the center of the chip. Roughly 2 1/2. O.k. 2 9/16 to be exact. But they'll be touching so give onother few mm,s.

Overall Review: First, I would like to thank the Rma girl who helped me this week. Your kindness was very refreshing. It is a rare thing these days to have someone in customer service who actually cares about wheather you are happy or not with your outcome. She made me feel like a V.I.P. So thank you again. Also, Newegg may not always have the lowest prices, but no other site has more pics and information, not to mention a direct link to the manufacturer. Newegg also dose not doctor their reviews a'la #iger *irect. Try and get a refund or rma a mobo there. Anyway as I said we tried this on a bunch of boards and as far as aesthics go this cooler looks wicked as hell on an Abit AW9D-MAX (shop favorite). Also very cool on an EVGA 680 SLI. Around here we like things to match, window or no window. But for G*ds' sake get a window. Beautiful gunmetal finish covers ever bit of it. Blue lights on fan, fan is removeable for easier install, and yes you gotta pull the board for ins

Pros: Does its job fantastically well. NICKEL PLATE copper fins, not chrome like some special ed students are saying. Totally sucks heat off my Q6600. Ran into voltage instabilities due to not being able to raise it high enough past a "safe" level long before It crashed due to heat on an overclock "screwing around" day. Hit 3.6ghz and didnt go father because of voltage, and the temps didnt go much above 58C after hours of Far Cry 2.

Cons: nothing?

Overall Review: I suppose the slower among us could argue about the metal backplate, but if you managed to pull the film off... why would you attache it to the board? Common sense people. Cut out a piece of plastic and put it on there if you are worried. If it contacts the pins... get some small washers and make it stand off the board so it DOESNT contact. You do realize you can check if it contacts before you turn on the board and short it right? And dont tighten the screws down to 150 lb/ft with a torque wrench either and you probably wont bend stuff. Professor Jaji.... CLOSE YOUR CASE FOR PETE'S SAKE! Antec 1200 is NOT designed to keep things cool with both side panels off of it... Im running one of those with all the fans on the lowest setting and everything stays frosty. Thats why your temps suck. The case makes a certain airflow pattern within it that flows past/through your heatsink.

Pros: Excellent cooler, any fan noise is consistent and not annoying. For the size it's actually lightweight, my old SP-94 for my northwood intel platform was far far smaller and weighed nearly the same with the fan attached.

Cons: Fan at full speed is louder than it should be, but use the included fan controller and set it as low as possible. Still, if you're about hardcore silent computing the fan will not do. The heatsink is capable of passive cooling so long as you're not running a hot processor or overclocking too much.

Overall Review: I had accidentally disconnected the fan for a few months without realizing it and the HSF was running 100% passive (e6600), temps ran about the same as stock Intel before I realized it was disconnected, turning the fan back on and an instantly it dropped big time. This is a good heatsink, it's probably not the best out there but its an excellent performner and a rewarding choice. Just understand this heatsink is big.

Pros: Keeps my Overclocked QX9650 Quad core at 4.0ghz ,under load, using prime 95, at max load temp of 63c T-junction, fan set to 80% using motherboard fan control. Thats just about the same as water cooling. The fan also cools your north bridge.

Cons: none at all

Overall Review: Very similar performance to a Thermalright ultra extreme 120 yet half the price when you consider you don't need to buy a fan. It will fit in a Thermatake Armor case with the 250 mm side fan installed. The Thermalright Ultra extreme will not.

Pros: Looks nice in your case. Really cools your CPU down.

Cons: It's big. Make sure your case can handle it. Fins will bend easily so try not to move them. The fan is built in thus if it dies, you throw the whole thing away. No guard over the fan so wires can get caught up in it if you are sloppy inside your computer.

Overall Review: Got this with the free thermal grease combo but you don't need it because it comes with the same tube of grease inside the box. Now I have a new tube of grease that I'll never use. I have an AMD Phenom AM2+ tri-core 2.4Ghz. Overclocked to 3.1Ghz at 1.35volts. Under full world of warcraft load my CPU runs at a cool 30C (25man raid during a boss fight). Web surfing it runs at 23C. It really works. It's just big. So make sure you measure your case. Also the fin extends out some. Almost hit my ram sticks. I had maybe a quarter of an inch clearence after install. Gonna try overclocking to 3.3Ghz next week. Most people stopped at 3.1Ghz though which is why I stopped there.

Pros: Easy installation Cools great: Idle/Load temps went from 45/65C to 38/50C with Arctic Silver thermal paste

Cons: Did not notice this was 3-pin when I bought it so my MOBO could not control fan speed. You have to control it manually with the controller that comes in box.

Pros: Fan is excellent, big big sink area but not so heavy that I would be worried about it tearing out of my motherboard. Installed without having to unscrew the board which is nice considering its size.

Cons: Don't count on the rebate actually processing, mine came back as "did not include the original UPC" even though I cut it from the box myself. Maybe a shady processing company, I don't know.