Apparently, the Nirvana is a serious competitor to TR Ultra 120 Extreme (TRUE). In many cases, the Nirvana matches or beats the TRUE.

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/casecooli [...] spx?i=3202

http://images.anandtech.com/review [...] dle-lg.png

This is a seriously good deal. At newegg, the Nirvana sells for $37 with mir.

Apparently it's not so silent, but for the price and performance, who gives?

I say the king is dead!

Evilonigiri....

I think that test was performed with the TR120 without a fan...

If you look at the noise test it has the same rating as a system with no fans. Either that or it was a very low CFM fan



Edit: Also on the scaling.....the TR120 was able to get a higher stable overclock and as temperature loads increased the TR120 started to perform better (even though its just a few degrees.....plus they probably didnt lap it)

They used a Sycthe med-speed fan on the TRUE. They stated that before in other tests.

If a under $40 Nirvana can cooling can beat the $60 TRUE up to 3.9Ghz, I say the Nirvana is the king....of under 3.9Ghz

O...my bad on the fan. (Was it an S-Flex....i assume so by the low noise level)
I was in a hurry and quickly looked at the graphs.

Seems like a good cooler. Might consider it for my cooling upgrade against the TR120 depending on prices.

I think the Zerotherm is a pretty good Heatsink, I just dont think it can stand up to the 120 Extreme. You forgot to mention that the tests were done by Anandtech.com, imo the worst tech website out there.

Also, the retail priced of the Nirvana is also $60 (unless im looking at the wrong one?), on sale at the egg for 48 w/$10 rebate. Once the sale ends, TR and Zerotherm's performance/price ratio will be equaled out.

Retail for Nirvana is $49.

I personally think anandtech.com is the best site for hardware information and I'm sure many people will agree.

What makes you say it's the worst?

Is this the Cooler you are talking about?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835887011

I feel like anandtech.com is basically paid by companies to give good reviews, which misleads alot of people who read their site. Just taking the time to read their article about the Swiftech and Nautilis WC systems presents their warped sense of computers. They make sure to mention about 5 times that Air is better than water, and its silly to buy water. When in reality, a properly built WC system will beat the pants off of high end air any day.

I prefer to get news from people who have no fiscal relations with other tech companies.

Well I agree with them that air-cooling is a better solution.

The hassle and dangers involved with water-cooling isn't worth it for me, and I find quite a few people agreeing with me. Also, not all water-cooling beats air-cooling.

It's all opinion based really.

You seem to be misinformed. First of all, a properly assembled WC system is perfectly safe. If you use distilled water (which you should), even if you do spring a leak, nothing is in danger. I have even seen people pour like a gallon of distilled water on a running mobo with no problems. Also, a properly designed WC system will beat air cooling any day, giving you the ability to go for much higher overclocks with no risk.

I agree that air is more cost effective, but its not better (at least when compared to a properly build custom loop).

"This performance places the Nirvana solidly in the top cooler performance group with the Tuniq Tower, Scythe Infinity push-pull, Thermalright Ultra-120, and Thermalright Ultima-90 with 120mm fan."- Anandtech review

Are we sure they used a fan on the TRUE? In all the posts they say how the Ultima-90 had a 120mm fan but it does not say anything about the TRUE.

I think so.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2943&p=1

This is when they were reviewing the TRUE.

So I assumed they did use the same fan for this test.

Besides, I can't imagine the TRUE doing 59C on a QX6800 @ 3.94Ghz under load when it's passively cooled.

The Ultra 120 Extreme always has a fan, just it's a very quiet one.

And yes I myself would recommend the Nirvana 120 premium. Using one myself and it hasn't broken a sweat on my Phenom 9600 BE, even while overclocked it never went above 30c under full load according to coretemp, so I think if I'm reading correctly that equates out to 45c actual processor temp?

Also note that the base on the Nirvana 120 comes mirror polished smooth.

As another plus Newegg dropped the retail price on it and Zerotherm is offering a $10 rebate on purchases through March. $38 after the rebate is quite the bargain on what looks to be a more than competent cooler.

If you are using the Nirvana 120 did you use the supplied thermal paste or another brand?