The Haswell-E processors from Intel are expected to arrive sometime in September, with the three chips in question being the Core i7-5820K, the Core i7-5930K, and the most extreme Core i7-5960X. These chips are six-core and eight-core parts and will have TDPs of 140 W. That's a lot of heat to dissipate, and for that reason, Intel is demonstrating a new boxed CPU cooler – the TS13A.
The TS13A replaces the older RTS2011AC and should offer a little more cooling power. Both of the coolers look very much alike but do have some subtle differences. For instance, the fins are now curved sideways, and the internal copper core has been replaced with a heat column, which is essentially a large heat pipe. Of course, the most obvious difference shouldn't be forgotten; the height of the unit is 12 mm taller than its predecessor, making it 75 mm tall.
Now, while the new cooler will be more powerful, we don't expect that many enthusiasts interested in a Haswell-E chip will end up using the boxed cooler. Most DIY builders will probably simply replace them for much more powerful units. Despite that, a new, more powerful cooler like this is still necessary because not every Haswell-E chip will be used by enthusiasts – there are plenty of OEMs that stick to using the boxed Intel cooler. While the old cooler might have been able to cool the chips adequately, a bigger cooler does raise the threshold for thermal throttling, essentially minimizing the performance penalty in OEM builds.
Reportedly, the new cooler will not only be shipping with Haswell-E processors, but also current socket LGA2011 chips, as of August 29.
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