10 Mammoth CPU Coolers: Size Does Matter

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Overall Impression

Powerful: Thermaltake's Big Typhoon

Manufacturer Thermaltake sends its Big Typhoon with six heat pipes into the ring. With a 120 mm fan on the top, this cooler reaches gigantic proportions. Yet the cooler itself takes up very little space near the CPU, so space problems due to surrounding components are rare.

All current sockets are supported:

• Socket 478 for Pentium 4
• Socket LGA775 for Pentium 4
• Socket 462 (Socket A) for Athlon XP and Sempron
• Socket 754/939/940 for Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX

All components of Thermaltake's Big Typhoon

A tip for Socket A: this socket is only supported if the board has arranged holes around the CPU socket.

The cooler is not equipped with a fan control, nor does it have a 4-pin PWM connector for Socket LGA775. This means the speed of the cooler can only be controlled by the BIOS or by software from the motherboard manufacturer. If your board doesn't offer this feature, the cooler will always run at full speed.