A Cool Bunch: How To Put A Lid On The Die Temperature Of Your Athlon

Fan Tower: Global Win TAK68

The TAK68 is a double-fan model.

Sandwiched between these dueling dervishes is a solid aluminum core that tapers down toward the clip. Cooling ribs fan out on both sides from the fan core. Both fans blow air toward the core.

This arrangement creates a certain chimney effect; you can feel the powerful airflow above the cooler.

Assembly is as easy as it gets and requires little or no extra effort. Slip the clip over the sockets on the right and left sides and turn the screw on top until it engages - that's it!

As far as cooling goes, the TAK68 doesn't take the gold in this contest, but it will keep your CPU temperature at a modest level. Our test CPUs didn't get any hotter than 70° Celsius (Athlon XP2000+ and Thunderbird 1400). Its noise level of 52 dB(A) is moderate.