The Whole Range - From Bargain Bin Part To Water Cooler
In the first part of our extensive roundup of CPU coolers, we came to the conclusion that 45% of the products we tested either failed the test, or weren't worth the asking price . Additionally, we were surprised by how much junk is sold in hardware stores these days, and how badly customers are sometimes deceived. Today, we move on to the second part of the cooler charts, testing six more coolers that join the eleven models we reviewed in the previous installment. The field covers the full range of products, from the inconspicuous and cheap entry level model to the high-end water cooler costing €350. For us, cooling performance alone isn't everything, though - we also take the products' noise and ease of installation into consideration. In the first part of this series, five of the review samples didn't make the grade Compare Prices on CPU Coolers.
Although we only describe the new additions to the roundup in this part, the charts include all of the coolers tested so far. We will continue this series of articles, creating for your reference an overview of a large selection of the coolers available in stores.
We have already either tested coolers of the following companies, or have samples in the lab:
| Companies represented in this test | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3R System | Antazone | Arctic Cooling |
| Asus | Coolermaster | Coolink |
| Cooljag | EKL | Foxconn |
| Gigabyte | Glacialtech | Hiper |
| Joujye Dynatron | MSI | Nexus |
| Noctua | OCZ | Scythe |
| Silentmaxx | Silverstone | Spire |
| Tacens | Thermaltake | Titan |
| Verax | Watercool | Xigmatec |
| Zalman | Zaward | Zerotherm |
If you are interested in the test methodology and how we rate the products, feel free to read up on these points here:
