Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme CPU Cooler Review

Conclusion

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Installing the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme CPU Cooler was a fairly straightforward process.After removing the old cooler, I installed new Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU and sat the new cooler into place.Then, using the provided mounting bracket and screws, the CPU cooler is secured to the motherboard.

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Finally, a fan is added (I used the Silenx 120mm fans that AcousticPC.com also sent that were reviewed separately), completing the installation.

Though this is a large cooler, there no clearance issues with other components on the motherboard.However, the cooler�s large height reached the top of the standard ATX case I was using; if you�re using a HTPC slim case or other smaller-profile case, this cooler will likely be too tall for your build.There was plenty of clearance around the base, thanks to the raised set of radiator fins.No concern with this cooler hitting any of the capacitors, RAM, the Northbridge cooler, etc.Turning on the computer, I could notice the difference between this cooler and the previously-installed on in my rig; this cooler really does offer near-silent operations, thanks mainly to the large 120mm fan that it can accommodate.

Testing:
Test System: AMD 64+ X2 3800+ AM2 ECS GeForce 6100SM-M Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme CPU Cooler Super Talent 1GB DDR2-1000 RAM GeForce 7600GS video card Maxtor 200GB 7200 rpm harddrive Ultra X3 800W power supply Sony DVD writer

Idle temperatures were taken running Windows and full loads were taken while running SiSandra�s Burn-in Module.Temperatures (in degrees Celsius) were recorded with the fan at high speeds, with the results compared with two recently reviewed air coolers: the new Thermaltake V1 CPU cooler and the Coolink Silentator CPU Cooler.Ambient temp was about 23C.

Stock speed:

Results after overclocking to 2400 MHz-

Overclocked:

As seen in the results, I can see why they call this CPU cooler �eXtreme�; it offers some of the best non-watercooling results I�ve witnessed, beating the other two coolers by a sizeable margin.

Conclusion:

Overall, I was impressed that the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme delivered on the claims of providing silent operations without any sacrifice in performance.It is an extreme cooler in terms of size, fin surface area, and number of heat pipes; and the test results prove that those extreme features are worth the effort.If you are looking for quiet performance without any frills, this would be a great choice for your next PC build.

Pros:

+ Near-silent operations when paired with a high-quality fan
+ Easy installation
+ Great performance that comes close to watercooling

Cons:

- Large and heavy (make sure it can fit in your case)

Thanks to AcousticPC.com for providing the products for this review!

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