Toms Hardware Cooler reviews Part 1

[KnightRid]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/ ... index.html

That is a VERY surprising article! This is part 1 with 11 reviewed

45% failure! WOW

Mike

[bubba]

I've been reading through it, and looking though it confirms why I stopped looking at their reviews.

Few things I didn't like (and others from their own forums)

1. They didn't do this in a case. These same coolers will act very differently in a case. Its a more confined space, more heat to contend with.
2. Why was installation such a massive part of the score? your average person will only do it once. Knocking a cooler due to the fact the board has to be removed to install is insane anymore. ANY cooler that is worth a dam to cool a quad core is going to require removing the board.
3. they failed the NV120 due the PREVIOUS model cooler BTF90 (the butterfly one) part quality, not the current one. I haven't seen any issues of folks having metal shavings with the NV120, I have one, no shavings. Don't knock something for what was wrong with the previous model.

and the big WTF

4. Why use a point system? By their point system the Noctua NH12 beat the Thermalright IFX-14 in points but they picked the Thermalright IFX-14 as the top air cooler for round 1. Yes I know the IFX cools better (I still think this is only due to the back plate cooler) and is the winner, but why have a point system that contradicts this

[stev]

Is it me or does the MSI Watercool HydroGen look like a knock-off version of an EXOS-AL.

[DMB2000uk]

It's a shame toms hardware were the site to be doing this, any other reputable review site and it would have made a very reliable resource. And probably a bit more interesting read.

Dan

[martini161]

Is it me or does the MSI Watercool HydroGen look like a knock-off version of an EXOS-AL.

is it just me or does it also look like a POS?

[dkarko]

Well it seems to me they failed just the ones that didn't work well for them. OK say their NV120 HAS a metal shavings problem, so they fail it. What about some IFX14 that don't have a flat contact surface with the cpu? Or the Ninja plus problem i have read, that its mounting is too weak and sometimes some mount bolts can get unblocked resulting to a heatsink not sitted tight..

The overall points chart just makes no damn sense.

[KnightRid]

OK, mental note - "NO more toms hardware articles"



Mike

Never knew that site was so disliked - I never look at points, just the actual temps. I do agree with the test being done in a case! It would be a LOT better.

[bubba]

Well it seems to me they failed just the ones that didn't work well for them. OK say their NV120 HAS a metal shavings problem, so they fail it. What about some IFX14 that don't have a flat contact surface with the cpu? Or the Ninja plus problem i have read, that its mounting is too weak and sometimes some mount bolts can get unblocked resulting to a heatsink not sitted tight..

The overall points chart just makes no damn sense.

Yup, but for their NV120 they part of the article they showed the BTF90 for the shavings pic, makes no sense. As for the other stuff you mentioned not sure why they didn't mention it??? the fact they decided to do an 80 cooler round up may have something to do with it. Think they are nuts for doing it in the first place

[Bio-Hazard]

OK, mental note - "NO more toms hardware articles"



Mike

Never knew that site was so disliked - I never look at points, just the actual temps. I do agree with the test being done in a case! It would be a LOT better.

Running cooling system test on a bench are pretty much useless IMHO, it give you no idea of how the cooler will perform in the real world, but it does make it easier on lazy reviewers............

I don't read Toms anyways, so I guess it doesn't really make any sort of difference..............

[martini161]

yeah i can kinda understand them doing it on a test bench. imagine having to take the mobo out of the case and put it back in 80 times

[Bio-Hazard]

yeah i can kinda understand them doing it on a test bench. imagine having to take the mobo out of the case and put it back in 80 times

Been there, done that for a bunch of years, just not 80 times for a single review................

But I'd also be willing to bet that 99% of the data was pulled from a data base from past reviews..................

[stev]

yeah i can kinda understand them doing it on a test bench. imagine having to take the mobo out of the case and put it back in 80 times

It would be smart to get a case that has access to the back of the board.

Been there, done that for a bunch of years, just not 80 times for a single review

Remember what I did to the XClio MOBO tray? I made a cutout window to access the CPU backside mounting hardware and bracket. So, removing the cooler takes a minute rather than 20mins each time.

[Bio-Hazard]

Remember what I did to the XClio MOBO tray? I made a cutout window to access the CPU backside mounting hardware and bracket. So, removing the cooler takes a minute rather than 20mins each time.

Samething that I did back in the day to my Lian-Li............... . As a matter of fact, I still have the case ..........

[martini161]

nice, im gonna make some cuts in my mobo tray for wires sometime, i might consider doing that too.

[Bio-Hazard]

One of these days when I'm not in a hurry and freezing my skinny butt off down in the basement I plan on doing the same to my UFO, except this time around I think O might just cut a nice big round hole and back it up with a 120mm fan to cool the back of the MoBo................

[martini161]

yeah im sure your will look nicer than mine of course. when i say cut, i mean hack the hell out of it with a dull saws all blade when you say cut, you mean make a nice, clean dremel cut