Regarding the new seven heatpipe tower coolers!

[GordonFreemanInTheFlesh]

Noctua and Deepcool have finally entered the 7 heatpipe tower cooler market but will we ever get affordable ones say from Arctic?
I personally loved the Arctic Freezer 50 at the perfect price point 50€/$!

I can still remember when Thermalright Silver arrow dropped! It was the coolest looking thing but was sad to see that it got beaten by NH-D15 even though Silver arrow had 8 heatpipes!
Maybe 6 heatpipes is the perfect amount and more of them give deminishing returns such as running multiple radiators on a loop that doesn't need them.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Hyderz]

the new noctua d15 v2 apparently lowers temp by 2-4 by repositioning where the contact surface are... shown at Computex, so im looking forward to the new noctua revision coolers..

 

[joemama]

You are too obsessed with the quantity of the heatpipes, there are a lot more factors affecting the cooling performance other than that
I don't care if there are more or less heatpipes as long as the ultimate cooling performance is good

 

[Bill_Bright]

You are too obsessed with the quantity of the heatpipes

^^^THIS^^^

there are a lot more factors affecting the cooling performance other than that
I don't care if there are more or less heatpipes as long as the ultimate cooling performance is good

Exactly. Things like total surface area and configuration of the fins, quality of the fan(s), composition of the heatsink's mating surface and pipes, coolant, imperfections in the mating surface, mounting mechanism and more are more important than the "number" of heatpipes.

If one holds aesthetics as a top priority, then fine. That's okay as long that practical requirements are met too.

But for me, I personally pay attention to what's happening on my monitors (including the CPU temp reading in my system tray) rather than the "looks" of my CPU cooler and the rest of the case interior. If my HW monitor (Core Temp) shows my temps are consistently sitting higher than normal, then I will take a peek inside my case to make sure my fans are spinning and I don't have a build-up of heat trapping dust in there. The rest of the time, I expect my cases to sit discreetly and quietly off to the side and not draw attention to themselves.

But that's me.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Actually the NHD-15 v2 will have 8 heat pipes, not 7. And while I agree the number of heat pipes certainly isn't the only factor, I tend to think as many years as Noctua spent on R&D, there must have been a reason they went to 8. The fan redesign is perhaps the most significant. It will have less clearance from it's housing, which is said to channel the air more effectively. It requires a special material that better resists expansion from heat and centrifugal force though.

I am now toying with the idea of waiting until next year to start my new build, partly to see how the NHD-15 v2 compares to the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360, and also in hopes that the next gen Intel CPU will produce less heat. It seems the Meteor Lake desktop release is hard to predict, but I'm hoping next year we'll at least get word about it's release date. I also worry that VRM temp will be higher with the NHD-15 v2, as the Arctic comes with a pump head fan that cools them.

 

[sLowEnd]

Arctic's air cooler lineup has been pretty stagnant for years now. They're mostly known for their MX series of thermal pastes, fans, and their AIOs these days.

 

[mclaren85]

Arctic's air cooler lineup has been pretty stagnant for years now. They're mostly known for their MX series of thermal pastes, fans, and their AIOs these days.

I have an Arctic bluetooth headphone. Not perfect but working great.

 

[dirtyferret]

Noctua launched the U12A with seven heat pipes back in 2019

 

[GordonFreemanInTheFlesh]

You are too obsessed with the quantity of the heatpipes, there are a lot more factors affecting the cooling performance other than that
I don't care if there are more or less heatpipes as long as the ultimate cooling performance is good

Well It looks like Thermalright offers their Phantom Spirit 120 se for around 40€ and it does beat the old NHD-15 also Cooler Master dropped another 8 heatpipe cooler which again beat the NH-D15 by a couple degrees!!

Edit: I'm happy we are finally getting some competition on affordability of high end air coolers and stopping Noctua's "Monopoly" .

 

[eidairaman1]

I use a Thermalright ARO M14G on a 5800, keeps things cool and it fits in a Zalman Z1 Neo case.

Scythe and Thermalright are my go to's, Thermaltake, Coolermaster, Zalman are 2nd pick. Besides Noctua copied Nideq/Scythe on fan design... So why go with a copy when I can go with the OG.

Arctic and Zalman should have never stopped working on gpu heatsinks.

 

[sLowEnd]

Arctic and Zalman should have never stopped working on gpu heatsinks.

Aftermarket GPU heatsinks were cool (no pun intended), but it's pretty easy to see why they went away.

Reference cards aren't the predominant design for cards these days (i.e. AIBs don't sell FE cards and for the most part favour their own customs designs over MBA cards), and most cards come with large, overbuilt coolers these days.

 

[eidairaman1]

Aftermarket GPU heatsinks were cool (no pun intended), but it's pretty easy to see why they went away.

Reference cards aren't the predominant design for cards these days (i.e. AIBs don't sell FE cards and for the most part favour their own customs designs over MBA cards), and most cards come with large, overbuilt coolers these days.

Idk seems not so good with the 1s from mobo makers, I remember msi using zalman style coolers back then and nary an issue unlike today since GPP reard its ugly mug.

 

[freeagent]

Thermalright has made 7x 6mm pipes in the past, the Le Grand Macho RT. Awesome cooler. 320w TDP, 90w TDP with no fan.

Le GRAND MACHO RT – Thermalright

They even made an 8x 6mm heatsink before.. 320w TDP as well.

Archon IB-E X2 – Thermalright

They also made a 6x 8mm cooler before. 360w TDP, like the other two, does best with older, power hungry CPUs.

TRUE Spirit 140 Power – Thermalright

All of these directly compete with D14/15 with no problem. But kinda suck with 7nm AMD..

 

[sLowEnd]

Thermalright has made 7x 6mm pipes in the past, the Le Grand Macho RT. Awesome cooler. 320w TDP, 90w TDP with no fan.

Le GRAND MACHO RT – Thermalright

They even made an 8x 6mm heatsink before.. 320w TDP as well.

Archon IB-E X2 – Thermalright

They also made a 6x 8mm cooler before. 360w TDP, like the other two, does best with older, power hungry CPUs.

TRUE Spirit 140 Power – Thermalright

All of these directly compete with D14/15 with no problem. But kinda suck with 7nm AMD..

The retailer I got my current cooler from was selling that. It looks effective, but I decided I wanted a dual tower cooler instead, since I wasn't able to get my hands on the IFX-14 back in the day.

I have the Silver Arrow T8 in my system right now. The garish orange fan is hideous, but it cools well and quietly enough.

Silver Arrow T8 – Thermalright

www.thermalright.com

It's too bad the TRUE Rev. 4 is hard to find in Canada for a decent price. I would've liked to get my hands on one.

Ultra 120EX REV.4 WHITE – Thermalright

www.thermalright.com

 

[Bomby569]

In the current PC market i wouldn't put it past companies to add heatpipes just to increase prices and look premium, that's the way this industry is going, all of it.
Reviews will tell the truth

 

[sLowEnd]

In the current PC market i wouldn't put it past companies to add heatpipes just to increase prices and look premium, that's the way this industry is going, all of it.
Reviews will tell the truth

Putting a bunch of heatpipes into coolers isn't a new thing.

Anyone remember the Scythe Orochi? 10 heatpipes. Performed well, but was not a chart topper.

 

[forman313]

Putting a bunch of heatpipes into coolers isn't a new thing.

Anyone remember the Scythe Orochi? 10 heatpipes. Performed well, but was not a chart topper.

Oh dear.. looking at some pictures I found online, im not surprised. The base is probably 7-8mm thick.

Shave off 4-5mm and performance might improve considerably.

 

[P4-630]

My Noctua NH-U12A has 7 heatpipes, have been using it for several years now....

 

[AusWolf]

What are your thoughts?

If you need a 7-heatpipe monster, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 looks awesome, cools well, and isn't overly expensive, either.

Although, like others said, the number of heatpipes is only one of the many things that make a good cooler. Noctua could come up with something with 10 heatpipes that magically cools your CPU below ambient temp, but I still wouldn't put something beige into my PC.

 

[freeagent]

It's too bad the TRUE Rev. 4 is hard to find in Canada for a decent price. I would've liked to get my hands on one.

You aren’t missing anything, PA120 is better. I have a black Rev.4..

My favourite TR cooler right now is the baby Phantom Spirit. It’s smaller than PA120 but stronger than FC140. Quite impressive.

 

[P4-630]

It’s smaller than PA120 but stronger than FC140.

Ah..

 

[freeagent]

Ah..

Yeah pretty much!

At least on the AMD side, not sure about Intel.. I would imagine the two to be similar to cool.. maybe..

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Putting a bunch of heatpipes into coolers isn't a new thing.

Anyone remember the Scythe Orochi? 10 heatpipes. Performed well, but was not a chart topper.

View attachment 304612

And that photo also proves that fin stack offsets have been used for some time. Honestly I don't know why Noctua doesn't just focus mainly on the fan change with the v2 NHD-15 when being interviewed, because apparently that is realistically what took them so many years to perfect. Maybe it's because most people probably think the fan design part of it would be the easy bit, unless you're coming up with a completely new bearing design. Axial fan design is a fairly complex science though.

 

[GordonFreemanInTheFlesh]

If you need a 7-heatpipe monster, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 looks awesome, cools well, and isn't overly expensive, either.

Although, like others said, the number of heatpipes is only one of the many things that make a good cooler. Noctua could come up with something with 10 heatpipes that magically cools your CPU below ambient temp, but I still wouldn't put something beige into my PC.

So you are saying looks is more important than performance?

Putting a bunch of heatpipes into coolers isn't a new thing.

Anyone remember the Scythe Orochi? 10 heatpipes. Performed well, but was not a chart topper.

View attachment 304612

Absolutely

I use a Thermalright ARO M14G on a 5800, keeps things cool and it fits in a Zalman Z1 Neo case.

Scythe and Thermalright are my go to's, Thermaltake, Coolermaster, Zalman are 2nd pick. Besides Noctua copied Nideq/Scythe on fan design... So why go with a copy when I can go with the OG.

Arctic and Zalman should have never stopped working on gpu heatsinks.

I personally Love Zalman's retro copper coolers and their rustic look!

 

[shoskunk]

As processor tdp continues to gradually climb I surmise the average number of heat pipes will also increase.

The overall size of a lot of new coolers has also grown to the point you don't see much in your case but you can't beat the performance per $.

The overall design of heatpipes hasn't changed much. Larger diameter pipes might be sweet but not sure about bend radius.