A Closer Look

The Thermaltake V1 is made almost entirely out of copper. The fins are narrow at the bottom and wider at the top, and they are shaped in an arch. The edges of the fins have a sort of flame-like scroll to them when viewed from the side, and there are three height levels. The heatpipes are also made of copper, but there are two different style pipes used. One set of heatpipes is smaller than the other and goes from the base to the lower part of the fan. The other set is larger and wraps around near the top of the fan. Of course, there are actually two sets of fins, and located between them is the clear 110mm fan that sports blue LED lighting.


The fan has two sets of wires that come off of it, both of which are sleeved in black expandable sleeving. The longer one is a standard power cable with a 3-pin connector, while the shorter one is a variable fan speed controller. The controller has a smooth movement to it that does not feel loose or scratchy.


The base of the V1 is made of two sections. There is a top aluminum part and a lower copper part that sandwich the four heatpipes in between. The milled copper surface is protected by a thin plastic layer that peels off easily and does not leave any residue behind. Under the razor blade test, the base is nearly flat, but has a slightly concave surface. Actually, it is more of an issue we have seen many times where the edges are slightly higher then the middle. Usually this has little to no impact on the contact, since the integrated heat spreader on today's CPUs are much smaller than the base of the V1 and are also designed to warp slightly. For the reflection test, a chrome thumbscrew was placed on the base. The reflection is visible, but the "ghosty" reflections around the screw are from the milling of the base.