Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX: Does VX Rule Cooling?
by Wesley Fink on June 7, 2007 5:10 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooling at Stock Speed
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. The Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX comes complete with a variable-speed high-output fan. Therefore we tested the VX cooler with the supplied fan at its maximum speed for the performance results.
Where the very good Intel stock cooler keeps the X6800 at 41C at idle, the VX managed 27C, which is outstanding performance. This is a significant improvement over the Intel stock cooler performance, and results are just 1C short of the best we have tested. The Thermalright coolers, at the top of our heatpipe tower performance charts, cool to 26C and 27C, and the Tuniq 120 maintains 27C. The Big Typhoon VX is very competitive in cooling at stock speed idle.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured at 4 second intervals with the NVIDIA monitor "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you would expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT.
Cooling efficiency of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers.
The VX under load at stock speeds reached a maximum temperature of 38C with the included fan at its highest speed. This compares to the Thermalright coolers at 32C and 33C, the Tuniq at 34C and the Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and Zalman 9700 at 36C. Stock load performance is average to above average among tested coolers, which was something of a disappointment after the excellent stock idle results.
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. The Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX comes complete with a variable-speed high-output fan. Therefore we tested the VX cooler with the supplied fan at its maximum speed for the performance results.
Where the very good Intel stock cooler keeps the X6800 at 41C at idle, the VX managed 27C, which is outstanding performance. This is a significant improvement over the Intel stock cooler performance, and results are just 1C short of the best we have tested. The Thermalright coolers, at the top of our heatpipe tower performance charts, cool to 26C and 27C, and the Tuniq 120 maintains 27C. The Big Typhoon VX is very competitive in cooling at stock speed idle.
It is more difficult to effectively simulate a computer being stressed by all of the conditions it might be exposed to in different operating environments. For most home users CPU power is most taxed with contemporary gaming. Therefore our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. The Far Cry River demo is looped for 30 minutes and the CPU temperature is captured at 4 second intervals with the NVIDIA monitor "logging" option. The highest temperature during the load test is then reported. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you would expect to find in this recording configuration. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT.
Cooling efficiency of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX was then compared under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently tested CPU coolers.
The VX under load at stock speeds reached a maximum temperature of 38C with the included fan at its highest speed. This compares to the Thermalright coolers at 32C and 33C, the Tuniq at 34C and the Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and Zalman 9700 at 36C. Stock load performance is average to above average among tested coolers, which was something of a disappointment after the excellent stock idle results.
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Amuro - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
I found this review that compares the Freezer 7 Pro with the Big Typhoon VX, and the Freezer 7 beats it:http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/bigtyphoon...">http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/bigtyphoon...
qquizz - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Thermaltake just hopes people confuse their name with Thermalright ;)brian_riendeau - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I remember when I used to come to AT for reviews of real hardware like motherboards and CPUs. I am glad another 8 pages of "content" gets to devoted to a CPU cooler and says what could have been said in a paragraph. I would much rather see a large cooler roundup and get down to what people care about, which coolers are the best performing, and which are the best value. That is all people really care about, no one (and I mean no one) need 8 pages of information for every half decent CPU cooler on the market.nbowman - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
hehe, don't read the Hexus review then, its like 125 pages long (no bull) for 25 coolers.strikeback03 - Friday, June 8, 2007 - link
Don't forget, there is a page devoted to the all-important packaging.nsx241 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Um, in that case, just skip to the conclusion. No one's forcing you to read all of it.MageXX9 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
As I said in a previous review, I hate those Intel-style push clips. I've only installed one Core 2 Duo machine, and the retail fan installation amazes me at how bad it was. I can't understand for the life of me why any aftermarket heatsink would use anything other than a screw down design that let you press the heatsink down evenly.I understand the ability to install a heatsink while the motherboard is in the case is desirable but it's no problem for me to pull the motherboard. The added insurance is worth it.
n7 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Results are not bad for what's basically an old cooler revised.Any plans for an Enzotech Ultra-X review?
stepone - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
I have a TT 120 VX & with down blower coolers you need to have an extraction fan in the case as the air gets pushed down onto the mobo instead of towards the back fan opening of the case as is the case with tower coolers. I use mine in an Antec P182 with both the top & rear fans set to low (580 RPM) which is inaudibile @ 1m and pulls very little air but still lowers the temp @load by 6-8 degrees depending on what you're doing.Further evidence of this is that in your review the 120 VX has the 2nd lowest stock idle temperature, just 1 degree behind the ultra!
The cooler is good, it just needs a little assistance in getting the hot air out of the case and who doesn't have at least 1 exhaust fan running above 580RPM in their case?
Could Anand tech maybe add 1 case fan@ low RPM's and re-test the down blowers against the ultra 120?
magreen1 - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
See Wesley's response above -- they already did briefly retest 4 coolers with a case fan.