Tech Reaction

INTRODUCTION

I have been using the Thermalright’s earlier flagship cooler Ultra Extreme for almost the last 3 years since it first launched. Though I have tested a few air coolers in between but none were able to beat this cooler sans the Megahalam and D14 which didnt grant an upgrade for the miniscule improvement they were bringing to the table. And when after so many years Thermalright announced a new flagship cooler, I was sure to test them out even if after buying them. So as soon as they were available in retail ordered them and here we finally have the review of the Venomous X pitted against TRUE and CoolerMasters V10.

Venom Packaging and Accessories

Thermalright was never known to have flashy boxart but with Venomous X we have new packaging and though it might not be as flashy as Razer boxart but its a damn nice improvement over those bland brown boxes earlier Thermalright Products used to ship out with.

Out of the box.

All the accessories the cooler comes with, sadly the cooler is compatible with only LGA775/1156 and 1366 sockets. AMD users have to buy a separate bolt through kit to make the Venom Compatible with their socket.

Bad photography but as can be seen pretty shiny.

And over here finally we can see the pure nickel plated copper base with ultra-shine mirrored surface.

Cooler Specifications

Thermalright Venomous X

Features :

* All new patented multiple support pressure vault bracket system means users can add pressure (40~80lbs) for a more efficient and secure mounting (1366 / 1156 / 775).
* Mirrored copper base increases the quality and performance of the heatsink.
* Special bent winglet design allows hot air to pass through the heatsink more rapidly.
* The heatsink is nickel plated to prevent oxidation, ensuring longer useage and continued quality performance.
* Soldered heatpipes, copper base and fins ensure the best thermal conducting efficiency.
* Six sintered design.
* Includes 2 sets of 120 x 25mm fan clips and Chill factor II thermal paste.
* Convex copper base design for highest thermal conducting efficiency between cpu and heatsink.

Specifications :

* Model: Thermalright Venomous X CPU Heatsink
* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775
* Dimension: 158 x 160 x 125 mm
* Weight: 1.75 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: C1100 pure nickel plated copper base with ultra-shine mirrored surface, 48 pieces of AL fin, 12 heatpipes
* Fan : Delta AFB1212HHE 120CFM

Cooler Master v10

V10 has two 120×25 mm 4-pin PWM fans that are capable of moving air to 90CFM. Cooler Master has ensured great compatibility with a number of sockets, with mounting hardware for LGA 1366 & 775, as well as AMD 754, 939, 940, AM2+, and AM3 sockets.

* Model: RR-B2P-UV10-GP
* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775, AMD 754/939/940/AM2+/AM3
* Dimension: (L) 9.32 x (W) 5.11 x (H) 6.36 inches or 236.5 x 129.6 x 161.3 mm
* Weight: 2.65 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: Cu base, AL fin, 10 heatpipes
* Heat Pipes Dimensions: 6mm
* Fan Dimension: (L) 4.73 x (W) 1.00 x (H) 4.73 inches or 120 x 25 x120 mm
* Fan Speed: 800~2400 R.P.M
* Fan Airflow: 90 CFM (max)
* Fan Air Pressure: 2.94mm-H2O
* Bearing Type: Rifle Bearing
* Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hours @ 25 oC
* Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 17 dB-A (min)
* Connector: 4-Pin
* Fan Control: PWM
* Operation Temperature: 25 ~ 70 o
* Power: 70W (max)
* Rated Current: 9.8A (max)

Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120

Since it doesnt come with any included fan hence there are no specifications for the fan but we will ofcourse add the detail in our test bed details. Thermalright claims that the stack of 48 pieces of aluminum fins are the most over any other heatsinks in the market and they can be covered entirely by a 120mm fan to absorb all in-coming air flow which gives superior performance over their competitors.

* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775, AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3
* Dimension: (L) 63.44 x (W) 132 x (H) 160.5 mm
* Weight: 1.74 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: Nickel plated base, 48 pieces of AL fin, 10 heatpipes

Testing Methodology and Setup

Before we start I will like to explain our Testing Methodology, so our forum members/readers can understand what steps we took to reach to the temperatures and conclusion. Our test bed is running all components outside on a open bench table. While this ends up not exactly depicting the real temperatures inside a case but it doesnt affect the comparison between different heatsinks and is certainly far easier to change and mount the heatsinks back during the testing phase. We will be measuring our maximum temperature of the core by running a burn in test for 10 minutes, then allowing the system to cool for 20 minutes. The test room will be at 17 degrees Celsius. All the heatsinks will be using the same thermal interface material that is MX2. Before we mount the heatsink, we will be cleaning both the processor and heatsink surface with Isopropyl Alcohol. and to keep things interesting and fair TRUE and Venomous X will be tested with a Delta 120CFM fan.

To properly test all these coolers we will be monitoring the processor’s temperature with Core Temp. For stress testing, the software we will be using is Orthos, which loads the core only 50% which is a more realistic and practical load. For 100% Load test we will be using the Blend test in Prime95 and run it on all four cores and the four Hyper Threading cores for 10 minutes since our previous testing has shown us that the temperatures more or less remain constant after the first 10-15 minutes. We will break the temperatures up into five different tests.

The first test is going to be done at stock settings and at idle, which will have little to no CPU usage but to keep things consistent we will manually put CPU volts to 1.14V.
The second test will have the processor at stock settings and at 50% CPU usage.
The third test will have the processor at stock settings and at 100% CPU usage.

The fourth test will have the processor overclocked to 4Ghz @ 1.25V and at idle.
The fifth test will have the processor at 50% CPU usage.
The sixth test will have the processor at 100% CPU usage.

The seventh test will have the processor overclocked to 4.4Ghz @ 1.45 and at idle.
The eight will have the processor at 50% CPU usage.
The ninth test will have the processor at 100% CPU usage. This is the real test which shows how much heat a heatsink is capable to remove.

This will be our standard Test Bed for any CPU cooler testing in the near future.

* Processor: Intel i7 950
* Motherboard: MSI Pro-E
* Memory:G.Skill Trident 1600Mhz Cas6
* Video Card: Nvidia Geforce GTX 295
* Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W
* Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB Sata
* Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD-RW
* Case: Open Bench Table
* OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x86
* Ambient Temperature: 17° Celsius

Testing Results

Do check out the Testing Methodology before checking out the results to get a better understanding of the charts below, also do post any improvements or shortcomings of the mehtodology.

So here we have idle temperature. There is nothing much to differentiate here between the coolers, disappointing eh???

*lower is better

So here we have load temps on Orthos. Venom doesnt disappoint but is not worth an upgrade for sure. CoolerMaster V10 is left behind by a big margin in few tests.

*lower is better

But I did not buy the Venom to run my i7 on 4Ghz. Any cooler can do that, this is where we test our extreme overclocks with Prime 95 and see if the coolers can handle 100% load on all cores and give out respectable temps. Now this is where Venom really shines and comes out victorious with almost a 7C lead against TRUE @ 4.4Ghz and lets not even talk about the lead against V10.

*lower is better

CONCLUSION

If we ever thought there was no way aircoolers could be improved upon the performance beyond the 1-2C without increasing the size of the cooler by a huge margin then Thermalright has proved us wrong. Thermalright saw the enthusiast segment using lapped TRUE with pressure mod to improve upon the performance of TRUE and refined the design of the TRUE to squeeze out every little bit of performance it can. and named it Venomous-X. Ofcourse the winglet design may have added onto the results since our TRUE sample had the pressure mod as well with a flat surface. All in all we are happy to report that not only new buyers but even existing TRUE users need not think twice about getting the Venomous-X if they are after improvement under high volts and load.

Though we have not tested the Noctua D14 but seeing the improvement it offers over TRUE we can safely claim that Thermalright has taken back the crown of King of aircoolers with the Venomous-X emphatically.

Pros :

• Best performance among all air coolers.

• Very good Price vs Performance ratio.

• Selection of our own fan depending upon the need of silence or performance.

• New bolt through kit.

Cons :

• Doesnt come with AMD retention kit in the package.

• Nada

SCREENSHOTS

Screenshots of TRUE temperature :

TRUE Orthos at 4Ghz

TRUE Prime at 4Ghz

TRUE Orthos at 4.4Ghz

TRUE Prime at 4.4Ghz

Screenshots of Venom Temperature :

Venom Orthos at 4Ghz

Venom Orthos at 4.4Ghz

Venom Prime at 4Ghz

Venom Prime at 4.4Ghz