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Thermaltake Fanless103 Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Introduction
Thermaltake is kind of an odd bird in the computer industry. On one hand they made the Xaser line of cases which may look strange to some, but have great features and are easy to work with. Then they make things like their Xray 5.25" drive bay kit with cigarette lighter and a cup holder that make you scratch your head and wonder "why?' Well, now I have the Thermaltake Fanless 103 fanless CPU heatsink that I am hoping will not be another head-scratcher. This heatsink uses a large copper base with six heatpipes to transfer heat from the processor to two large arrays of aluminum cooling fins and relies entirely on your case fans for air circulation. With no dedicated fan to provide consistent and strong airflow, I fear for the life of my CPU. Is my fear justified? Will my CPU burn up in flames? Or will this heatsink prove itself a worthy, and dead silent, contender for your CPU cooling dollars? There is only one way to find out...  
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6 User Comments 1 - Posted by
PsychoSnowMan
on January 8, 2005 - 1:46 am I saw that on the front page and thought, "bwaaah??" then I clicked the article, read the first paragraph, skipped to the end to read the conclusion page then came here. I guess it's... cool? (Haha I made a pun!) That sure is interesting I've never heard of a fanless cooling device and it seems to me that the need for case fans would negate the benefits of a noiseless cooling device. I suppose if your room was really windy for some reason it would be good? 2 - Posted by
Kurtis
on January 8, 2005 - 1:50 am i wouldn't say it is pointless because you need case fans, though i will say that you would definitely be inclined to use some high quality Papst fans or something to get rid of the noise of the case fans. Generally speaking, CPU coolers have loud whirring fans, and using a lower-speed fan will make them much less effective.
3 - Posted by
Nick
on January 8, 2005 - 12:14 pm It really comes down to what kind of case you are using already. If it has a side fan, this heatsink will probably work for you. Also, hopefully not spoiling the surprise, I will be reviewing a case with an 'air tunnel' design that im hoping will allow me to use the fanless cooler full time with only a stock fan setup. I will be recording numbers and let you all know how it works out in the review. 4 - Posted by
PsychoSnowMan
on January 8, 2005 - 11:29 pm I hadn't thought about that fact with CPU fans being smaller, it's a good point. It is aesthetically pleastic too and that wind tunnel case sounds like an awesome place for it.
5 - Posted by
Rich
on January 9, 2005 - 1:24 pm That case fan looks similar to what is in my new Dell poweredge server. The CPU has no fan and a VERY large heatsink. Air is supplied by a rear large fan which is far quiter. The machine doesn't put out much noise at all.
6 - Posted by
Guest
on April 7, 2005 - 4:40 pm thanks for the great review, it certainly helped me.
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