AeroCool HT-101 CPU Cooler

Reviews: Cooling

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Nicholas Hart
Kurtis
SharkaCorp
Jan. 25, 2005

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First Looks

The design of the Aerocool HT-101 is nothing extraordinary. In fact, I was struck by the similarity between this heatsink and CoolerMaster's Hyper6 cooler. While the CoolerMaster cooler uses six offset "L' shaped heatpipes, the Aerocool's uses three "U'shaped heatpipes, but the rest of the setup is nearly identical. This really doesn't come as any kind of surprise as many heatsink manufacturer's have similar heatpipe based tower coolers in their lineup.

A large cast copper base provides efficient heat transfer to the three heatpipes although the finish of it could be a little better. The surface is milled after casting, but my sample was left with quite a few pits and some hairline scratch marks. One feature I particularly like is that, rather than waste any space like many heatpipe towers, the area between the fins and the base is occupied by a large finned copper block. I can't say this makes a huge difference, but why not take advantage of the space and any extra airflow that might happen to pass by?

There's a plastic shroud around the heatsink fins which should do a good job of keeping them from being bent out of shape. At the same time it's anchored to a few of the fins, so it's a little wobbly. The included quad-led 80mm fan attaches to the plastic shroud on either side so you can set up airflow to your liking. Aerocool was even nice enough to provide the extra screws for you to get crazy and put two fans on for maximum airflow.

Much like the ThermalTake Fanless 103 cooler I reviewed, the orientation of your heatsink mounting bracket will have an effect on the cooling performance of the Aerocool HT-101. Some boards will have the heatsink sitting in a manner that will cause the airflow to be drawn from, or blow on (depending on how you attach the fan) the bottom of the power supply.

Installation

You can see from the pictures just how many parts are included in the HT-101 package. These are provided to accommodate Socket A, Socket 754 and Socket 478 systems. If you have an Athlon XP system, then you luck out and installation is rather easy as it comes out of the box with the proper socket clip. Just clip it on, attach the fan and plug things in.

Unfortunately for Socket 478 users like myself, things are not so easy. I'm about to say the "R' word, so stop reading now if you are faint of heart. That's right, you will have to Remove your motherboard in order to install this heatsink. If you are just putting a system together it's not such a big deal, but I truly dislike removing my motherboard, especially when the heatsink is only 20g over the rated spec for the heatsink bracket.

Not only do you have to take your machine apart to install this heatsink, you have to take the heatsink itself apart as well. There are a couple thin metal plates that must be sandwiched between the base and the fin block to provide mounting holes that mate up with the backplate that you will put under your motherboard. You also need to place some small plastic spacers between the board and the plates to keep them from bending. The tough part is balancing all these pieces so that one doesn't move while you try and screw things down.

Once you get the puzzle back together you can attach the fan per your preference and plug it in and then put your system back together. I installed the fan as the instruction manual directs so that it blows across the heatsink fins and towards the rear exhaust fan. All told, I spend about an hour taking things apart and getting it all together again. That's pretty excessive in my mind considering how much easier it was to install the other heatsinks I tested.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks & Installation
Page 3: Testing & Conclusion

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4 User Comments

1 - Posted by Guest on February 17, 2005 - 10:29 pm

This is a thorough and fair review. I like the product even more than the reviewer, however. It took me less time, about 25 minutes, to complete the installation. I also found the fan at my local COMP-USA for $55. Even though I have an Antec Sonata case, the noise of the Intel stock fan was very high, negating the benefit of the Sonata. With the Aero-Cool HT-101, I can finally be at peace with the whole PC in my music studio. Highly recommended.

2 - Posted by Guest on June 26, 2005 - 10:11 am

The good, The bad and The ugly.
I bought this to replace my stock P4 heatsink and fan.
The good: Once installed the cooler looks very nice. It very quite and does a very good job keeping the cpu cool. Well worth the money and time spent installing.
The Bad: Pricey, I paid nearly $60. I also bought this last year when it first hit the street.
The ugly: Directions on installation are pitiful at best. I mean look at them. You get 18 thumbnail size images to guide you through installation. The first 11 are reconstruction phase of the cooler itself to accomodate for P4 installation. Thats when you discover that you must remove the motherboard. Would have been nice if they added that little bit of info at the top of installations. We also have a bag full of screws and different parts for the cooler. Which screws are needed for installation. Look at those thumbnail images closely.It took me an hour just to figure out how to get the metal plate to stay on the back of my motherboard before realizing it had self stick. The self stick does not say "remove me" to use. Nor is there any thumbnail images showing you what/how to attach the back plate. Now comes the fun part in placing the "supportors", place the cooler onto them and screwing it down. The installation is not for the faint of heart for the P4 user.
All in all, I am very pleased with the cooler. Had the Aerocool HT-101 came with better instructions on installation their would be no complaints.

3 - Posted by Guest on July 16, 2005 - 3:02 pm

i purchased this cooler from CompUSA 2 days ago for my Athlon XP system and it works great! the heatsink is massive and the fan would look sweet if i had a window on the side of my case.

one thing i didn't see in the review is the ability to use DUAL fans on this baby. the heatsink has mounting holes on both sides for a fan on either side or both sides for even better cooling.

when it's running you can barely hear it. especially if you use other case fans, it's silent. good purchase.

4 - Posted by Guest on August 26, 2005 - 7:35 pm

Purchased this item the other day on the basis of this review, the heatsink is good, but no where near as good as my Zalman 7000 (Pure copper).

Installation was 123, since i installed it on my Athlon, what i did find annoying was, the screws that came with the product wasn't long enough, thus didn't work.

Not too much of a problem, found a few screws out back, and screwed the fan onto the heatsink within seconds.

Heatsink is quiet, heatsink is big, and the light is beautiful, i think this is the best heatsink in terms of cooling, sound levels and compatibility.

If you have a ASUS board, i recommend going for a Zalman, they are so much better at cooling at quiet speeds and in my opinion, still kings of the cooling business.

I bought this heatsink because i purchased a new Abit board which are not compatible with Zalman products, lucky for me, i managed to find the same specs on a ASUS board, and now are back to running my Zalman.

Good attempt Aerocool, but no cigar yet.

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