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Product:
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Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooler |
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Price:
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$52 (CDN) / $47 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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Thermalright
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Author:
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clsGrinder
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Date:
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August 27th, 2006
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Rating:
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A few millimeters of clearance is not going to stop this case modder from finishing his review. I set fourth with my
trusty file, and 10 minutes later I had a two screw collar worthy of Thermalright’s finest.
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Aside from the collar issue, installation was super fast. The 120mm Panaflow fan absolutely dominates the look of the
case. The wingspan of the top cooling area overlaps with the two sticks RAM on my motherboard. Not only does it keep
them nice and cool, but there is enough space for me to un-install and re-install my ram with the SI-128 still
mounted.
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Before we bench, I would like to introduce our thermal contenders. For starters the obligatory AMD stock cooler will give
us a baseline under normal operation. As a treat for this review, I have included a Zalman 7700Cu. The SI-128 and 7700Cu
will shoot it out head to head on my overclocked platform
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Testing methodology:
My reserves are low on Arctic Silver, as an alternative the bundled generic white thermal paste will be used for all
heatsinks. My mid-tower’s orientation was standing up at all times during temperature readings and the side panel was
removed. Lavalys’ Everest was used to read the on die temperature from the CPU and no fan controllers were used meaning
each HSF was spinning at maximum RPM. Overclocked readings are with the CPU’s FSB set to 275 MHz with a vCore of 1.55. A
38% overclock (3.028 GHz) was achieved with the Zalman and the Thermalright. This is my ceiling even when water cooling
so I assume the motherboard is the limiting factor. SiSoft Sandra’s Burn-In-Wizard was used to load the CPU with the
arithmetic and multimedia CPU tests back to back for 10 times. The ambient temperature was 23 degrees Celsius for all
tests.
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The Thermalright SI-128 beat out the Zalman by 4 degrees under normal load. As things heat up during the overclock testing,
the level of separation between the two increases as there is a 6 degree difference when the CPU is clocked 38% over
stock. With only 100 RPM separating the two coolers, I have only to conclude that the 8mm heat pipes employed by the
SI-128 make the Thermalright a clear winner.
Observations:
The SI-128 is a new cooler from Thermalright; therefore their motherboard compatibility list
is still quite small. Due to the girth of the SI-28, I may be so bold to say that if your motherboard employ’s heat pipe
technology with huge passive heatsinks around your CPU; you could have mounting troubles with this model. You will also
need to do some modifications to your CPU collar, if it is of the AMD two screw design.
One design feature that really surprised me is that you can actually install and uninstall your RAM chips on your motherboard
with this heatsink fully installed. This is something you can’t always do with other 120mm heatsink designs. Another
bonus for a heatsink of this size is that you don’t have to remove your motherboard to install a proprietary back plate.
Hats off to the Thermalright Engineers for being able to pull this off safely using the stock mechanics of our AMD and
Intel based motherboards.
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Conclusion:
Thermalright has shown us that they can still make some remarkable products. With customizable fan options, fat 8mm heat
pipes, huge cooling surface area and painless installation, the SI-128 is extremely well designed. This CPU Cooler should
be on any ones short list when looking for an extreme air cooling product. It weighs less than the competition, and won’t
force you to remove your motherboard when installing. Large size RAM sticks are free to come and go on your motherboard
without having to remove the cooler. My only disappointment with the SI-128 is that it has limited AMD motherboard compatibility.
Users with a tall CPU collar will have to do a small amount of modding to get this cooler to sit properly. Aside from
that the performance of Thermalright’s product speaks for itself which puts this product in a class of its own. Overall,
I was pleased with the Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooler and award MTB's Seal of Approval with a final rating of
9.5 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding this
review, be sure to visit the Thermalright website for more
information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Extreme cooling
- Easy installation
- Light weight for a 120mm cooler
- Won’t interfere with even the tallest of RAM sticks
- Customizable fan options
- Price
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Cons:
- Motherboard compatibility issues
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