Titan Fenrir Evo
- Details
- Category: Cooling Hardware
- Published: Thursday, 19 August 2010 00:00
A lot of us overclock our computer because we want high end performance without the high end price tag. But it seems all the cool guys want to convince you that you just have to go with water cooling. What? A good water cooling set-up can set you back more than the cost of the CPU. So why not get something that will keep your CPU cool, look cool, and won't break the bank. The Titan Fenrir Evo certain fills the "look cool" requirement. Let see how it does in the other two.
Overclocking is useful not only for pushing enthusiast cores to new records, but also for budget builders to get the most out of their money. Therefore, it would only make sense that a CPU cooler also be affordable, while of course keeping the processor from overheating. Today we review the Thermaltake Frio, a goliath cooler designed for overclocking capacity.
One of the best ways to keep the noise level of your high end gaming rig down is to look at water cooling options. Some of the all-in-one kits perform well, but are still hit and miss. Putting together your own kit is more complicated, but will give you much better performance, not to mention great looks. One of the big names in water cooling parts is a company called Danger Den. With help from 
Budget builds have become more and more popular as the economy sees more falls and the industry sees more rises into the world of PC gaming. Regardless of if you have an entry level build or an enthusiast, cutting corners to save dollars only ends up costing you more in the end. There are several companies that strive to provide quality performance matched with affordable price-points, and XtremeGear has sent us such a piece: the HP1216B.
Appearance has become a large part of any PC gaming enthusiast's rig, with more and more chassis coming with windowed sides standard in order to to show off your hardware. This addition is yet another decision to factor into the buying process. Thermaltake has a large line of CPU coolers, many with a unique design and performance. My favorite has always been the SpinQ line and today I sit down with the new SpinQ VT to see how it performs, in both the eye of the user and the processor.
The simple case fan that we know and love has truly taken on a few extra roles over the years, including making our towers look kick-ass. Few methods can top the simplicity and functionality of LEDs, when they're done right. It should be silent of course and you can't forget adequate cooling either. Just as easy as any fan can make a build, it can also break a build. Gelid Solutions recently sent us their newest entry, the Wing 12PL, to see how well it performs in the demanding field of case cooling.
When it comes to heatsinks little changes but just when you think that it's all been done someone comes along and says they can do better. Sometimes it's with a new design or shape, other times it's using TEC cooling, and then sometimes it's just plain ol' size. Noctua has recently introduced the NH-D14 and D14 apparently means "monster". This has to be the largest heatsink I have ever seen and now it's sitting on our workbench today begging to be tested, let's jump in.
It's rare nowadays to see a company make a case fan attractive without the use of lighting of some sort. That doesn't mean it can't be done. Cooler Master's new 120mm case fan the Excalibur, is proof of that. The simple and sleek design just doesn't get justice behind bezels. Careful not to judge books by their covers today I sit down with the Excalibur to see how it performs.
Gaming PCs have long since reached a point where multiple fans of different sizes and RPM are necessary to adequately cool the hardware it uses. With such a variety comes the potential of tweaking each individual fan to a certain speed, in order to preserve power when not needed and control the airflow of the rig. If you are using standard fans connected to a power supply alone, this is impossible. The solution to all these problems is a fan controller, in this case a 5.25" expansion bay and hardware that, at the very least, controls multiple fans. The interface of a controller, how it controls the speeds, style, and capacity are but a few things that set models apart from one another. NZXT has sent us the Sentry 2 to see how it performs.
Most people don't give the fans in their PC any thought, even most enthusiasts worry about colors and led's not the noise level or performance. Noctua is in the minority when it comes to fan manufactures because they design their fans to be as quite as possible with no concern for LED's or special colors. Today I have the chance to test out their newest fan the NF-12B FLX. Similar to the NF-P12 that we tested before, but with a few updates. Let's take a look to see how their changes effected the fans performance.
With video card technology growing consistently for some time now today’s video cards have grown into large power hungry monsters, some requiring 300w of power. With that amount of power being used they are bound to create a lot of heat in the whole possess. Reference designs from both ATI and Nvidia have heatsinks with fans that are sometimes very loud while not cooling to the extreme that some enthusiasts expect. That’s where Thermalright jumps in with their T-Rad?, designed to cool better than the stock design while (when using the right fans) keeping the noise to a minimum.![IMG_5431 [lr] [lrsm]](http://lanoc.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_5431-lr-lrsm.JPG "IMG_5431 [lr] [lrsm]")
One of the breakout hits this past year at CES was hidden in the sands convention center in a small booth called CoolIt. CoolIt has been known for some of time for some of their water cooling and TEC cooling systems for system builders like Dell and Alienware, but with the introduction of the Domino A.L.C. at CES they got everyone’s attention. In fact they were so inundated with requests I just now received our review sample. So without any more waiting I’m going to jump right into it and see how it works. ![IMG_5541 [lr] [lrsm]](http://lanoc.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_5541-lr-lrsm.JPG "IMG_5541 [lr] [lrsm]")
When it comes to the enthusiast heat sink market there is a short list of manufactures who dominate the industry for the most part. Of course there are many other companies who are fighting for a spot trying to make a name for themselves. Today I have the chance to check out a heat sink from a company called Titan, being in the industry for twenty years has become a competitor in the IT market. Working on the high performance market they recently released a heat sink called the Fenrir. In 
Yesterday I took a look at Cooler Masters Hyper TX-3 entry level heatsink and was surprised considerably by its performance and value. Today I will be following that review by taking a look at what I can only call its older brother the Hyper 212 Plus due to the Hyper 212 Plus being the same design only larger. The Hyper 212 has been around for some time providing great performance in a mid range price. With the updated Hyper 212 Plus they have most likely updated the performance along with the added compatibility for the upcoming Lynnfield or i5 CPU later this year. I plan to put the updated version to the test and find out how it compares to a range of different heatsinks.
Running a expensive high end heatsink like the v10 or even the v8 is not feasible for everyone due to space or financial reasons. Also as crazy as it seems to me most people aren't looking for the most extreme cooling solution, some are only looking for an improvement over stock cooling. Cooler Master has recognizes this and has recently released the TX-3 CPU cooler for that market. Today I will be taking a closer look at the TX-3 to see how well it compares to other heatsinks that we have tested in the past along with if it fits the needs of the entry level market that it is designed for. 
When you pay hundreds of dollars or even thousands for a gaming pc, you expect quality. That includes not having your machine sound like a sad excuse for a vacuum cleaner. Fans are a critical component in any machine, cooling your vital components and allowing for optimal performance. Unfortunately, typical stock fans or any fan short of the expensive ones often sound noisy at full power. This is the point where you pick up a fan controller, a device that in truth, controls the amount of power your fans get. Using one of these gadgets allows for minute adjustments in fan speed, allowing for a perfect balance of noise as well as cooling. Now, fan controllers are an age old pc accessory, but that doesn't stop manufacturers from trying to perfect the technology. 
With the Socket 1366 platform becoming more and more popular many gamers have been looking for quality heatsinks to keep their rigs cool. This has been even more important with the overclockability of the i7 920. Our friends in Austria, of course, were on top of their game right away giving out free clips to owners of their heatsinks to anyone who wanted to upgrade to an i7 (