Akasa Blue Aurora

Verdict: Tricky to install, but better at cooling than the Freezer 7 Pro.

The Akasa Blue Aurora features four copper heatpipes and a large array of densely stacked aluminium fins. A blue 120mm LED fan is supplied on a clip-on mount that has a vent to direct air over the VRMs. However, the fan mount clashed with the modest Northbridge heatsink of our Asus Commando motherboard. You can slide the mount up the clip points of the Blue Aurora, though, and the fins of the cooler means that it should fit most motherboards.

The Blue Aurora requires a backplate for mounting and is tricky to install. The motherboard needs to be removed from the case, and the backplate lacks adhesive tape to fix it to the motherboard, unlike the Scythe Ninja Cu. This also means that each time you change the CPU, or want to change the TIM, you'll have to remove the motherboard. Also, the mounting screws are very close to the fins of the heatsink of the Blue Aurora, so screwing them into the backplate requires a very long, thin screwdriver. The fan detaches easily, however.

The Blue Aurora's mounting mechanism is solid and provides a very secure mount. There was a 4-5°C discrepancy between the hottest and coolest core of our overclocked and overvolted Xenon X3210 when using the Intel reference cooler and its push-pin mounts, but much less of a difference between the cores with the Blue Aurora. The cooler was very effective too, dropping the CPU temperature by 7°C for an audible but acceptable amount of noise.

Conclusion

Mounting the Blue Aurora is a lengthy and awkward process, and you'll have to remove your motherboard to remount it, but it provides very effective cooling. Although the cooler is audible when it's working hard, you have the option to replace the fan.