Looks like the Thermalright 120 eXtreme still has the best balence (depends what fan you buy obviously), it's been top of the pack for quite some time now!

isnt that worse than the intel stock cooler? and thats free lol

we'll be including a stock intel HSF in our results tables soon, so you'll be able to tell.

So its a complete waste of money. Shame, I have really started to like the look and idea of top down coolers for some reason and it looks like only Noctua make one that is worth going for.

Also you wrote Akasa 465 in the conclusion and the graphs, don't you mean 965?

I wouldn't buy this heat sink particularly, but it would be nice to have it thrown in with the Asus motherboards for those who aren't overclocking and such.

They still fail miserably in making coolers. Stop it already, it's like license games, they quite silmply always suck.

IMHO top-down coolers are a good thing! Just a shame there aren't so many good ones out there. Sure, tower coolers have better cooling ability, but they don't cool the PWM area of the motherboard, which is exactly where top-down coolers trump tower coolers.

OK, so this cooler might not be the best thing since sliced bread, but I cannot question ASUS' design decision on that point. They might want to sell it (a lot) cheaper though.

Incidentally, doesn't the Triton 85 look a lot like the Triton 75 (which is sold fanless)?

If you include stock Intel coolers, maybe use a few different ones or at the very least mention from which CPU line the stock is from, lots of changes in the last few CPUs, such as the 45nm stock coolers.

That's a high ambient temperature.

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
we'll be including a stock intel HSF in our results tables soon, so you'll be able to tell.

Sweet because that's what i use so it'll will give me a better perspective when i decide if I want to get an aftermarket cooler.

"it'll will" say it ten times fast an a Thermalright 120 eXtreme it'll will pop out your butt.

Originally Posted by Amon
That's a high ambient temperature.

It's been hot in the office this week.

Air-con buggered or has it been one of those scorchers this week?

Originally Posted by Jipa
They still fail miserably in making coolers. Stop it already, it's like license games, they quite silmply always suck.

That's a miserably flawed argument. Apply the same logic to any other industry (AMD, ATi, or Ford Motors) and you'll soon realize the repercussions consumers incur in a weighted market.

Air con? We're in th UK - Air conditioning consists of opening a window or desk fan if you're lucky!

Opening a window? So they're not nailed shut?

Again, bit-tech, no noise rating? no db rating? no audio files of fan noise at different distances?
If all people cared about was cooling ability, then this type of review would be great, but as you pointed out, it's all about how silent it is and how well it performs.

Originally Posted by roadrun777
Again, bit-tech, no noise rating? no db rating? no audio files of fan noise at different distances?
If all people cared about was cooling ability, then this type of review would be great, but as you pointed out, it's all about how silent it is and how well it performs.

Weight (with fan): 520g
Size (with fan): 120mm(W) x 137mm(D) x 123mm(H)
Fan Size: 120mm
Fan Speed: 1400RPM
Noise Level: 16 dBa
Warranty: Two year standard warranty

The fact of the matter is that noise rating hardware is enormously difficult, and completely subjective dependant on situation. All we can do is compare a silent fan to a silent fan, as we lack the high end setup to reliably test the fan. We'd need a sound insulated sound room, which just isn't on the cards.

Then there's the whole <b>Socket F</b> thing. Everywhere around the web I shopped this cooler it was advertised to support Socket F. We can tell you it doesn't support the bolt through Socket F with the supplied clips. When I contacted the manufacturer about getting clips that would make their cooler work with socket f, I was told to contact the reseller, that the manufacturer doesn't offer parts. This doesn't tickle. SO if you buy one of these for socket F, you might get F'd and it wont be cool.