X-bit labs

Originality or Efficiency? Cooler Master Mars, Eclipse and Hyper TX Cooling Solutions Reviewed (page 5)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 12/15/2006 | 10:47 AM ]

The curiously shaped plastic casing covers the blades partially from above and can be placed in five different positions using the slits in the heatsink’s side plates to drive the blower’s air stream in the most efficient way.

The 66x68mm blower installed in the cooler runs on slide bearings with a lifetime of 40 thousand hours.

The fan speed is adjusted in the same manner as in the above-described Mars, but the max speed is different at 3300rpm. Curiously enough, the manufacturer specifies the min and average noise level for the Eclipse – 17 and 24dBA, respectively – but doesn’t mention the max noise level. Well, I can say that the cooler is even more intolerable than the Mars at full speed.

The cooler’s base is covered with a piece of film that you have to remove prior to installing it.

The base is flat, but its finish quality is inferior to that of the Mars.

The Eclipse is mounted on LGA775 mainboards in the same way as the Mars does, so I publish photos without explanations:

To mount the cooler on a K8 platform, you don’t need to take the mainboard out of the system case. Instead, you take the included clip with a detachable cap and insert it into the slits at the bottom of the cooler. Then mount the cooler on the CPU and hitch the clip on the prongs of the standard plastic retention frame. And finally fix the cooler in place with the latch.

The pressure force is high enough to ensure proper contact between the CPU heat-spreader and the cooler’s sole whereas the fastening mechanism itself gives no cause for apprehensions about its reliability, notwithstanding the large size of the Eclipse.