X-bit labs

Scythe Andy Samurai Master and Enzotech Ultra-X Coolers vs. Overclocked CPUs (page 4)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 03/08/2007 | 11:04 AM ]

Enzotech Ultra-X: It’s All About Diameter, Not Number, of Pipes!

This product is manufactured by Enzotech and is in fact the first CPU cooler from this brand. Here it is, the Enzotech Ultra-X model:

The cooler comes in a small cardboard box designed like a black-and-silver cube with a plastic handle.

There is a round window in one side of the box through which you can see some of the cooler and its heat pipes. A description of the key features of the cooler, a list of supported CPUs and platforms, and a detailed specification are all printed on the box.

At the top of the box there is a small cardboard box with the following accessories:

• Back-plate, plastic frame and 4 screws to mount the cooler on Socket 754, 939, 940
• Pressure clip for Socket AM2 and Socket 754, 939, 940
• Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease
• Back-plate, plastic spacers and spring-loaded screws for LGA775
• Installation Guide
• Fan speed controller designed as a PCI slot bracket (it is missing in the photo)

The cooler lies in a plastic tray that protects it from damage during transportation.

So, here it is, the first CPU cooler from Enzotech:

At first sight it’s hard to see the fundamental difference of this cooler from the Thermaltake Big Typhoon or the above-described Scythe Andy Samurai Master. A 120mm fan on a heatsink consisting of aluminum ribs. Four heat pipes that go out of a copper base. But take a look at those pipes:

They are as many as 8 millimeters in diameter! Not 5 or 6 millimeters as is often the case, but 8! This 2mm difference seems negligible, but let us recall some geometry and calculate the area of the side surface of cylinders with a length of 120mm and diameters of 6 and 8mm. I have 4522 sq. mm for the 6mm cylinder and 6029 sq. mm for the 8mm cylinder. It means that, the length being the same, the area of one 8mm pipe of the Enzotech Ultra-X is 33.3% larger than that of a 6mm pipe of the Thermaltake Big Typhoon. On the other hand, the new cooler has 4 pipes as opposed to the Big Typhoon’s 6. If multiplied by the number of pipes, the Bug Typhoon proves to have a larger total area of contact between the pipes and the heatsink, but we’ll see how it works in practice soon. Let’s get back to the new cooler for now.