X-bit labs

Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme vs. Super Coolers (page 3)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 07/11/2007 | 07:13 PM ]

Installation Tips

The fasteners included into the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme kit allow to install it on LGA775 and Socket AM2 mainboards. Other platforms are not supported.

The mainboard has to be taken out of the system case for either of the CPU sockets. The installation is a simple and intuitive procedure. You won’t even have to look up anything in the manual. You just take the necessary fastener and back-plate and fasten the heatsink with four screws through the mainboard. The spring-loaded screws have limiters so you just cannot damage anything. The pressure is high and the cooler is immovable on the CPU. The back-plate prevents the mainboard from bending. The cooler’s fastening mechanism is overall a very thought-through thing.

Installed on the mainboard, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme won’t have conflicts with the near-socket components because the heatsink hangs high on the heat pipes.

You only have to stick rubber compensator strips to the heatsink and hitch one or two 120mm fans to the juncture of ribs on the heatsink sides. There are only two wire brackets in the kit, but that’s enough for two fans. You can hitch the brackets to one side of each fan (to the top side, preferably).

Inside a system case, the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme looks like this:

This cooler costs about $60 but you should add the price of one or two 120mm fans ($10) to that.