With a market composed of a large variety of CPU coolers, manufactures have to get it right the first time around. If the cooler poses to many issues, or simply fails to meet today's standards, it will likely find its lifespan to be short. Today we are going to be taking a look at a cooler from a company that knows all about cooling, Cooler Master. Is Cooler Master really the master when it comes to cooling? Well, we are about to find out how well the Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler can compare to a few other top performers on the market.
First Impression:
The Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler comes in a large black box that shows the cooler from the front view, and focuses on its features and specifications on the rear. At first release the Cooler Master V8 didn't include the hardware for the LGA1366 socket. But as you can see by the first picture, the current product shipping does fully support the LGA1366 socket.
Removing the contents of the box, we will find the Cooler Master V8 securely sandwiched in two plastic housings, with a box of accessories. This style of packing seems to be more popular these days over the common blister pack we have seen with other coolers. This is easily opened, and provides adequate protection for the cooler during shipping.
The Cooler Master V8 is a unique looking cooler from the start. We can see from the above picture that it utilizes four different aluminum fin sections for optimal cooling, and has the fan sandwiched between the two center sections. The V8 is stated to dissipate up to 180W of heat, which is impressive all in its own.
Features:
Supports Intel Core i7 CPU.
4 separate modular sets of aluminum fins create a large heat dissipation surface for unsurpassed cooling performance.
8 heat pipes maximize heat transfer.
Mirror-finished base makes for 100% contact with the processor.
Optimum Airflow - The center mounted 120mm fan blows/pulls cool air through the fins of the heatsink to cool down the heatsink which is taking the heat away from the CPU smoothly.
Precision Control and Quiet Operation at 17~21 dBA - Adjustable PWM fan speed control, using a manual knob placed in the back of the chassis, enables fan adjustments from 7V to 12V, allowing users to find the perfect balance between cooling performance and noise level.
Great review Tazz. I''ve seen one of these in action and they are HUGE! With an average 2 degree drop in temps on full load with the stock fan that is very good and I too would expect to see an even more significant drop in temps with a higher performance fan. Don''t know that I''d get one anytime soon because of the size but knowing that it works as you''ve shown I will have to keep it on my potentials list fo rthwe future.
