120mm - 1300rpm - MPN: CLP0114
Strengths: Outstanding cooling capacity. Universal Design, Good for AMD's Socket A, 754, 939, 940. Also good for Intel's Socket 478, LGA 775.
Weakness: Extreme size: 122x122mm, 103mm high Might not fit in small form factor cases. Also very tall. Extreme weight: 813g Weight exceeds guidelines for all processors. Max recommended weight
This this is HUGE. In terms of pure size and mass, it must cool well, and it does. It's very quiet, though not silent, and cools as well as fair water cooling. A good plus for this heatsink is the universal design, so even if you switch platforms, this cooler can move with you.
As stated on Tom's Hardware Guide, socket A users can only use this heatsink if they have 4 holes around the CPU socket. This heatsink cannot attach directly to a motherboard.
The main drawback is the extreme weight. Thermalright makes coolers that have comparable performance but weigh half as much, with the exception of the XP-90C. If you're looking for a lighter 120mm heatsink, check out the SI-120. Caution needs to be taken for moving systems w/ such heavy heatsinks, especially such tall ones, otherwise you risk damaging your stuff.
Over all, this is a good heatsink, but I can only recommend it to the most extreme computer users. It's not for the faint of heart!
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TopStrengths: Dropped CPU Core Idle Temperature 25 degrees Celcius! Pretty darn quiet!
Weakness: Big and bulky; installation not a snap; motherboard must be removed from case for installation; pricey.
I've only had this monster fan/heatsink assembly for one day, but I am sold on it already! My Asus P5WD2 Premium MB and Intel Pentium D 830 (3.0GHz) combo would idle at 70 degrees Celcius!! I had heard bad things about the Intel stock fan/heatsink, and read some rave reviews on this product, so decided to give it a shot. Prior to making the purchase, I took some measurements on my case and the area around the CPU just to be sure this thing would fit.
After unpacking the box this thing came in, I was shocked at how big it was! The box alone was almost three pounds. It has a full 120mm fan, and is about 4 inches high, so you need to have a deep enough computer case to accomodate it. One big downside is that you will need to remove your motherboard from your case. Major drag! :-( If you're assembling a new system, no biggie, as you can do it all at once. You install a large H-sized brakets on the back of the motherboard (along w/ some rubber gaskets to protect the circuit board), along with four large screws which poke thru to the component side of the MB. You then attach some spacers and gaskets to the screws in order to hold the H bracket to the MB backside. You then apply some thermal grease (conveniently supplied), and plop the heatsink assembly to the CPU. The screws are then tightend to the assembly. I wish the instructions were clearer on how far to tighten everything. I had read about not tightening too much, or you could damage the MB. I ended up tightening until the upper bracket would no longer move. The important thing is that there is enough pressure being applied between the heatsink and CPU. I then carefully put the MB back into my computer case, and reassembled everything. Ignoring the MB reassembly time, it probably took me about 15-20 minutes to install the heatsink/fan assembly.
The real test came when I powered everything back up. I went into the BIOS and turned my MB CPU fan control to DC, since PWM does not work. The fan connector only has three pins, so the MB is unable to control the fan's speed. I believe it runs at a constant speed. After booting up, I noticed that the IDLE CPU core temperature was now only 44 degrees Celcuis, down from 70 degrees!!! So, what more can I say, I am impressed!
It is worth noting that this is compatible with AMD, but I cannot comment on that, as I have no experience with it.
My recommendation if buying a new CPU is to just buy an OEM version without the Intel fan/heatsink. Take the $25 (or so) you save there and apply it to the cost of this beast. Its large, bulky, unwieldy and ugly as hell, but it works as advertised!
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TopStrengths: Very quiet 120mm fan, keeps cpu very cool.
Weakness: This thing is freaking huge!
I wouldn't recommend this for someone with a mid tower case-something under 20" due to it's size. I never hear it though, and it keeps the my AMD 64 3700+ cpu at 33C idle and 42C under load-excellent cooling.
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TopStrengths: Cooling capacity Quiet
Weakness: Size Mounting Price
This is one of the best coolers currently available. It is very quiet, while still providing cooling capacity matched by few if any other coolers on the market. As with any 120mm cooler, the sheer size is formidable, but that is, unfortunately, the trade-off you have to make to have the combination of cooling/quietness that this cooler offers. Also the mounting on these(especially for lga775 processors), could be precarious for some, due to the possibility of damaging the motherboard or processor.
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TopStrengths: Quiet, incredible cooling
Weakness: None
This is the best CPU cooler I have ever used. I have been a faithful fan of Thermaltake products since I started building PCs. Let’s start with the performance. Running an Athlon64 3700 San Diego at stock 2.2ghz @ 1.40v I have idle temps of 28C and max temp at 33C. I have never had anything run this cool, simply impressive. I over-clocked the CPU to 2.790ghz and run 33C idle and max 43C @ 1.65v. The fan is very quite, my sound card’s (7800GT) fan turn all the way down still over powers the sound of the heat sink’s fan, it is whisper quite. The unit is somewhat large, but you should read reviews about motherboard compatibility before you select this heat sink. The unit is mounted with screws, so make sure the back plate on the motherboard is screw ready, Giga-byte is not, it used plastic pins. I had to buy a K8 Thermalright back plate for a few dollars.
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TopStrengths: 6 Heatpipes for conduction Lots of surface area on the fins for convection Very quiet and effective 120mm fan Huge Size
Weakness: Tiny Nuts supplied by Thermaltake Tiny print of the instructions
I ordered this heatsink after reading various reviews and first hand experiences about it. All of the reviews I did read emphasized how big this thing is and the fact that it cools better than even the thermalright xp-120, which is the next biggest and best performing CPU cooler out in the market.
When it finally arrived at my doorsteps, the first thing I noticed was the big box that this heatsink came in, my motherboard was shipped to me in a slightly smaller box just for comparison, and upon opening it up, it amazed me how big this heatsink really was. The package alone filled up the bulk of the box zipzoomfly shipped it to me in. This heatsink is only slightly smaller than the power supply unit in my ATX case and weighed almost two pounds. I was extremely careful in installing this cooler onto my motherboard so as to ensure that I do not crush my dual core CPU or crack my motherboard. The supplied instructions printed on a single sheet of glossy paper in tiny print were passable at best but the installation is fairly intuitive and doesn't take too many tries to figure out. However, the supplied nuts for securing the heatsink onto the motherboard were extremely small and very difficult to work with, wing nuts are probably necessary for people without high patience or with big hands and fingers.
After the installation process was over, the heatsink really shined, my Athlon64 X2 3800 is overclocked to 2.5 GHz and idle temperates flatline around 31 degrees Celsius and load temperatures rarely crosses the 40 degrees Celsius threshold. All in all, thermaltakes proves that size does matter when it comes to cooling and the Big Typhoon is the best heatsink you could order for your computer.
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TopStrengths: quiet, effective
Weakness: big
Make sure your case can house this thing. Much quieter than the stock fan on my Pentium 4 3ghz. I would suggest having an opening on the side of the case that the fan is facing, so it can pull air in directly from outside rather than from inside the case.
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TopStrengths: Good cooling performance.
Weakness: Horrible attachment design.
Brought this to cool down my Q6600 B3 at 3.0Ghz, works and temps were in the 40s and 60s under load. Product lasted for 2 months, till it fell my motherboard and system shutdown was initiated. The product was good when it worked and would have kept working if the attachment design didn't use Intel's stock coolers.
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TopStrengths: The best CPU fan in the World
Weakness: no weakness, the name says: Big Typhoon
Wow, this is the best thing for my CPU, its quiet, the quietest CPU fan in the world. all my cooling components are from Thermaltake and my system is fresh everytime, its not too expensive, so the quality from Themaltake has a fair price, you can use it for Pentium4, dual core, core 2 duo extreme
bravo Thermaltake, repect :)
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TopStrengths: Thing is very good, installation is a breeze (Ive been creating computers for a few years) it a decent size, not too big, soilent overclockers best friend, etc.
Weakness: Mine was bought refurbished. Fan does nowhere near 54 CFM, I'm getting a replacement or a better one.
Overall you would have to be a moron, or an idiot not to get one if you overclock. I got mine for $27 refurbished, sadly the fan does not pull much air, its just me so dont be a fool and think yours will be the same, that's stupid to thing cuz it happened to me it will to you. I am an extreme overclocker, I have my E6300 core 2 duo from its stock 1.84GHZ to an overclocked 3GHz. So until I get a better fan I wont go to 3.4GHz yet. But when you get your own one it WILL work fine, I gust got a bad one, that's all. If you dont plan to overclock dont waist your money, stock is fine. My tip, use this, arctic silver 5, and a better fan and you can overclock like a mother!!!
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TopStrengths: Near silent 16db 120mm fan. Very good air cooling solution. Looks good.
Weakness: It's base could have been polished better. I Finished mine up on a diamond lapping stone.
Maximum PC rates this cooler very highly. Their single complaint was that it's fan was located too close to the side panel of the computer case causing the fan to be starved for air. This, however, can be easily fixed by cutting a hole in the case side directly over the fan, thus creating a Thermally Advantaged Case. My case is a Antech P-180 and this solution has worked very well.
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TopStrengths: Keeps the Processor Cool
Weakness: THIS THING IS HUGE! TO MUCH ROOM!
I have a Aspire X Navigator, which is about a well rounded case as I can come up with. 5 coolent fans on the case, plus my Video card and processor with 2 on each. This thing keeps relatively cool.
I put in the Big Typhoon for 15 days. Until I got a new video card, which had a better fan, and well...I have on the biggest towers out and I RAN OUT OF ROOM! I couldn't put in my Sound Card (Don't get an x fi by the way, check out the complaint forums on Newegg).
PLUS i have a video card and 2 hard drives (IDE...GET RAID! IDE/ATA IS SUCK A PAIN!).
Basicly...there is alot of junk and cables, though organized and put out of the way, they are still taking to much room for that MASSIVE BEAST. GO WITH WATER COOLING!
it saves you money and time and most of all SPACE!
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TopStrengths: Like the title says, there is nothing that beats the performance of the Big Typhoon. Seeing is believing. Try it, you won't be sorry.
Weakness: Somewhat heavy. Installation can be difficult.
Here are examples from my experiences.
Opteron 146 @3.0GHz (1.52V): 28C(Min)~38C(Max)
Opteron 170 @2.8Ghz (1.52V): 28C(Min)~48C(Max)
Max temps are measured via at least 2 hours of (dual)Prime95 runs. My roommate's Pentium 820 with its default clock/vcore, idles at 40C~45C. That's with ThermalRight's XP90.
Of course this HSF has drawbacks. First, it's heavy. Could be too heavy for some boards. Make sure you pair it with a strong/quality board, and double-check the retention bracket. Second, installation is tricky. You will definitely have to take the motherboard out of the case, and then some. But these shortcomings are mostly one-time thing, so it didn't matter much to me.
The performance is second-to-none. I was skeptical before I tried, but now I'm a believer.
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TopStrengths: cool as a cucumber, thermal grease included
Weakness: because of its size, installation can be problematic; you have to remove the motherboard to install this
The package was huge... When I opened it I found lots of mounting clips and a one page instruction sheet. My case allows for removal of the metal plate the motherboard mounts on, so I took that out and proceeded to remove my stock heatsink/fan (LGA 775 in my case) and then clean the old grease off the cpu. I followed the instructions to stick on the foam then the mylar on the BACK of the motherboard, then the H-plate. I put the screws through and secured them to the board from the front side. Then I took the H-plate and tried to tighten down. In my case there was a resistor in the way so I had to use the alternate plate which was something I had to assemble with a couple of screws before putting it in place with the Big Typhoon. Once that was in place and secured to the board I went to put the whole thing back into the case. Due to the size of this unit I could not put it in. I had to remove the motherboard from its metal plate, shove it into the case, put the plate in the case & secure it, then secure the motherboard to that. My motherboard has a jumper to indicate whether the cpu fan is 3 or 4 pin so I fixed that. Upon reboot my motherboard warned me that the fan speed was too low. This is because the Big Typhoon does not support PWM (and thus has the 3 pin connector). When fully into Windows I found my CPU temp to be a constant 38 degrees C which is about 9 degrees cooler than it was with the stock unit. (No overclocking, my cpu is a P4 Prescott 3.4) Also the fan spins at roughly 1000 rpm vs. the 3400 rpms my stock one did at idle, up to 4800 rpms at some load. Needless to say this was SUPER LOUD and quite annoying. The Big Typhoon is basically silent. My case fans are louder! In summary, this is BIG but it does a fantastic job. Just make sure your case can accomodate it. Mine has a fan on the side of the case which blows air right into the fan on the Typhoon. Kind of a double whammy. It's about 1cm away. Good luck! Buy this if you have room for it. You will not regret it.
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TestSeek.com has collected 23 expert reviews for ThermalTake Big Typhoon CL-P0114 and the average expert rating is 84 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions.
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Manufacturer Thermaltake sends its Big Typhoon with six heat pipes into the ring. With a 120 mm fan on the top, this cooler reaches gigantic proportions. Yet the cooler itself takes up very little space near the CPU, so space problems due to surrounding components are rare.
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Almost Perfect
Strengths: Awesome cooling; very quiet fan with good airflow; not as heavy as I had feared
Weakness: Heatsink base (contact area with CPU) needs to be better polished; mounting can be awkward
This HSF (heatsink/fan) delivers where it promises: my Opteron 165 temperatures stays between a cool 26-37C. In addition, the 120mm fan stays whisper quiet, and is definitely not the noisemaker in my case.
While it is one of the best aircoolers in the market today, there are still areas that Thermaltake can improve upon. Firstly, the base of the heatsink, while flat, is not very finely machined. Lapping the contact area will increase cooling levels further. Also, in this specific case, I had to find creative ways to mount the Big Typhoon onto my DFI nF4 Ultra-D with the provided equipment. Better screws and instructions would have helped.
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Jun 11, 2006
Refx - What "creative" things did you do to mount your Big Typhoon? I have a DFI Lanparty Expert with a Opty 165 coming soon and I noticed it was going to be not so straight forward. I am thinking of doing this: