Introduction

A vital part of any desktop computing today, would be the type of cooling used. With components reaching ever greater speeds and even greater power draw, the industry has had to develop more efficient means of removing the extra heat generated by these new components. One of the hottest components in a modern day computer would be the processor. It is this very component that performs each and every calculation within your desktop PC. For many years there have been numerous companies battling to develop and manufacture cooling solutions for these newer technologies with many variations on design and functionality. Cooler Master are one of these such companies producing a variety of coolers differing in all aspects from size, to price and purpose. Today Overclockers Tech takes an in depth look into the gargantuan cooler that is the Cooler Master V10.

Company Background

“Cooler Master was founded with the mission of providing the industry’s best thermal solutions. Since its establishment a decade ago, the company has remained faithful to this mission, emerging as a world leader in products and services for companies dealing with devices where heat issues must be resolved.”

Since their establishment Cooler Master have created many a product from heat disipitation devices (cooling solutions) to computer cases and even power supply units. Better known for the former Cooler Master has quickly become a well established and successful manufacturer winning many awards and successfully producing some of the best quality components in their class.

Packaging and Initial Impressions

The first thing you will notice when presented with the box containing the V10 cooler is how large the packaging is. This straight away gives an indication of how large the unit inside could potentially be. A great level of detail has been taken when producing the packaging for the cooler as the exterior is both aesthetically pleasing and very well thought out in terms of the information provided. It is clear that the V10 has been created with quality in mind when examining the box alone as it is very prepositionally finished. The basic specifications are listed along with a few images of the product on front whilst the rear holds the full feature list and specifications of the product from thermal qualities to how audible the unit is. Below are a few images of the box.

Cooler Master V10 Box

Packaging - Underside

Contents

Cooler Master's V10

Under side of V10

Size Comparison

As you can see from the above images this cooler is enormous. It is by far one of the largest air cooling solutions on the market to date if not the largest. At 1.2kg it is also a very heavy piece of kit and as such may put off many from the purchase. When installed the size of the V10 becomes apparent as it dwarfs the 8800GTX and the full ATX motherboard it is installed upon. One worry here is whether or not it will fit in the average users case as it hangs out by aproximately 65mm from the edge of the motherboard.

TEC Power Module

TEC Heat Pipes

Heat Sink Pipes

Heat Pipes

Taking a moment longer to look at the cooler in a little more detail you can see a hidden gem. The black plastic box above is a power delivery unit for a 70watt rated TEC installed within the cooler. The way this works is a current of electricity is passed through the TEC causing one side to cool down massively whilst the other side heats up. A set of heat pipes are placed on the cold side of the TEC that lead to the block making contact with the CPU surface, thus reducing the temperature. The hot side of the TEC is then connected to what looks like a generic heat sink, such as the Titan Fenrir or Akasa Nero S previously reviewed. In the Below image you can see the clearance between the cooler and the memory modules. Taller modules may be a problem here but modules of a standard size fit nicely cooled well by the cooler over hanging them.

Memory Clearance

Inside the box is hardware needed for numerous sockets applications along with a small application of thermal compound to be applied upon installation. The whole cooling solution comes pre-installed with the fans and TEC so no construction is needed prior to installation.

Specifications

Test Setup

• Intel i3 530 at 2.93ghz and 4.4ghz (1.64v)
• Asus Sabertooth i55 so1156
• 4gb (2x2gb) G.Skill ECO 1600mhz cl8
• Generic Nvidia 8800GTX

Cooler used for comparison purposes

• Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ
• Reference Intel Stock design cooler
• Cooler Master V10
• High end single water cooling loop with Dual Radiator

For testing purposes all coolers are subject to the same tests. 1 hour of Prime95 max mem at stock clocks and volts, and at 4.4ghz sporting a hefty 1.64v Vcore to generate some serious heat. The higher Vcore should really test the cooling capacity of each cooler. Each test is performed no fewer than 3 times per cooler with the average temperatures representing the over all result. The ambient room temperature was measured at 15.5-16c through out the testing and was deemed satisfactory concerning the 0.5c fluctuation in temperature.

Test Results

Testing all cooling solutions at stock revealed some strange results. As you can see from the above chart, the V10 was a let down. Its performance was at idle was on par with that of the intel stock cooling solution. With temperatures in the low 20c, this was not to be grumbled at as a delta T of 5-6c above ambient is a success by any standard. It was only when looking at load temperatures did the V10 show any signs of its efficiency even though it had been out paced by the water cooling kit and the Fenrir unit.

Taking a look at performance at 4.4ghz under a very heavy core voltage shows a different story all together. The i3 530 is by no means a hot running chip, but with 1.64v at its heart it was clearly generating some heat. The intel stock cooler only just managed to boot into windows long enough to start up real temp to measure temperatures before the system hit a BSOD.  As you can see in the chart above the tables have turned in the V10s favour. The Titan Fenrir looked to be at about the upper limit of its usefulness when the fan speed remained on low, upping this to high speed lowered the temperatures by a few degrees on each core but not nearly enough to justify the din the fan was now creating. Looking at the V10 it was evident that the cooler was doing the job it should be doing. (This will be looked at in greater detail within the analysis). Even at low speed the V10 had the upper hand delivering a very quiet and respectable performance. Upping the fans speed to their maximum levels created quite a noise but to our surprise resulted in maximum temperatures that were lower than that of a £200 water cooling set up. Only when the fans on the radiator were increased did the water cooling solution beat the V10s outstanding performance.

Analysis

Looking over the results from the above tests you can see the effectiveness off Cooler Masters V10. When faced with high levels of stress this is a completely different story when compared to the initial stock results. Investigating this further revealed the reasons behind this and proved the worth of Cooler Masters flagship air cooling solution. During testing there was an apparent clicking escaping the V10. At first this was thought to be a faulty fan that was failing however under further investigation it became evident that this was instead the TEC engaging and disengaging due to the heat output of the CPU being too small to even warrant the TEC to be engaged permanently. Once the cooler was pushed during the high frequency/voltage test, the clicking ceased. This was due to the TEC engaging and remaining engaged, cooling the heat pipes and subsequently the CPU itself. From this we could see that the V10 was doing exactly what it had been designed to do and was managing this flawlessly.

Conclusion

Cooler Master’s V10 is a cooler of gargantuan proportions and has clearly performance to match. This however does come at a price nearing £90 inclusive of VAT. At this price it is hard to justify it over the Titan that can be found for sub £30 at many online stores. However,£90 for a level of cooling close to rival the performance of an £200 water cooling loop shows outstanding value for money. For this very reason it fills the void between air and water cooling perfectly. However, it only does so when high levels of overclocking are involved, otherwise the Titan becomes the far better alternative, it all depends on how you look at this. Does the V10 represent the glass half full or is the glass unfortunately half empty? With this question on your mind you will have to sit back and weigh up the pros and the cons, and whether or not you wish to use the cooler to its full potential or not.

Pros

• Cooling performance when put under extreme stress
• The ability to keep up with water cooling more than double the price
• Aesthetically pleasing, a real head turner

Cons

• Price compared to other air coolers
• Poor performance on cooling running CPU’s
• Size may prove an issue with your case
• Too loud when pushed

Overclockers Tech are pleased to announce that the Cooler Master V10 air cooler has scored a respectable 8/10 and the Overclockers Tech Silver Award. A price drop to £75 inclusive of VAT would see this cooler obtain Gold as it would then be directly competing with the likes of Noctua’s NH-D14 and other such coolers within a similar price range.

Overclockers Tech would like to thank Cooler Master for the review sample tested here today.