biglipzit
08-17-2008, 11:30 AM
Thermaltake DuOrb
Today we have the Thermaltake DuOrb here for review. It is one of the most beautiful and eye catching heat sinks available on the market today. This CPU heat sink is the sister of the DuOrb VGA cooler. This version, however, is specifically designed for use with today’s high performance CPU's that put out loads of heat. This model of the DuOrb series sports six heat pips for triple the cooling power compared to its VGA counterpart.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture1watermarked.jpg
Features
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture13watermarked.jpg
● Universal application for Intel (LGA775) & AMD (AM2)
● Fantastic DuOrb series design with Blue-Red LED lights.
● Dual-Flow dissipating not just CPU but system heat by Red-light Orb cooling for RAM
and Blue-Light Orb cooling for CPU
● Magic cooling efficient structure: 6 copper heat pipes, copper fins, and pure copper base providing maximum performance.
● Smart Thermal management
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture12watermarked.jpg
When I first looked at it, the sheer size of the unit really struck me, and I started to think there was no way it was going to fit into my case. Even though I have a full-tower, it’s a very tight fit. When I first handled it, I noticed it is relatively heavy, coming in at 598g, that’s roughly 1.32 pounds.
Packaging and Hardware
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture2watermarked.jpg
If you take a look at the back of the box it gives you a peak at the beautiful array of heat pipes. Although this is very esthetically pleasing, the fragility worries me. Being a very heavy heat sink, not being cautious may easily damage the back side. Six heat pipes in total, this shows a great balance between being able to move a-lot of heat, and being able to move it quickly.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture3watermarked.jpg
When you first get the box open, you’re going to pull out a small white box.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture14watermarked.jpg
I like the way the heat sink is suspended in the middle of the box with the clever use of vacuum formed clear plastic clam shell that snaps together sturdily.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture4watermarked.jpg
The white box houses all the mounting hardware necessary for all supported sockets. The mounting hardware for AMD and Intel are individually packaged in resalable zipper bags. The bags are labeled. One with, LGA775 and the other are labeled AM2. The other has no label but is for the brace that goes across the block pushing it against the CPU. Also the two set screws are included in this bag. Included in the box are the directions for mounting the heat sink.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture5watermarked.jpg
When I pulled off the protective film from the bottom of the heat sink there was a little residue. This shot also gives you a good view of where the heat pipes come into contact with the block. Looks like there is plenty contact area between the heat pipes and the block. The heat pipes exit the heat sink base on opposite ends helping dissipate heat from the CPU more efficiently and evenly. Personally I like this more than having all of the heat pipes coming out of one side because with today’s multi core CPU’s and heat outputs, without even heat dissipation, it is easy to cool one core more than the other resulting in failures or loss of over clocking ability.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture6watermarked.jpg
The residue came off very easily using an ordinary 100% cotton towel. The little specks you can see in the picture are just dust left behind from the towel. This heat sink is very solid, with two braces that hold the weight of the fans and fins and another two braces between the fans holding them together. Add all that plus the strength of the six massive heat pipes and you've got yourself a high quality piece of equipment. You can also see in the picture how each of the fans has only three heat pipes to cool. This gives this heat sink a great advantage over competitors that have 4 to even ten heat pipes. Although they may have more heat pipes, there still is only one fan cooling them.
Ease Of Installation
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture7watermarked.jpg
The mounting hardware works pretty well. After mounting two brackets to your motherboard and applying your thermal paste, the rest of the installation is a breeze. Once the heat sink is in place, you only have two screws to drive in and you are done. This is much better setup rather than the four stock push pins my Q6600 came with.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture8watermarked.jpg
Themaltake went a step further and added springs to the mounting screws. This helps you apply steady and even pressure across the entire surface of the CPU. Setting the top screw is a little difficult because the screw has to be set between the PSU and the
heat sink. If you are able to remove your PSU out of the back of your case you'll be in good shape because that will give you plenty of space to set the screw in perfectly.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture9watermarked.jpg
Installed and fully operational.
The Results'
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture11watermarked-1.jpg
After days of testing I now have the raw data that all of you are probably waiting for!
All test where done with an ambient air temperature of 21.2 degrees Celsius.
Final Thoughts
I really like this CPU cooler because it does so much more than just cool your CPU, it cools the entire area around your CPU. So for those of owning a feature packed motherboard that has heat pipes and heat sinks interconnecting your north and south bridge with your MOSFET heat sinks, this cooler is a must have.
I was a little worried that the fins of my ASUS Striker II Formula's north and south bridge where going to get in the way of this very large heat sink. But the fans and fins of this heat sink are suspended high off the motherboard by the two brackets and the six heat pipes. This is what lines the fans up perfectly with the heat pipes of the north and south bridge of the ASUS striker II.
The fans are suspended right above them and therefore the two small blower fans the ASUS striker comes with can be removed and then the big blue fan of the heat sink supplies ample amounts of air to the heat pipes. For those of you with very large heat sinks on your RAM and are wondering if your ram is going to fit under the red Orb, I was able to stick a finger between my ram and the bottom of the red Orb. There is about ¾ inch clearance. Also my RAM stick has a small heat sink on it, so those worrying should be safe. One drawback is that in order to set up the initial two mounting brackets, you need to remove the MOBO. But you will find this on any other heat sink with good mounting hardware because the only good way to secure your heat sink is with a nut at the back of the MOBO.
A good way to get around this is to cut a hole in your MOBO tray giving you access to the back side of your MOBO. The tips of the copper fins toward the top of the heat sink don't have much stability as there about 1 ½ inches long. So it’s pretty easy to bump them and bend them out of shape. But it’s also easy to bend them back, just got to get something that is thin enough to fit between the fins to grab and bend the one that’s messed up back into place. The fins more toward the bottom, behind the fans, are very sturdy, but I do suggest holding the heat sink by the metal brace that connects the two orbs together.
The LED lights are a nice touch. The picture there in the dark does not bring out the richness and deep coloring. Both the blue and red lights are very rich in color. Pictured here, they are a little pail and washed out. When you look directly at the top of the fins and the fans, you might think there is not much surface area for heat to be dissipated. But here is a Link (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1748#Tab2) to the Themaltake gallery. You can see that both fans are truly surrounded by fins.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture10watermarked.jpg
Overview
Packaging 8 of 10 Frags: The box it comes in is very stylish and is great at holding the heat sink and hardware, but I really do not like the way that the heat sink is flush up against the outside package. Although it does have a protective film and a thick layer of hard plastic I still would rather it have been slightly recessed.
Features 9 of 10 Frags: I really think it’s brilliant that they have the two fans, one offset to cool your ram.
Style 9 of 10 Frags: The blue and red Orb's are a spectacular sight. There color is rich and vibrant. It would have been nice though if they came in different colors. Even better would be if there was a switch and you would select independently what colors you wanted. Or even the color was controlled by the temperature of your CPU and RAM.
Hardware 9 of 10 Frags: The added bonus of the springs on the setscrew is a sign that you have yourself a high quality heat sink. All the mounting hardware is solid as can be. It was annoying having a bracket that required the motherboard removal to mount it.
Ease of Installation 9 of 10 Frags: I really like that there is only two screws you have to tighten while spreading the thermal paste. The screws also have springs so you're sure to have even pressure across the die. Only difficulty was removing the motherboard to attach the mounting plate.
Performance 10 of 10 Frags: I had to give this cooler 10 of 10 because it brought the idle temp down to two deg above ambient. That will be very important for those of you that leave your machine running all night and day; it helps keep a longer lifespan.
This Product earns a score of 9 Frags out of 10, making it Clan Team Xtreme Approved.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/infectedtagcentred.png (www.clanteamxtreme.com) http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/thermaltakelogolonger.jpg (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1748)
Clan Team Xtreme Writer,
Nicholas Isambert
Today we have the Thermaltake DuOrb here for review. It is one of the most beautiful and eye catching heat sinks available on the market today. This CPU heat sink is the sister of the DuOrb VGA cooler. This version, however, is specifically designed for use with today’s high performance CPU's that put out loads of heat. This model of the DuOrb series sports six heat pips for triple the cooling power compared to its VGA counterpart.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture1watermarked.jpg
Features
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture13watermarked.jpg
● Universal application for Intel (LGA775) & AMD (AM2)
● Fantastic DuOrb series design with Blue-Red LED lights.
● Dual-Flow dissipating not just CPU but system heat by Red-light Orb cooling for RAM
and Blue-Light Orb cooling for CPU
● Magic cooling efficient structure: 6 copper heat pipes, copper fins, and pure copper base providing maximum performance.
● Smart Thermal management
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture12watermarked.jpg
When I first looked at it, the sheer size of the unit really struck me, and I started to think there was no way it was going to fit into my case. Even though I have a full-tower, it’s a very tight fit. When I first handled it, I noticed it is relatively heavy, coming in at 598g, that’s roughly 1.32 pounds.
Packaging and Hardware
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture2watermarked.jpg
If you take a look at the back of the box it gives you a peak at the beautiful array of heat pipes. Although this is very esthetically pleasing, the fragility worries me. Being a very heavy heat sink, not being cautious may easily damage the back side. Six heat pipes in total, this shows a great balance between being able to move a-lot of heat, and being able to move it quickly.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture3watermarked.jpg
When you first get the box open, you’re going to pull out a small white box.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture14watermarked.jpg
I like the way the heat sink is suspended in the middle of the box with the clever use of vacuum formed clear plastic clam shell that snaps together sturdily.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture4watermarked.jpg
The white box houses all the mounting hardware necessary for all supported sockets. The mounting hardware for AMD and Intel are individually packaged in resalable zipper bags. The bags are labeled. One with, LGA775 and the other are labeled AM2. The other has no label but is for the brace that goes across the block pushing it against the CPU. Also the two set screws are included in this bag. Included in the box are the directions for mounting the heat sink.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture5watermarked.jpg
When I pulled off the protective film from the bottom of the heat sink there was a little residue. This shot also gives you a good view of where the heat pipes come into contact with the block. Looks like there is plenty contact area between the heat pipes and the block. The heat pipes exit the heat sink base on opposite ends helping dissipate heat from the CPU more efficiently and evenly. Personally I like this more than having all of the heat pipes coming out of one side because with today’s multi core CPU’s and heat outputs, without even heat dissipation, it is easy to cool one core more than the other resulting in failures or loss of over clocking ability.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture6watermarked.jpg
The residue came off very easily using an ordinary 100% cotton towel. The little specks you can see in the picture are just dust left behind from the towel. This heat sink is very solid, with two braces that hold the weight of the fans and fins and another two braces between the fans holding them together. Add all that plus the strength of the six massive heat pipes and you've got yourself a high quality piece of equipment. You can also see in the picture how each of the fans has only three heat pipes to cool. This gives this heat sink a great advantage over competitors that have 4 to even ten heat pipes. Although they may have more heat pipes, there still is only one fan cooling them.
Ease Of Installation
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture7watermarked.jpg
The mounting hardware works pretty well. After mounting two brackets to your motherboard and applying your thermal paste, the rest of the installation is a breeze. Once the heat sink is in place, you only have two screws to drive in and you are done. This is much better setup rather than the four stock push pins my Q6600 came with.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture8watermarked.jpg
Themaltake went a step further and added springs to the mounting screws. This helps you apply steady and even pressure across the entire surface of the CPU. Setting the top screw is a little difficult because the screw has to be set between the PSU and the
heat sink. If you are able to remove your PSU out of the back of your case you'll be in good shape because that will give you plenty of space to set the screw in perfectly.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture9watermarked.jpg
Installed and fully operational.
The Results'
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture11watermarked-1.jpg
After days of testing I now have the raw data that all of you are probably waiting for!
All test where done with an ambient air temperature of 21.2 degrees Celsius.
Final Thoughts
I really like this CPU cooler because it does so much more than just cool your CPU, it cools the entire area around your CPU. So for those of owning a feature packed motherboard that has heat pipes and heat sinks interconnecting your north and south bridge with your MOSFET heat sinks, this cooler is a must have.
I was a little worried that the fins of my ASUS Striker II Formula's north and south bridge where going to get in the way of this very large heat sink. But the fans and fins of this heat sink are suspended high off the motherboard by the two brackets and the six heat pipes. This is what lines the fans up perfectly with the heat pipes of the north and south bridge of the ASUS striker II.
The fans are suspended right above them and therefore the two small blower fans the ASUS striker comes with can be removed and then the big blue fan of the heat sink supplies ample amounts of air to the heat pipes. For those of you with very large heat sinks on your RAM and are wondering if your ram is going to fit under the red Orb, I was able to stick a finger between my ram and the bottom of the red Orb. There is about ¾ inch clearance. Also my RAM stick has a small heat sink on it, so those worrying should be safe. One drawback is that in order to set up the initial two mounting brackets, you need to remove the MOBO. But you will find this on any other heat sink with good mounting hardware because the only good way to secure your heat sink is with a nut at the back of the MOBO.
A good way to get around this is to cut a hole in your MOBO tray giving you access to the back side of your MOBO. The tips of the copper fins toward the top of the heat sink don't have much stability as there about 1 ½ inches long. So it’s pretty easy to bump them and bend them out of shape. But it’s also easy to bend them back, just got to get something that is thin enough to fit between the fins to grab and bend the one that’s messed up back into place. The fins more toward the bottom, behind the fans, are very sturdy, but I do suggest holding the heat sink by the metal brace that connects the two orbs together.
The LED lights are a nice touch. The picture there in the dark does not bring out the richness and deep coloring. Both the blue and red lights are very rich in color. Pictured here, they are a little pail and washed out. When you look directly at the top of the fins and the fans, you might think there is not much surface area for heat to be dissipated. But here is a Link (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1748#Tab2) to the Themaltake gallery. You can see that both fans are truly surrounded by fins.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/picture10watermarked.jpg
Overview
Packaging 8 of 10 Frags: The box it comes in is very stylish and is great at holding the heat sink and hardware, but I really do not like the way that the heat sink is flush up against the outside package. Although it does have a protective film and a thick layer of hard plastic I still would rather it have been slightly recessed.
Features 9 of 10 Frags: I really think it’s brilliant that they have the two fans, one offset to cool your ram.
Style 9 of 10 Frags: The blue and red Orb's are a spectacular sight. There color is rich and vibrant. It would have been nice though if they came in different colors. Even better would be if there was a switch and you would select independently what colors you wanted. Or even the color was controlled by the temperature of your CPU and RAM.
Hardware 9 of 10 Frags: The added bonus of the springs on the setscrew is a sign that you have yourself a high quality heat sink. All the mounting hardware is solid as can be. It was annoying having a bracket that required the motherboard removal to mount it.
Ease of Installation 9 of 10 Frags: I really like that there is only two screws you have to tighten while spreading the thermal paste. The screws also have springs so you're sure to have even pressure across the die. Only difficulty was removing the motherboard to attach the mounting plate.
Performance 10 of 10 Frags: I had to give this cooler 10 of 10 because it brought the idle temp down to two deg above ambient. That will be very important for those of you that leave your machine running all night and day; it helps keep a longer lifespan.
This Product earns a score of 9 Frags out of 10, making it Clan Team Xtreme Approved.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/infectedtagcentred.png (www.clanteamxtreme.com) http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/biglipzit/Thermaltake%20DuOrb/thermaltakelogolonger.jpg (http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1748)
Clan Team Xtreme Writer,
Nicholas Isambert