Alpenfohn Himalaya 2

[testman78]

Introduction

German Cooling solutions manufacturer Alpenfohn have continued the trend of naming their CPU coolers after famous mountains.This time added to its line of CPU coolers the Himalaya 2,a 6-pipe single slim-tower cooler.The Himalaya 2 takes its name from the famous mountain range separating the Indian Subcontinent from the rest of Asia.The cooler's 146mm-wide and 52-mm deep heatsink takes up little space in your case,leaving room for all RAM slots, even with the use of RAM heatsinks,and is connected to a copper contact plate by 6 recurved heat pipes.



Its mounting is compatible with a variety of sockets including 2011, 1366, 115x, 775, AM3(+), AM3, AM2(+), AM2, FM1 and FM2.The ideal performance of the Himalaya 2 is ensured by using the new 140mm WingBoost2 premium fan that come with the cooler.In enthusiast circles Alpenfohn have already earned a reputation for solid build quality and striking aesthetics so let's see how all this promise translates to real world performance.




Packaging,Contents & Fan

Keeping in theme with their naming scheme,the black&white box depicts the mountains.We get a partial glimpse of the product through the plastic window.



The back of the box uses Alpenfohn's traditional mountain and flower branding.



The side details some of the key features including heatpipe direct contact.



The side has the same specifications i included in the introduction.



There is a tonne of accessories included.Firstly we have a manual, some thermal paste and fan clips for 2 fans- the maximum this cooler supports.Then we have an assortment of brackets and a backplate.Finally we have a variety of knuts, bolts, screws and spacers for mounting to all the various sockets.



The included fan is also a new generation of the award winning Wingboost series.Called Winboost 2,it features a completely redesigned fan blade and excellent hydraulic bearing. These new approaches have not only increased the performance of the fan, but also reduced the overall noise level. Thanks to the PWM connectivity, the fan is able to rotate between 400 and 1.100 RPM depending on CPU load.



The fan features a unique cable splitter dubbed the plus-function. This gives the option to control an additional PWM fan with one PWM header on the motherboard.



Many users ask themselves what are WingBoost's?WingBoost's are ridges on the impeller that guide the air on the air-inlet side of the impeller.Using the WingBoost 2 technology air turbulences are reduced wich leads to a lower noise level at full speed.



Alpenfohn has also managed to increase the static pressure of these fan, thanks to the new design, while also ensuring utmost compatibility with the inclusion of 120 mm mounting holes. The Wingboost 2 fan rotates at a maximum of 1.100 RPM, with 19 dB(A) and an impressive 109 m3/h.




A Closer Look

The Alpenfohn Himalaya 2 is a single tower design.The cooler is also slighty off center, which should give a bit more clearance near the DIMM slots.



Unlike previous Alpenfohn coolers the Himalaya 2 does not have any branding at the top.We can see the heatpipes pass all the way through the top of the Himalaya 2 to help ensure the best heat dissipation possible.The fin is very reflective and prone to finger prints.



The heatsink consists of 40 fins.The distance between the aluminum fins was chosen so that the cooler provides a well above-average performance, even at lowest fan speed.The sides are also opened.



These not only increase turbulence to improve thermal transfer efficiency but also add to the visual appeal of the cooler.The heatsink has an interesting spacing design with clusters of four fins.



The Himalaya 2 sports six 6mm U-shaped heat pipes all connected directly to the copper base.These are bent in different shapes to produce three rows of heat pipes.The heatpipes are of course soldered to the base with no visible gaps.



The "spaghetti junction" of heat pipes.They arranged in a U-shaped, zig-zag array which is divided into different sections of the fins stack ensures even distribution of heat out of the CPU.



The base plate has a small bit of a textured surface to it and as we can see it is reflective but not quite mirror-like.




Installation Process

Initially when gazing on all the screws and bolts inside the packaging I thought the installation may have been difficult, but it was actually very straightforward.The whole process is kept easy by the well written guide,which will ensure that even inexperienced users won’t have too many problems.First you get the backplate out and figured out which side and holes you will need to match with the CPU socket you will be installing it on.



Once you know which holes you need you can take the corresponding screws and push them through the backplate.



Next you will go ahead and push the screws through the back of the motherboard and secure them into place with the included pillars.



Depending on how you want the fan to place you can set the brackets on top of 2 of the screws and secure it with the included nuts.Please note the arrows on the bracket itself that should be pointing towards the CPU socket.I recommend installing the cooler in a direction that the mounted fan blows the air to the back wall of your computer case to support an optimal airflow.



Once the mount is securely in position, thermal paste is to be applied to the CPU and the tower placed into position.



Once that is done you can secure the fan to the cooler with the included retention clips.




Installed - Memory Clearance

Even with large heatshink rams installed there's still plenty of clearance between the rams and the fan. Mission accomplished.





Test System & Methology

Test System:

Processor: Intel Core i7 3570k-4.5GHz (1.35v)
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
Memory: 16GB Mushkin
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 6970
Power Supply: Antec HCG 750W
Boot Drive: Ocz Vector
Storage Drive: 3TB Seagate Barracuda
Boot Drive: Ocz Vector
Chassis:dimastech Bench Table Easy V2.5



Software:

CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
Prime95 v27.1

I am testing the performance as follows:

Ambient temperatures are kept at 23C throughout my tests.
The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
Load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes.
To measure noise levels i disable the two front in-take fans, rear exhaust and GPU fan.

On the following pages you'll have the opportunity to read what Alpenfohn Himalaya 2 is capable of.


Results-Temperature

Firing up my test,Alpenfohn's Himalaya 2 begins to show what it is made of by beating the Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 at Idle.During the load test,Alpenfohn's Himalaya 2 manages to beat Noctua's NH-U14S air cooler.




Results-Noise Level

The Alpenfohn Himalaya 2 delivers great results proving that it is well suited to those users who are looking to built a very quiet system.Achieving a sub-44 db(A) system noise output with the Alpenfohn Himalaya 2 installed is an impressive result.




Conclusion

I’ll be honest,I didn’t expect the Himalaya 2 to perform the way it did. Whatever techniques Alpenfohn have utilized to get this kind of performance out of this single tower cooler were totally worth it.Himalaya 2 is able to handle high-voltage overclocks and deliver on the promise of tall RAM compatibility, especially on X79 systems where both sides of the CPU socket are flanked with DIMM slots.The cooling performance i recorded in my tests was very impressive, outpacing the comparison models by a small margin.It also excelled in the acoustic test,in which it proved to be very quiet indeed.Alpenfohn did not provide an extra fan for push/pull testing but to be honest i only found that we only gained a 1-2 C better cooling performance,so with a little extra noise and cost I wouldn’t bother adding a second fan.



The design is clever and the materials and quality of finish are exemplary.The mounting mechanism used by Alpenfohn is also one of the best out there and makes it simple to install,even for the most inexperienced of users.The build quality and the bundle are typical of what enthusiasts have come to expect from Alpenfohn with excellent fan and full accessory kit for out of the box use.For a top performance against single-tower coolers and competitive performance against dual-tower coolers,the Alpenfohn Himalaya 2 earns my “Great Performance” award.The Himalaya 2 is well suited for silent PC builds as well as high end overclocking on air,depending on configuration.Priced at 43.99 British Pounds in the UK http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-046-AL&campaign=pcm/skinflint-couk&campaign=pcm/skinflint-couk,i think Himalaya 2 is reasonably priced for such a flagship product.It cleaned the floor with a range of coolers which are in the upper regions of between 50-60 British Pounds.