It was in 2005 when a behemoth was introduced to the enthusiasts to cool down their overclocked CPUs. It was massive, not only in size but also in performance. In the next three years, the Tower 120 was regarded as one of the best air coolers available until the advent of exposed heat pipe heatsinks like the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer and the Xigmatek Dark Knight which both started the HDT (heat pipe direct touch) revolution. There wasn’t really much innovation behind the HDTs except for the fact that instead of using a metal base in contact with the processor’s IHS (integrated heat spreader), the heat pipes are flattened and is in direct contact with the IHS. This allowed the heat to transfer directly into the pipes and in return, transferred into the air via the fins – quite simple and yet, very effective.
Today, we are going to look into the evolution of the Tuniq Tower 120 and like the previous coolers who evolved, the Tuniq 120 Tower also adapted the HDT technology. If the early HDT heatsinks were very efficient in terms of cooling performance, we should be able to expect the same from a veteran who adapted the news on this particular field. We are also going to look into another one of Tuniq’s non tower-based design; the 120 Propeller which also makes use of HDT.
Packaging and Accessories
Both coolers are packaged very nicely, this is I would call double-packaging. The first layer is a black box with handles and a wrapping that contains pictures and specifications of the product inside, the second layer comes with a blister pack and foam inserts. This ensures that the delicate fins stay intact even with the roughest method of delivery.
The accessories are once again packaged in a separate small box complete with foam inserts that protect them from moving about during shipping. Both coolers share the same accessories which contains a back plate for supporting different sockets; Intel LGA775, LGA1153, LGA1366 and AMD AM2, AM3 sockets respectively. The accessories also include a single application Tuniq TX-3, and a fan controller for people who don’t like running the fan at full speed and the noise that comes with it. Let’s take a closer look on the cooler themselves.
Tuniq Propeller 120 Closer Look
The propeller stands at 125mm making it slightly taller than your regular 120mm fan. Its width is at 127.5mm and the length is basically 128mm. There are 4 heat pipes that are connected to blacked nickel-coated aluminum fins that give it, its black appearance. Unlike tower-based coolers, the propeller blows air towards the motherboard like the stock Intel/AMD cooling solution. The base is given an array of fins to support excess heat that are unabsorbed by the pipes.
The base is the heart of the HDT technology and like any HDT solutions out there, the propeller has 4 exposed 8mm copper base which will absorb heat directly from the CPU’s HIS. It is worth mentioning however that if you’re still using an LGA775 system, only the 2 middle heat pipes make full contact and only partial contact from the outer pipes. Given the bigger size of the LGA1156 and LGA1366, the CPU IHS should make full contact on all 4. The Propeller 120 is a complete solution as its own cooling fan comes with it. Capable of 1000-2000 RPM and in return providing 90.65 cfm at maximum speed this should be sufficient enough to disperse the heat transferred through the fins. There are no noise ratings of this fan written on the package, manual or on Tuniq’s website but it was barely audible during my test even if it was running at its full speed.
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme Closer Look
The Tower 120 Extreme’s height is 150mm, making it a tad taller than the propeller. Its length is 131mm while its width is 112mm making it a massive cooling solution unlike no other. The fins and heat pipes are coated in nickel which gives them a distinct black color and because of this nickel coating, the side is a magnet for fingerprints as you can see on the photos but the good thing is that this side is usually not seen the moment the cooler is installed. You might want to take note of the depth that you will be handling when installing the cooler, due to the extreme dimensions used; it’ll be very hard to mount this thing in a chassis.
Unlike the propeller, the Tower 120 Extreme has 5 exposed copper heat pipes which make it a lot better when used with large CPUs. For LGA775, only the 3 inner pipes make full contact with the HIS while the rest doesn’t. With LGA1156 and LGA1366, there shouldn’t be any problem. The last photo will give you an idea as to how massive this thing is, the fins are designed with a rugged alternating look that resembles a scale; this provides air turbulence and theoretically increases the heat transfer between the aluminum fins and air. From this angle, the fan is invisible because its mounted inside the Tower 120 Extreme which emits a cool blue light when running. The fan is rated 1000-2000 RPM and in return providing 90.65 cfm at maximum speed this should be sufficient enough to disperse the heat transferred through the fins. There are no noise ratings of this fan written on the package, manual or on Tuniq’s website but it was barely audible during my test even if it was running at its full speed.
Installation
The installation is probably the biggest let down of this product since there are so many tiny parts involved. The mounting plates also pose incompatibility with certain cases, as such that it isn’t compatible with the motherboard and the chassis that I’m using – Silverstone Fortress FT01, Gigabyte GA EP45-UD3R; because of this, I was forced to test both products in an open test environment which doesn’t reflect real-world temperature.
The Tower 120 Extreme and the Propeller 120 requires a back plate support due to their hefty weight. The Tower 120 Extreme weighs 775 grams without the fan while the Propeller 120 is 590 grams; without the back plate, the motherboard would succumb to the extreme pressure that is brought about by these coolers. The Intel back plates that comes with these coolers supports multi sockets, LGA775, LGA1156 and LGA1366 through their mounting holes. The plate is insulated with a film to prevent the motherboard from shorting out; one will have to remove the motherboard if it is already installed in a chassis for the back plate.
Once the plate is in place, you will to guide the cooler into the screw and attach the spring-supported locking mechanism. Now, this is where the hardest part lies; because both coolers have a huge base to accommodate different sockets, you will have problems mounting the cooler in a LGA775 motherboard because the northbridge heatsink lies a little bit closer to the CPU socket itself than the other newer sockets. Another factor that makes installation of these coolers are its massive size, I would recommend installing the coolers before the motherboard is mounted because there will be much restriction if the board is already in the case. After that, you have to painstakingly access the screws and other connectors to your board, something that is not possible in my case because the heatsink fins prevented me from installing the 2 screws to hold down the motherboard. If you happen to have a removable motherboard tray, installation would be a lot easier but for mini tower chassis, be prepared for a test of patience.
Now that, that is out of the way, we’ll move on to the methods of testing and the results.
Test Method and Results
As I said earlier, the heatsink isn’t compatible on both my motherboard and chassis so I was forced to test the setup in an open environment; temperature readings do not really reflect real-world scenarios as it would be considerably hotter when mounted inside a chassis. A friend of mine stated that one of the hardest components to bench are heatsinks because you need control several factors; ambient temperature, thermal paste application, and overclock settings (voltage and frequency among other things). During the test, the ambient temperature was at 25 degree Celsius, and the test was performed 3 times where they were averaged. To simulate load scenarios, I fired up Prime95 Small FFTs and was set to run for an hour. The thermal paste that was used was Tuniq’ TX-2 using Benchmark Review’s HDT application method.
Conclusion
Tuniq Propeller 120
The Tuniq Propeller 120 is a good-looking cooler; aesthetics-wise, this is a looker despite the fan (due to its super bright blue led) which may not be for everyone, the black nickel-coated aluminum fins and copper heat pipes really look good, though. However when it comes to performance, this cooler may not be for you, especially if you’re a heavy overclocker. I must say, I expected much better results due to the incorporation of the HDT technology with its heat pipes.There is a market for this cooler, though; unlike tower-based heatsinks, the Tuniq Propeller 120 blows air towards the motherboard and then dissipated to the nearby components. This provides airflow to the surrounding voltage-regulator module, the northbridge heatsink and quite possibly the memory which is pretty much not present on traditional tower heatsinks and at stock clocks.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to what the end-user needs, performance is just one factor so if you’re looking for a good-looking cooler that hold up its own, then this is for you. Otherwise, don’t expect massive overclock on this heatsink.
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
Summing up the Tuniq 120 Extreme is quite easy. There’s the awesome performance, the sleek all-black and the rugged-looking fins that makes it badass. In fact, the only thing that I find negative about this product is the installation. If you’re coming from socket LGA775, you will have problems with optimal mounting. No matter how low the northbridge chipset heatsink is, the base of this cooler will interfere, something that will give you headaches if horizontal mounting is needed on your chassis to go with the airflow. Vertical mounting is a workaround but then again, you will lose access to the motherboard screw on that particular area.Then again, Tuniq may have designed this specifically for motherboards with LGA1156 and LGA1366 in mind. Due to the re-design of the socket, there is much better clearance between socket and the northbridge heatsink, heck; most P55 boards no longer have a northbridge heatsink since the chipset is moved down to where the Southbridge chipset used to be. Despite this limitation, I highly recommend the Tower 120 Extreme to any enthusiast who is dreaming of excellent temperature, and as such, I am giving it a special award, My Tech Island style.
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