![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Friday , February 05, 2010
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Tuniq Propeller vs. Thermalright Venemous X
Thermalright has been a company name that is synonymous with high end CPU air cooling for years now. Tuniq is one of the newer guys on the block when it comes to the elite heatsink and fan unit. Today we have a showdown of epic proportions, at least to the computer hardware cooling enthusiast. Propeller vs. Venemous X.
Tuniq Propeller 120
The Propeller 120 is Tuniq’s newest heat sink and breaks away from the conventional tower design used by so many others. It uses four 8mm heat pipes to pump the heat away from the CPU before being cooler for a dense array of fins and a blue LED 120mm fan. It is a beautiful cooler but beauty is only skin deep and we want to know how it performs.
Package & Specs
Tuniq boxes their cooler in a very colorful box full of information and pictures. There is no question about compatibility as it is fully listed on the side of the box.
Dimensions: (L)128mm x (W)127.5mm x (H)125mm
Weight: 590g (w/o Fan)
Material: Copper heat pipes & base with aluminum cooling fins
Heat Pipes: 4 - full length, 8mm heat pipes
Compatibility:
- LGA 1366
- LGA 1156
- LGA 775
Intel
- AM2
- AM2+
- AM3
- 940
- 939
- 754
AMD
Fan:
- Size: 120 x 25mm
- Speed: 1000~2000 RPM
- Noise Level: 16~20 dBA
- Max Air Flow: 90.65 CFM
Contents
Tuniq boxes up the accessories of the Propeller 120 very neatly inside a foam box. You are also given a fan controller for the Propeller 120 though it installs in the rear of your PC and will be hard to get at once you finish setting up your machine.
Photos
Here are some various angles of the Propeller 120. Here we can see a good shot of the exposed heat pipes.
Installation & Contact
The Propeller 120 uses an older style mounting system that requires you to tighten four screws to hold the heat sink in place. The problem with this system is that it leaves too much room for error. If you tighten one of the screws too much it doesn’t allow you to fully tighten screw across from it. In fact, despite my experience with these types of units it took me three attempts before I was satisfied with the installation of the Propeller 120. Also, as shown in the image below, the heat pipes from the cooler will encroach as far as the second DIMM slot. This will vary from board to board and RAM to RAM but it is worth noting.
After our third attempt we were able to get solid contact with the CPU. The prior two attempts resulted in extremely poor contact with the CPU.