Cooler Master V8 Review
gotdamojo06 - October 2, 2008Category: CPU Cooling
Price: TBA
» Discuss this article (18)
Introduction:
Have you been looking for a new cooler for your processor? Are you big into overclocking and you want the most efficient way to cool your overclocked dual or quad core CPU? Maybe you are not ready to venture over into the side of extreme cooling, and want to stick with air cooling. If so, you are in luck, Cooler Master has just released their V8 CPU Cooler. This cooler is like nothing else that is currently out on the market. Its huge (No surprise there), can be used with multiple platforms (LGA775, AMD 754,939,940and AM2), and looks like it can cool anything you can throw at it with 180 watts worth of capacity. The Cooler Master V8 Cooler features four separate fin arrays with a center mounted fan to maximize it's cooling abilities. I am interested to see exactly how well this cooler works and how well it's going to cool an overclocked Intel quad-core CPU. Will it be the one to finally pull the TRUE off it's pedestal and become the new king of the hill, or will it be another pretender with high expectations?
Closer Look:
The packaging for the cooler is very simplistic in looks, as it is completley black in color with a very limited amount of words and pictures, letting the consumer know exactly what they want to know about the cooler. The front of the packaging is where you to find the main picture of the Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler, along with the Cooler Master badge in the upper left hand corner of the package. At the bottom of the package the V8 logo appears, along with the slogan "Experience the power of V8," letting you know that the cooler is very powerful. Above the slogan, you are also going to see that the cooler is rated to cool 180W, more than enough for your overclocked CPU! When you take a look at the back of the cooler you'll find all of the specifications for the Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler, along with the main features Cooler Master wants you to know about. The two sides of the V8's packaging are very simple--they show the V8 logo as well as a small picture of the cooler itself. Below the logo on the sides are the logos for the processors that it has been rated to cool. Well, enough talk about the packaging, let's open her up and see if she's a beauty like the box makes her out to be.
Now that we have seen the package for the Cooler Master V8, I am interested in seeing how the cooler was kept in place during the shipping process, and what she looks like. When you open the package up, the cooler is in a molded plastic package to keep it from moving around during the shipping process, as well as to help prevent any fins from being damaged. Included with the cooler are the warranty card, a user manual and an accessory box.
Inside of the white accessory box, you find everything that is needed for the installation of the Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler. You may be wondering what comes in that package. Well, when you open it up, you are going to see that there is a back plate for the Intel Socket 775 CPU, one of the more common CPU sockets on the market right now, and there is a bag that contains everything else that you are going to need. Inside of this bag, you are going to find another smaller bag that contains all of the screws/bolts to mount the cooler with, a tube of thermal paste, two mounting brackets for the Socket 775, as well as the mounting bracket and back plate for the AMD side of things.
Now that we know exactly what the Cooler Master V8's package looks like and what comes packaged with it, we are ready to take one of the first looks at the Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler.
Cooler Master V8 Review
gotdamojo06 - October 2, 2008» Discuss this article (18)
Closer Look:
When we get the Cooler Master V8 pulled out of its packaging, you'll notice that it is very large, as well as very complicated looking. The front, as well as the back, look very similar. The two sides of the cooler look very similar to each other, also. Taking a look at the front and the back, you are able to see that the cooler is made up of four different aluminum fin arrays, which will allow more room for heat to be removed from the processor. You can also see that there is a 120mm fan located in the center of the cooler to help cool the fins from the center. When you take a look at the two sides of the cooler, you see exactly how the different fin arrays are set up to create a very fine space for air to be pulled or pushed out from. From this side, you are also able to see how the heatpipes are set up. There are two going to the fin arrays off to the side, and four going to the two inner fin arrays.
The top of the cooler has a large black piece of plastic that covers the entire top, this is to help keep the air flowing in the direction that it needs to, as well as to keep the center fan in place. The Cooler Master badge is in the center, with the V8 logo off to the bottom. The way it's setup makes it look like the plastic protective covers over modern day motors in cars, hence the name, V8. The bottom of the cooler is where all of the heatpipes connect to the base, as well as where the mounting brackets are screwed in. The base of the cooler looks very flat and has been polished.
The next part of the cooler that I want to take a nice good look at is the active cooling solution, the large 120mm fan and it's housing. There are four screws with an alan wrench hole on them to remove the housing. Once you have it removed, you can tell that the fan is held in place from the top, which makes sure that it will not move out of the way during operation, maintaining a very steady airflow. There are two different wires coming from the fan. These two wires are the power wire, which is in the 4-pin PWM configuration. There is also a fan controller that is attached directly to the fan. The fan is a Cooler Master A12025-20RB-4DP-F1 and colored black with red LEDs, which is a different choice than other heatsinks that are out there, not better, not worse.
When you remove the fan and the mounting hardware for it, you can see the overall heatsink design quite a bit better. There are two tall towers that are positioned upright with six of the eight heatpipes going directly to these towers. There are two more heatsink arrays that are set out behind the first two in a 90 degree angle, creating a netting look when viewed from the side. The two side heatsinks have two dedicated heatpipes delivering the heat from the processor.
Now that we know exactly what the heatsink looks like and it's overall design, it's time to take a look at what the specifications of this monster are!
Cooler Master V8 Review
gotdamojo06 - October 2, 2008» Discuss this article (18)
Specifications:
| Socket Type | Intel: LGA775 |
| Heatsink Material | Pure Copper heatpipes & Base; Aluminum Fins |
| Heatsink Dimensions | 120 x 128 x 158mm |
| Heatsink Heatpipes | 8 |
| Fan Dimensions | 120 x 120 x 25mm |
| Fan Speed | 800-1800RPM (10% Varrance) |
| Fan Bearing Type | Rifle Bearing |
| Fan Noise Level | 17~21 dBA |
| Fan connector | 4 pin PWM |
| Fan Colr | Black |
| Total Weight | 865g |
Features:
- Powerful V8 Engineering Design: Cooler Master's V8 engine generates enough horsepower to cool any high-performance CPU
- Optimized Cooling Technology:
- 4 separate modular sets of Aluminum fins create a large heat dissipation surface for unsurpassed cooling performance
- 8 heatpipes maximize heat transfer
- Center mounted 120mm fan ensures huge airflow over the heatsink
- Perecision Control:
- Adjustable PWM fan seed control, using a VR control in the back of the chassis, enables fan adjustments from 7V to 12V
- Quiet Operation at 17~21 dBA
- 180W Cooling Solution
Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q3 2008
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cooling | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Wednesday, 08 October 2008 | |
| Page 4 of 19
Cooler Master V8Challenging a new generations of PC mod-ding, the Cooler Master V8 revs up ahead with its tough guard cooling engine. Superior in its design, this wicked-fun V8 monster has enough horsepower to out-perform its duties with any high-performance CPU while under the most critical heat conditions. On top of its stylish finish, the V8 Cooler has quite some rich features. For heat dissipation it is supported with it's smart 180W cooling solution. Modularized by 4 separate set of aluminium fins and linked by 8 diagonal up-rise heat pipes, the V8 structural design allows speedy heat transfer to a large heat dissipation surface. Another excellent key feature of the V8, is its precision fan control. The V8 is compatible with all current CPU sockets, and provides unsurpassed cooling performance. Cooler Master covers all the bases with their products, and in regards to CPU coolers they offer everything from stock direct-replacement coolers to full-size kits. The Cooler Master V8 is a perfect example of the extreme end of system cooling, and offers six nickel-plated heat-pipes spanned out from each side of the polished mounting base. Because of the large size and heavy component weight, Cooler Master uses aluminum fins paired with a single sandwiched 120mm fan to deliver high-performance cooling. Backplates are included for all modern CPU sockets, including the upcoming Intel Core i7 socket LGA1366. The bolt-through kit ensures that the V8 receives optimal contact pressure with the CPU, and delivers the best performance as a result. Looking at the underside of the V8 cooler, there are two heat-pipes connected to three different fin-sink panels on each side of the cooling fan. The RR-UV8-XBU1-GP kit comes with a decent stock cooling fan with red LEDs imbedded, but once you remove the four allen-head screws from the retaining cap the fan options open up. Cooler Master includes a fan speed-controller with the RR-UV8-XBU1-GP kit, however Benchmark Reviews tests the V8 cooler with a direct and unrestricted power connection. Once we substituted the stock fan with a Yate Loon D12SH-12 unit, the performance was quite impressive. RR-UV8-XBU1-GP Specifications
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