Thermalright AXP-100 Low-Profile Review
Published by Marc Büchel on 09.05.13Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| With the AXP-100, Thermalright shows a perfectly manufactured and beatifully crafted low profile cooler. The fact that the block measures only 44 millimeters in height makes it compatible to all HTPCs cases as well as small desktops. From such a compact cooler one shouldn't expect miracles in terms of cooling performance. Never the less it is still sufficient to keep a powerful desktop CPU at reasonable temperatures. | - Dimensions | ||
| Installation | + | - | |
| The installation process could be easier and it can take you quite some time until the AXP-100 is safely mounted on your CPU. We recommend to follow the instructions in the manual and not just take all the parts out of the different bags and start putting things together. It's quite likely that you'll used the wrongs screws in different places, when doing it this way. What would be helpful for example was if Thermalright put stickers on the different bags, when tell what bag to open for which CPU or socket. Thermalright provides mounting brackets for all recent Intel and AMD sockets which makes this cooler a good allrounder. | - Compatible with Intel and AMD sockets | - Circumstantial mounting process | |
| Performance | + | - | |
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During our tests we used the fan that was in the delivery, which when driven at 12 Volt produces a noise level that is subjectively loud. Using an adapter and regulating the voltage to 7 Volt made the noise level drop to subjectively silent. At 12 Volt and 2400 rotations per minute we measured 72°C core temperature, which is a good result for a low profile cooler but it comes at the cost of high operating noise. Driving the fan at 7 Volt and 900 rotations per minute made the core temperatures increase to 83 °C which is about the limit for long term use. Since a cooler gets dusty quite quickly and the temperatures start to rise there is some headroom left until a CPU would start throttling (down clocking). |
- Sufficient cooling capacity | - Not suitable for overclocking - Loud at 12V | |
| Recommendation | + | - | |
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If you're looking for a capable cooler for you HTPC build or a small form factor desktop PC, then the AXP-100 from Thermalright is a good choice. These days you can get this cooler for CHF 48.- (est. EUR 40.-). |
- Desktop-PC - HTPC |
- Gamer - Overclocker |
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Author: Marc Büchel m.buechel@ocaholic.ch Luca Rocchi l.rocchi@ocaholic.ch
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