What's wrong with Thermaltake?

[Hazycrazy]

This is my first post on the Anandtech forums, but I've been reading the site for awhile.

I'm currently upgrading to an AMD Athlon 64 3600+, I've got an MSI Neo2 K8N Platinum, and now I'm looking into CPU cooling solutions. After searching this forum, and a couple others, I gather that everybody loves the Thermalright and Zalman coolers, but then I see a lot of "Just don't use Thermaltake" comments with no facts explaining their statement. I'm considering the Thermalright XP-90, Zalman 7000B, and the Thermaltake Venus 12, right now I'm leaning toward the the Venus because I like the price and after all the money I spent recently on black friday, I would like to save some. The reviews I've read about the Venus 12 are fairly positive and I can't see anything wrong with it. I'm planning to do some OCing on this chip, so I want a good cooler, but I also want to be able to control the volume of the fan when I need to. The Thermaltake Venus presents a pretty good package for that.

Anyways, I've said enough. Your turn, comments, questions?

What's the skinny on thermaltake? (Please back up with facts, not looking for fan boy comments, no offense)

Are there any other budget coolers that are worth checking out?

Thanks for any info you provide.

 

[MegaWorks]

Just ignore them, Thermaltake used to make horrible products but right now they have great heatsinks and computer cases. The Venus is one of the best A64 heatsink for its performance and price, so it's a very good buy.

 

[rammstein junkie]

you mean a 3500+ not a 3600+ right?

 

[Hazycrazy]

Originally posted by: rammstein junkie
you mean a 3500+ not a 3600+ right?

Yeah, typo

Ok, so it is just a reputation problem. Thanks for the input, I'll probably be buying one soon and then it's off to AMD64 world!

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, reputation.

A lot of people find most of their cases to be too gaudy, and the rest of the prodcuts to suffer from the same problem or lack of quality. They make some good quality heatsinks and the Venus 12 is one of them.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: MegaWorks
Just ignore them, Thermaltake used to make horrible products but right now they have great heatsinks and computer cases. The Venus is one of the best A64 heatsink for its performance and price, so it's a very good buy.

Thermaltake still does make horrible products. THere PSUs are extremely underpowered (18A on the 12V rail). ALL of their products are noisy. And they are flashy over quality. Yes i have owned THermaltake before.

As for which HS(F) the Thermaltake isn't even in the same league as the other 2. THe other 2 are WAY better than the thermaltake.

I mean the thermaltake isn't horrible but Thermalright and Zalman are worlds ahead.

-Kevin

 

[Sonic587]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Yeah, reputation.

A lot of people find most of their cases to be too gaudy, and the rest of the prodcuts to suffer from the same problem or lack of quality. They make some good quality heatsinks and the Venus 12 is one of them.

My feelings exactly. I've had some bad experiences with their products, so I never suggest TT if a viable alternative exists. However, this doesn't mean everything they make is bad, but their hit and miss quality makes me want to steer clear of them.

 

[Nickel020]

Thermaltake makes "good" heatsinks while Zalman and Thermalright make "great" heatsinks. Thermaltake hsfs aren't bad, you just get considerably better products for your money.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I can't speak to the "Venus" model. Maximum PC's 2004 "Dream Machine" OC'd a 3.4 processor to just above 3.9 using a ThermalTake "Jungle 512":

http://www.maximumpc.com/featu...eature_2004-08-24.html

I've used their earlier P4 coolers, graduating to the Spark 7 and 7+, and then switched over to a PIPE101 copper ThermalTake heat-pipe cooler.

I meet frequently with people who use the Zalman CNPS-7000-Cu, and have also read reviews that try to quantify performance under strict controls and "ceteris paribus".

The Spark 7+ seems to perform about as well as the Zalman. The PIPE101 may offer a slight edge, but it is not very significant.

The ThermalRight coolers outperform both the ThermalTake's I've mentioned and the Zalman.

I do agree that TT oversells with glitz and appearance, but do not discount them entirely. They keep coming up with new designs and models and what seems to be a monthly basis!

Zalman has countered with an all-copper flower and variation on the CNPS-7000 called the CNPS-7700, which sports a 120mm proprietary fan.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

CAVEATS:

The Spark 7+ is NOISY at the top fan speeds pushing between 5,000rpm and 6,000 rpm.

ThermalRight coolers which I KNOW outperform the PIPE101 are the XP120 and 90 models.

I can offer no opinion about the all-copper ThermalRight heatpipe coolers.

 

[Davegod]

rice over quality; marketing over engineering.

frequently coming out with remarkably similar (but usually lesser and cheaper quality) products a few months after their competitors do.

thermaltake are the DIY wooden spoiler of computing.

 

[MadMan2k]

I bought a thermaltake power supply... got really good review on newegg, and no one seemed to complain about voltages, but it drops down to 11.77 on the 12V line for me.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The PurePower PSU's have anemic amperages on the 12-volt rail, but sufficient to power a system with several fans.

I tried one of them. The voltages seem rock-steady at just over a couple hundredths of a volt beyond a perfect 12 on that rail, around 5.02V on the 5V rail, and 3.29V on the 3.3V rail. And the PSU is still good after more than a year . . . . so . . .

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Actually, I can't imagine what other manufacture ThermalTake "copied" with the Fanless-103.

But I don't have any idea how well a Fanless-103 works, either . . .

 

[chilled]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
ALL of their products are noisy.
-Kevin

My SilentBoost resents you saying that.

TT do produce a load of junk but they do make a few good items as well. Their customer service for me has been second to none though.

BTW, TT get their PSU's from Enlight.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: MadMan2k
I bought a thermaltake power supply... got really good review on newegg, and no one seemed to complain about voltages, but it drops down to 11.77 on the 12V line for me.

Newegg reivews are next to useless....

TT's are just rebadged Enlights, not bad really for a PSU thats included with a case but nothing I would go out of my way to buy.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
I can't speak to the "Venus" model. Maximum PC's 2004 "Dream Machine" OC'd a 3.4 processor to just above 3.9 using a ThermalTake "Jungle 512":

http://www.maximumpc.com/featu...eature_2004-08-24.html

I've used their earlier P4 coolers, graduating to the Spark 7 and 7+, and then switched over to a PIPE101 copper ThermalTake heat-pipe cooler.

I meet frequently with people who use the Zalman CNPS-7000-Cu, and have also read reviews that try to quantify performance under strict controls and "ceteris paribus".

The Spark 7+ seems to perform about as well as the Zalman. The PIPE101 may offer a slight edge, but it is not very significant.

The ThermalRight coolers outperform both the ThermalTake's I've mentioned and the Zalman.

I do agree that TT oversells with glitz and appearance, but do not discount them entirely. They keep coming up with new designs and models and what seems to be a monthly basis!

Zalman has countered with an all-copper flower and variation on the CNPS-7000 called the CNPS-7700, which sports a 120mm proprietary fan.

Zalman's products are all about silent computing rather than performance. You said yourself that the Thermaltake is very loud while performing about the same as the nearly silent Zalman.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Hazycrazy
This is my first post on the Anandtech forums, but I've been reading the site for awhile.

I'm currently upgrading to an AMD Athlon 64 3600+, I've got an MSI Neo2 K8N Platinum, and now I'm looking into CPU cooling solutions. After searching this forum, and a couple others, I gather that everybody loves the Thermalright and Zalman coolers, but then I see a lot of "Just don't use Thermaltake" comments with no facts explaining their statement. I'm considering the Thermalright XP-90, Zalman 7000B, and the Thermaltake Venus 12, right now I'm leaning toward the the Venus because I like the price and after all the money I spent recently on black friday, I would like to save some. The reviews I've read about the Venus 12 are fairly positive and I can't see anything wrong with it. I'm planning to do some OCing on this chip, so I want a good cooler, but I also want to be able to control the volume of the fan when I need to. The Thermaltake Venus presents a pretty good package for that.

Anyways, I've said enough. Your turn, comments, questions?

What's the skinny on thermaltake? (Please back up with facts, not looking for fan boy comments, no offense)

Are there any other budget coolers that are worth checking out?

Thanks for any info you provide.

Thermaltake... their products are generally reliable and good... but NOWHERE near silent. Their HSF sound like leaf blowers most of the time... I used to have a Volcano 6 Cu+... that was LOUD, with a 7000RPM 60mm fan!

 

[xbassman]

The biggest issue IMHO with Thermaltake once you get past asthetics is noise.
They under-rate the noise ratings on their fans horribly.
My son has a new Thermaltake case that uses 2 120mm fans for cooling. According to Tt the fans produce 21db. In reality, They could only get that quiet under lab conditions severly undervolted. Running 12V a better estimate would be >50db.

I can't comment on their power supplies as I have never used one, but I have a SilentBoost that performs well in my HTPC. That sink is well made and had a mirror finish on the base. (Probably even better than the Thermalright's I have, although I won't claim that it's in there league coolingwise)

 

[Corporate Thug]

thermaltake makes over the top looking stuff and some of their stuff isnt original. just look at the Tsunami: they jacked the coolermaster wavemaster and destroyed the simple elegance it had

at first i liked the Tsuami but then i saw it next to the CM, and realized how much better the wavemaster looked

 

[chilled]

Originally posted by: shady06
thermaltake makes over the top looking stuff and some of their stuff isnt original. just look at the Tsunami: they jacked the coolermaster wavemaster and destroyed the simple elegance it had

at first i liked the Tsuami but then i saw it next to the CM, and realized how much better the wavemaster looked

The thing is though some people do buy their cases. If there's a untapped potential market you can bet that most companies would be glad to cater for it.

 

[loic2003]

My first and last experience with thermaltake was with this neat looking 'orb' HS/F for my Athlon 1.33. I can't find a decent picture of it, but this one looks very similar, although a little shorter:

http://www.lost.hr/novi/slike/50ttsuper.jpg

The thing was really tall and used only a single loop of the 3 possible mounting hooks on the CPU mount. After I installed it it worked ok for a couple of days, but then -probably through vibration and the weight/leverage of the thing- it shorted out my brand new CPU. The company that I bought it from had several complaints of the same nature and pulled it off their shelves very quickly. I believe Thermaltake changed the design and made them shorter like the model above, and maybe even adding a sturier mount.

I find thermaltake appeals to the younger customer with flashy lights and bright colours, often putting performance second over 'style'.

I currently am using zalman cooling products and am pretty happy with them, apart from the fan on the GPU cooler fouls the bracker mounting the CPU fan. Basically you can't use the two zalman products in the same machine. not cool.

 

[wkwong]

Originally posted by: xbassman
The biggest issue IMHO with Thermaltake once you get past asthetics is noise.
They under-rate the noise ratings on their fans horribly.
My son has a new Thermaltake case that uses 2 120mm fans for cooling. According to Tt the fans produce 21db. In reality, They could only get that quiet under lab conditions severly undervolted. Running 12V a better estimate would be >50db.

i totally agree. i've read their specs for various products and they all say they are around 20-30 dba but they sound like 40-50 dba when compared to other fans with the same advertised sound level. i don't doubt that their fans move a lot of air, but when it comes down to noise i'd stick with another brand.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: MadMan2k
I bought a thermaltake power supply... got really good review on newegg, and no one seemed to complain about voltages, but it drops down to 11.77 on the 12V line for me.

Newegg reivews are next to useless.....

I agree. Look at this review of a P4EEhere the top review said his beat out an FX-55. I know this has nothing to do with coolers but it shows how worthless those reviews can be.

And like others have said my main gripe with themaltake is how loud they can be. I had an old Volcano 6 and that thing was like a lown mower in noise but cooled pretty good.

 

[Nyati13]

All I can speak for is the TT SilentBoost K8 that I have. It cools more than enough at stock CPU speed, and it is nicely quiet.