The Triglav is a very unique and interesting concept by Alpenföhn. On the face of it, it borrows heavily from previous coolers by them such as the fin design being reminiscent of the Matterhorn, and the HDC Technology being akin to that employed on the Nordwand. In some ways, the Triglav is the culmination of some of the best features from different heatsinks. Where it differs is its use of three 10mm heat pipes, a first in the industry. The choice to opt for this over more conventional four or six heat pipes is questionable at first but when we look at the Triglav, it starts to make sense. Three heat pipes allow the heatsink to be much narrow that typical heatsinks, thus saving space and ensuring memory compatibility. You could argue that Thermalright managed to achieve the same thing but with all 6 heat pipes present in the Archon, but we have to remember that the latter was extended in all other dimensions. The Triglav on the other hand is a more compact package. Three heat pipes also reduce costs making the Triglav a more affordable option. But the question is whether the design has sacrificed performance and whether the 10mm diameter is enough to alleviate any potential limitations.

The answer unfortunately isn’t a simple yes or no. Starting with the CPU at stock speed, we see some very impressive results from the Triglav. It may not be amongst the best but it easily challenges more expensive coolers like the Thermalright HR-02, Coolink Corator DS and even Alpenföhn’s own Matterhorn. With different fans, it proved to be on par with Antec ALC units that easily cost twice as much in the case of the KÜHLER H2O 920. However, when we turn our attention to overclocked results, the Triglav begins to fall behind suggesting that the design becomes a limiting factor. My hypothesis is that heat isn’t being transferred and dissipated onto the fins as effectively as other heatsinks with higher heat pipe counts. This could also explain the marginal gains when selecting two fans.

What about the Triglav’s other attributes? Aesthetically, it is a very nice looking cooler and the purple LED adds a nice touch. Its compact form factor ensures compatibility with all memory module sizes and installation is a very simple procedure. It was refreshing to see Alpenföhn opt for their old mounting mechanism over the one employed by the Matterhorn. The fan is also reasonably quiet at full speed, not much different from Noctua’s NF-P12s in fact.


One downside is price. At an RRP of 40 Euros or £35 here, one particular cooler stands out its main competitor, the Thermaltake Frio. The reason we haven’t previously mentioned it in the analysis is simply because the Frio is a much better performer competing with higher end coolers rather than mid-range ones. With a street price of around £40, it’s the obvious choice for anyone on the market for a cooler in this price bracket. The Triglav, despite its many attributes fails to compare performance wise. Ideally it would have to be £20-£30, closer to the likes of the Coolermaster 212+.

On the whole, Alpenföhn have done a decent job with the Triglav. I must admit that I was not keen on the 3 heat pipe design at first but its performance proved to be much better than I expected. For anyone searching for a quiet and aesthetically pleasing cooler and isn’t interested in overclocking, the Triglav is definitely worth a look.



The Alpenföhn Triglav deserves our Vortez Bronze Award and gets our seal of approval.



Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.