The Alpenföhn Wing Boost fan is no stranger to the Vortez test bench, having undergone extensive tests and coming out positively in its 140mm variant. The frame is circular in this case as opposed to the traditional square to make installation easier with 120mm fan clips, despite 140mm fan clips being bundled anyway. Otherwise the two Wing Boost 140mm fans are identical mechanically, operating between 300-1100RPM. The fan frame has a rubberised texture acting as a natural anti-vibration layer. Unlike the Noctua NF-P14, the colour is choice is also more pleasant thanks to its inner white casing and blue blades, although the black and white variant bundled with the K2 still looks better.


At the back of the fan is the logo sticker covering the rotor. The Wing Boost fan features hydraulic bearing with an impressive 100,000 hours lifespan. The frame is supported by four arms.


The fan also features densely woven braided cables with 4 pin connectors for PWM functionality. The cables also feel rubberised. Underneath the braiding, the cables are black and grey so no red, yellow and black cables creating an eye-sore.


The fan clips bundled with the K2 are the same as the ones on the Matterhorn and just as tedious to install. The problem is that when installing the fans inside a case, it was hard to clip the ends into the fan mounting holes and clip the sides into the grooves alongside the heatsink at the same time, without the ends coming out of the fan frame whilst doing so. The only sure way of doing it perfectly is to install the cooler onto the motherboard along with the fans outside the case but then there’s the issue of installing the motherboard back in. A better method would have been to somehow secure the clips to either the heatsink or the fans first prior to actually installing the fans. The other three dual tower coolers have no such issues in comparison.


With the fan installed, the Himalaya is complete. The combination of colours works very well and the fan itself can be adjusted in height so that installation inside cases is made easier. Another two 120mm wire clips are bundled for an additional fan or alternatively 4 140mm wire clips for compatible fans.


Once installed onto the motherboard, the Himalaya actually doesn’t take up much real estate. Instead it towers over everything else, more so than other coolers apart from the Archon. The width of the cooler also means that it doesn’t come into conflict with adjacent expansion devices, especially on the Rampage III Extreme where the top PCIe slot is a fair distant away.


Memory compatibility is a non-issue with the Himalaya, not surprising since that was its main goal. Even with the fan installed, the nearest slot isn’t overhung so all slots can be populated with tall memory modules. Even the Archon may have slight problems in this regard because the wire clips protrude further out than the fan so a thumbs up to Alpenföhn here.