Tuniq stated from the start that the \\\"Performance King\\\" was back and knowing their work ethic, I had no doubt about that. Still, it\\\'s nice to see that the tests carried out can further contribute to their claims. Funnily enough, I haven\\\'t emphasized the best thing about this cooler but this will follow all in a good time. Looking at the performance, the cooling potential of the Tower 120 Extreme outclasses all its competitors at both 2.66 GHz and 4 GHz. The efficiency of the cooler through the use of the bent fin design, the Direct Core Contact technology, the 5 U-shaped heat pipes and the fiery fins, is reflected very well in the results.
We can\\\'t help but compare many of its features with the Alpenföhn Nordwand, with which it shares many similarities. Tuniq still utilizes the same twin tower design as the original \\\'Tower\\\' with the fan sandwiched in the middle, what classifies the \\\"Extreme\\\" can only be denoted through efficient engineering. At the current time of writing, we are not sure what the relationship between the two companies are but this shouldn\\\'t affect any purchasing decisions.
Now for the best attribute of the cooler, the price. At a mere street price of £29.99 you will be hard pressed to find and cooler cheaper as well as better than the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme. Not only is it questioning our need to spend vast amounts on cooling solutions but it massively narrows our search for the best balanced cooler in terms of price/performance/noise. And at that price, it does not compromise its cooling efficiency one bit, out rivalling the much more expensive Noctua NH-U12P and even the CoolIT All Liquid Cooling system. The only niggle that might be found is the noise at full speed but I found the medium speed setting to be a sweet spot generating much lower noise levels anyway, without sacrificing much in terms of cooling performance.
Pros:
[+] Best performer in our round-up
[+] Aesthetically very pleasing and a unique design
[+] Cool blue fan
[+] Fan controller included
[+] Compatibility with most socket types*
[+] Includes the award winning TX-3 thermal paste
[+] Price
[+] Very quiet at low-medium fan speed
Cons:
[-] The fan motor is fairly audible at the highest fan speed
[-] The size of the cooler makes screwing it on difficult
UPDATE: Tuniq now have the new LGA1156 compatible back plate listed on their site so future revisions of the cooler will be compatible with the new Core i7/i5/i3.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme earns itself the Vortez Hardware Gold Award.
I would like to thank Tuniq for providing us this sample. To discuss this product further, please visit our forums.
We can\\\'t help but compare many of its features with the Alpenföhn Nordwand, with which it shares many similarities. Tuniq still utilizes the same twin tower design as the original \\\'Tower\\\' with the fan sandwiched in the middle, what classifies the \\\"Extreme\\\" can only be denoted through efficient engineering. At the current time of writing, we are not sure what the relationship between the two companies are but this shouldn\\\'t affect any purchasing decisions.
Now for the best attribute of the cooler, the price. At a mere street price of £29.99 you will be hard pressed to find and cooler cheaper as well as better than the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme. Not only is it questioning our need to spend vast amounts on cooling solutions but it massively narrows our search for the best balanced cooler in terms of price/performance/noise. And at that price, it does not compromise its cooling efficiency one bit, out rivalling the much more expensive Noctua NH-U12P and even the CoolIT All Liquid Cooling system. The only niggle that might be found is the noise at full speed but I found the medium speed setting to be a sweet spot generating much lower noise levels anyway, without sacrificing much in terms of cooling performance.
Pros:
[+] Best performer in our round-up
[+] Aesthetically very pleasing and a unique design
[+] Cool blue fan
[+] Fan controller included
[+] Compatibility with most socket types*
[+] Includes the award winning TX-3 thermal paste
[+] Price
[+] Very quiet at low-medium fan speed
Cons:
[-] The fan motor is fairly audible at the highest fan speed
[-] The size of the cooler makes screwing it on difficult
*Despite Alpenföhn using the same mounting mechanism and reassuring future compatibility with LGA1156 through an adapter kit, there has been no words from Tuniq on where they stand on this issue.
UPDATE: Tuniq now have the new LGA1156 compatible back plate listed on their site so future revisions of the cooler will be compatible with the new Core i7/i5/i3.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme earns itself the Vortez Hardware Gold Award.
I would like to thank Tuniq for providing us this sample. To discuss this product further, please visit our forums.
