INTRODUCTION

   It was roughly 2 weeks ago when we announced our plans to focus more in bringing all of you reviews of the latest low-profile CPU Coolers to hit the market and what better way to start than with the brand new and best-selling model by Thermolab that listens to the name ITX30 (available inside the EU under the Cooltek brand name)? Although quite tiny the ITX30 did pack a good punch and managed to come really close to the L9i low-profile CPU Cooler by Noctua in terms of cooling efficiency something which took us by surprise really. Well it seems that Thermolab actually launched yet another low-profile CPU Cooler at the same time as with the ITX30 called the LP53 and yes we've spend quite a bit of time testing it during this past week.

     Cooltek offers you high-quality PC cases and accessories at an outstanding price-performance-ratio. Our products meet internationally recognized quality standards and are distinguished by their durability and exceptional value for money. Our main area of expertise are a broad variety of PC cases, ranging from small HTPC-formats- like the award winning Coolcube family - to full-fledged Midi-Tower chassis that offer outstanding features for small costs. Besides our line of PC cases, we offer you selected products from the areas of noise reduction, PC modding, cooling and high-end power supplies. By choosing Cooltek products you opt for innovative technology and leading designs.

   Although both the ITX30 and the LP53 have the same TDP (thermal design power) of 100W the LP53 is quite taller (53mm as opposed to the 30mm of the ITX30), heavier (410g/300g) and comes with a larger 92mm fan (compared to the 80mm one of the ITX30) so since we don't think that Thermolab does things at random it's obvious that the L53 is placed a tad higher than the ITX30 in terms of cooling efficiency. Aside length and width another thing both coolers have in common is that they are made entirely out of copper something that we don't see much and is certainly a nice touch aside from the fact that it does offer improved heat dissipation compared to aluminum. After doing a quick comparison between both coolers all that's really left is for us to check and see how much better (if at all) the LP53 is compared to the already good ITX30.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Just like with the ITX30 the LP53 arrived inside a plain cardboard box with the company and model names at the top.

The socket compatibility is placed on the right side right above the product measurements.

Possible usages for the LP53 (because of its size) are present on the left side of the box.

As you can see the cooler is covered with two pieces of cardboard and since there's no space for it to move around in the box these do a good job in keeping it safe.

Along with the LP53 you will also get 4 mounting screws and the installation instructions.

THE LP53

As revealed from the box the all-copper LP53 measures 100mm in length, 94mm in width and 53mm in height while it weighs 410g.

The top-down 92mm fan spins up to 2100RPM (+-10%) and produces noise levels of up to 27.1dBA.

Don't know if it's a coincidence or not but the body of the LP53 has a total of 53 copper fins.

Two 6mm all-copper heatpipes leave the copper base of the LP53 and pass through all of its 53 copper fins.

Three small layers of thermal conductive material are pre-applied on the base of the cooler.

Since many of you are certain to wonder we placed the ITX30 right next to the LP53 to show their difference in size.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   As we have stated in the past the Intel I7-3770k system is not placed in our lab and so it's not our primary choice when testing CPU Coolers. Still since HTPC oriented models shouldn’t be used with our overclocked Core I7-3930k we have decided to take this path whenever one such model lands at our doorstep. As always our first concern is ambient temperatures so once again we keep the room temperature to around 21-23 degrees (not really hard but unfortunately not 100% accurate as in our lab) and as always to successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application (for around 6-10 minutes) to push the processor to its limits so we can record its temperatures. After that is done we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure was then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results were off. As many of you have pointed out time and again this procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures are recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler.

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   We placed the ITX30 right next to the LP53 long before we started testing on the 2nd but the difference in size made things really easy for us and so we did expect better cooling results from it. What we didn't expect however was a difference of 6.5 degrees celsius at load which was just enough for the LP53 to also surpass the Noctua L9i and match the performance of the Thermalright AXP100 (it didn't do that much worse compared to the AXP200 either). Of course size alone couldn't have done that so it's quite obvious that the 92mm fan also helped quite a bit and in the process it did become slightly louder compared to the 80mm fan of the ITX30 (although the second spins slightly faster). As for the installation of the cooler well just like with the ITX30 it really couldn't be any easier since you just need to mount the cooler onto the CPU socket, secure it in place with the 4 bundled screws and you're done.

   The LP53 by Cooltek/Thermolab doesn't seem to be available currently inside the USA but it is available inside the EU for a price tag of 36.99Euros (PC-Cooling.de) and since that's actually just a tad higher compared to that of the ITX30 if you can fit both in your PC Case i really see no reason to choose the ITX30. That being said Thermolab is not new in the game so because of its height the LP53 may not fit as easily in every case out there and this is where the ITX30 comes in. Overall although slightly larger the Cooltek LP53 turned out to be a much better CPU Cooler than the ITX30 and that's why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (All Copper)
- Compact Size
- Excellent Performance (For Its Size)
- Low Noise Levels

CONS

- Availability