INTRODUCTION

   Although we're near the end of September and thus the summer season should be long over by now that's not really the case here so with temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celsius it really comes as very little surprise that people are still looking for a good CPU cooler for their systems. It goes without saying that since most consumers place price above performance the most popular solutions currently are air coolers followed closely by AIO liquid coolers but what really took us by surprise is that custom water cooling kits/loops are selling quite well lately (because of that we will bring you yet another such review by the end of this week) probably due to the reduced price gap between them and AIO solutions currently. Today’s review however is about one of the latest non-interference CPU air cooler models introduced by Thermaltake the NiC L32.

     The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   The NiC L32 CPU Cooler by Thermaltake follows the successful path of its predecessors (we had the C5 model with us roughly two years ago) so once again we see a tower heatpipe design with a thin enough profile that offers zero clearance issues with both the mainboard and the RAM modules. Additionally the latest NiC L32 has a TDP (thermal design power) of 180W and comes ready with an 140mm low profile high-speed PWM fan and three 8mm nickel plated copper heat-pipes that come in direct contact with the CPU cover (direct contact heat-pipe technology). It's clear that specs-wise the NiC L32 is not only smaller and lacks the plastic shroud we saw with the C5 model but it also features one fan (the C5 has two in push & pull) and comes with fewer (although thicker) heatpipes so although we're quite curious to see how it does we don't really expect it to surpass its predecessor.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Thermaltake has placed a product image along with their logo, TDP, number of heatpipes and LGA2011 compatibility logo at the front of the box.

The product specifications table is placed on the right side.

At the opposite side we see some of the product features in 11 languages.

All of the features are also listed at the rear along with the socket compatibility and 4 small product pictures.

Inside the box you will find the NiC L32 heatsink, 140mm PWM fan, a set of metal fan mounts, tube with thermal conductive material, installation guide, warranty information and all the necessary backplates and screws needed to install the cooler onto Intel LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2 mainboards.

THE NIC L32

The heatsink of the NiC L32 is 160mm height, 150mm in width and 40mm in length.

The body of the NiC L32 is made by a total of 50 aluminum fins.

Part of the fins is turned inwards to keep air from leaking from both sides.

You can place a second thin 140mm fan at the rear of the heatsink in push & pull.

The three 6mm copper heatpipes are nickel plated and pass through all 50 fins of the heatsink.

Well this isn't the first time we see direct contact heat-pipes so no mirror like finish for the L32.

The 140mm PWM fan can spin up to 1800RPM to produce 104.4CFM of airflow with 38.4dBA of noise.

With the 140mm fan installed the NiC L32 is now 65mm thick.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. Single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded 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 is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were 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. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   It didn't take long for us to see that the NiC L32 wouldn't be able to outperform the NiC C5 which we reviewed long ago (actually it just too me a couple of seconds to check the picture on the box) but in the end that doesn't really matter much since in our book CPU coolers like the non-interference line by Thermaltake are more about size and easy installation and not so much about performance. Of course the NiC C5 did perform extremely well but it featured a larger heatsink and ontop of that it came ready with two 120mm fans which made it almost twice as thick compared to the L32 model (100mm vs 65mm). The 140mm fan is also quieter compared to the two 120mm fans of the C5 so although you're obviously not getting the same cooling performance you are getting a smaller and less noisy CPU cooler. The only slight issue (not really a drawback) i can see with the NiC L32 (that is if the price is right) is that Thermaltake only bundles one set of fan mounts and so if you decide to add another one in push & pull you will need to go to extra lengths in order to get another set.

   Price is the next thing i wanted to check after finishing all tests and it seems that the NiC L32 CPU Cooler is priced quite right since it currently retails for just USD34.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for around 45Euros inside the EU. The NiC C5 on the other hand still costs quite a bit more (roughly 40% more) so although an better CPU Cooler across the board still i don't expect most regular consumers to go so high. Once again Thermaltake has released a good product in the market which may not win any performance awards but it does offer good cooling performance, zero clearance issues and a good price tag and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Good Performance
- Zero Clearance Issues
- Can Add a Second Fan
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- None