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Evercool Transformer 6 CPU Cooler Review

Date Published:
09-11-2008

Written By:
Tulatin

Edited By:
Diceman

Provided By:
Evercool

Where to Buy:
Evercool

Discuss Article:
VH Forum link

Pages: 1 2

Introduction:

Evercool Transformer 6 CPU Cooler

Despite their long history in the industry, Evercool isn't exactly always on the tip of the enthusiast tongue when it comes to the first choices in hardware. That's probably because their claims to fame come in the vein of Foxconn - building plenty of parts for other companies to rebadge. To that extent, most of Evercool's own, named products that most enthusiasts would see are small heatsink kits, intended for cooling chipsets - not exactly an impressive market presence. In that respect, they do have experience catering to the enthusiast

That being said, it's not like Evercool is a fledgling company, either. They've been making Thermaltake's fans for a number of years, as well as providing muscular oxygen movers for quite a number of other companies in the meantime. Even though they are experience, though, I would be inclined to call the Transformer 6 their first real attempt at making a serious mark in the cooling market - and breaking into the big time of Enthusiast fame - something which I hope goes a little better than their forays into the world of watercooling. On the plus side, at least the initial impressions indicate that there's little to nothing to worry about coming down the pipe, build quality wise, but then again, not every company with a good reputation has been proven infallible in past...

Features & Specifications:

Right then. Onto the part of the review in which I quite like to call Control V. Those of you wondering about just what the features, or specifications of this fine product are soon to be appeased. As to the process of getting these, Evercool has a quite well laid out website, with a tasteful flash based front-end - which does take a good long while to load, mind you.

Features

- 6 x Ø6 Heatpipe structure with 3 set of stylish aluminum fin design to provide the Ultimate efficient heat conductivity and dissipation.

- Using 12cm huge fan not only to dissipate the heat from CPU, also reduce the temperature from other components, like the memory and northbridge parts.

- With high and low fan speed control switch and special aseismatic structure to decrease the resonant frequency of the fan.

- The specular effected of SUS 430 stainless case and the transparent Blue color FAN with LED light to perform the workmanship and aesthetics quality.

- All IN ONE design to application for Intel P4 LGA775 & AMD K8 series.

- Easy to install for all users.

Specs

Overall Dimension :	155 x 120 x 140 mm
DC Fan Size :	120 x 120 x 25 mm
Heat Sink Material :	Copper base + Aluminum Fan + Heat Pipe
Bearing Type :	Ever Lubricate Bearing (Long Life bearing)
Rated Speed :	Low:1200 ±10% RPM High :1800 ±10%
RPM Noise Level :	L<23 dBA / H <30 dBA
Rated Voltage :	12v
Weight :	873 g

Oh, a tale which the specs tell - this heatsink is pretty damn large, and pretty heavy to boot. On the plus side, it's rated noise levels are pretty much accurate, with little audible difference between low and high speeds on the fan - which made the included controller feel a little bit like a gimmick. One interesting issue comes in the distribution of the weight however - in such that when the cooler is mounted, the 6 thin heatpipe will be supporting the entire mass of metal, dangling over the rest of your hardware - which is where it's center of gravity will go too. Hopefully, a rough trip won't turn your rig into a scrap bar. With these formalities now out of the way, let's see what we've got!

A Closer Look:

As I'm sure it's been drilled into the lot of you by myself among a million others by now, it's that the first impression of a product means everything. Sitting in an impressively large 6 x 6 x 6" box, Evercool's packaging is fraught with images, bling (in the fact that the box is actually reflective in places), and even a pre-modded in window! Okay, but seriousness aside - getting excited over this packaging is perhaps a step too far; but it is well designed. Considering you see the product in full through the front, the specs on the left side, and the installation guides on the right, users won't even need to see the back to learn of it's features before being impressed. Perhaps the only concern here is how little of the actual frustration of installation is conveyed by the box, though. Still, this sealed black behemoth is a nice touch in a world of minimalism, and packaging designed to one-up the other guy.

An Aerial View

Installation and Features

transforming?

Once the seals are slit, and the top of the box peeled away, the cooler along with an accessory box can be found inside, clamped down in a reusable plastic shell, which keeps everything together nicely. Not seen among the features is the foam block which resided between the fins and base of the heatsink, preventing it from damage should the packaging be unduly compressed. Before taking the tour d'heatsink all too seriously, a gaze inside the accessory box is warranted. Packed away inside here are a set of replacement ears to mount the cooler on the K8-10 platform, as well as a screw-through backplate, and an expanding LGA775 one which features holes for socket 423 and 478 as well... despite the fact that this cooler doesn't support either. It's with these baseplates that this heatsink's chief gripe comes into play - something that will be explored later on in the review. Also found inside this little accessory bundle are a tube of thermal grease, and a fan controller, for slowing down the illuminated fan if need should be.

What a stylish box

It's all here

This plate will haunt you

Accessories aside, it's time to look at the heatsink. As the specifications showed, this beast sizes up at 155x120x140mm, which despite it's clearance from the motherboard, still may run aground with the rest of your case's residents. This cooler is likely something you wouldn't get away with installing inside a cramped chassis. Taking a look at the sink from above, it's one transforming feature - a holographic fan sticker - comes into view, just before the view pans back to see the pair of silk-screened airflow deflectors along the side of the sink - which look quite snazzy I must say. Around the rear of the unit, four of the six heatpipes cross, fitting into opposite bars of fins, while the remaining two rise up to insert themselves in a wide, thick section of fins... which feeds directly from the hot air above. Turning the heatsink over, a rectangular base with rough edges sports a nice polished copper finish, after it' exposed from beneath a protective sticker, laden with more amusing engrish.

Transform to a.... hologram?	Crossing the streams
Shiiiny	From above

Also visible in this area is the fact that the lower assembly of fins is much narrower than the upper assembly, and it also takes the heat from the two pipes directly over the processor cores, under the IHS that is. Due to the heatpipes crossing at the back of the cooler, the base is fairly crooked, and as you saw at the start of the review, this results in a angularly mounted heatsink.

That's.... not good.

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