Just over an inch directly above the screws

    I wasn’t about to install the cooler before getting back to Canada, the heft (813 g (28.70 oz)) of the cooler is enough to give serious concern about damaging a motherboard if jostled around. Once I got home though, I went about installing the heat sink, and that’s where I came into the first of many problems.

    I have a Lian-li PC-V1000 for my main computer case, I personally think it’s the best case I’ve ever seen. Before I got the Big Typhoon, I also thought it was extremely roomy and easy to work with. The Big Typhoon scoffed at this idea; it was physically impossible to install the heat sink with the motherboard already inside the case. The 120mm fan was literally touching the separator wall in-between the power supply and motherboard sections (which is upside down on the Lian-li compared to most cases).

    So I went through the task of removing all the power and data cables, video/sound/tuner cards and took the motherboard out. While the Big Typhoon comes with a copious amount of different brackets, you only need 1 bracket and 2 screws to connect to a Socket 939 motherboard, as they have their own back plates. There is no extra systems designed to give you an idea of how well you have installed the heat sink.

    The real problem however, is that it is nearly impossible to actually get at the screws to tighten them in the first place. The heat sink fins stick out over top of the screws, such that any screwdriver is going to be at such an angle that it skips out of the grooves and is extremely difficult to tighten down.

   The fins and fan of the typhoon also can block connectors on a motherboard, the 4 pin power connector on my Asus A8V Deluxe was almost completely blocked off. I was forced to feed the connector in by holding the wires then pushing the rest of the way with a screwdriver.

Testing:

   All these problems could be forgiven if the performance of the cooler had been above average in its performance. I was disappointed to find that the Big Typhoon, had almost no change in temperatures from the stock cooler. I did see roughly 2 degrees cooler at idle, however during the various burn-in tests and gaming the maximum temperature was virtually identical, even going a degree higher at times.

    During the course of my testing, I reseated the CPU 3 times, in an attempt to get a fair indication of the temperatures. Even though the temperatures remained constant each of the 3 times, I am of the opinion that a better method of attachment would yield better results. I’ve seen reviews of the Big Typhoon where they are showing 5 and 6 degrees cooler (albeit the reviews were with CPU’s that were much hotter to begin with). So it might be a case that it is better suited for different socket types that are generally warmer.

    I originally intended to have multiple CPU comparisons for even better results. I just could not justify the time I would have to spend installing the heat sink again. It was that much of a pain to install and remove. The one good thing I do have to say about the cooler, it’s claims of near silence aren’t a lie. While doing some testing, I removed my graphics card (Gainward 6800GT) and when I started up, I had to look twice to realize it was on.

Conclusion:

    I did not start out disliking this heat sink, as I said, I’ve owned many Thermaltake products before and they’ve all been well designed and easy to install.

    The Big Typhoon to me, seemed to be designed to feed the desire to have heat pipes and the biggest fan possible. I don’t know what they used to install this heat sink on the testing room floor at Thermaltake, but even an Allen key wrench with a Phillips head was too long to not hit the fins. If there was an easier method to install the heat sink, one that didn’t require removal of the motherboard, and one that made it easy to determine the correct pressure, it would be a heat sink I would recommend for anyone looking to have a very quiet PC.

   I know I’m not going to make any friends with this review, but I think everything I have said has been the truth, and I would like to state that I still think Thermaltake can make some very high quality hardware, but the Big Typhoon seems like a rushed marketing job.

Send any questions or comments to Millsy