OC3D Review: OCZ Gladiator MAX CPU Cooler

[JN]

"H.D.T Technology, vector fins, four oversized heatpipes and a Skt1366 kit should ensure our toasty i7 920 keeps cool. Find out how we get on in our latest review..." - By Richard Weatherstone

OCZ Gladiator MAX CPU Cooler

 

[premiumgfx]

The Gladiator looks like a solid performer. Great review.Has anyone patented HDT technology? I've seen some Xigmatek CPU coolers which use it too.

 

[w3bbo]

Xigmatek were the first to use it iirc.

 

[monkey7]

Hmm direct heatpipe touch :') Any chance of comparing it with the noctua U12P 1366 or a TRUE w/ bolt thru?

 

[w3bbo]

I have a Noctua sat next to me but it isn't a review item sadly.

 

[WC Annihilus]

Xigmatek were the first to use it iirc.

Wrong actually. First to use it were Zaward. It's just that Xigmatek was the one to take it and really run with it.

Looks like a solid cooler. Shame they didn't bring in the dimpled fin design of the Vendetta series

 

[Sihastru]

Great review!

I would have liked a comparison with the Vendetta 2 actually. For some reason I expect the Vendetta 2 to perform better, just because the way the heatpipes are arranged. The 3 heatpipes of the V2 will all make contact with the CPU HS, and more to the center of it, while in the case with 4 heatpipes the 2 on the edges will not be such a great addition, making contact with the outer edges of the HS.

Correct me if I'm wrong. 8mm vs. 6mm heatpipes do make a big difference though.

 

[soapsupah]

i vote aswell for a comparison someday, but right now, it looks pretty good, and for some reason when i look at it, i feel its pretty solid, no flimsy blades from the heatsink, but anyways that's just a pic. another question, is it alot smaller than the true or is the dfi mobo pretty "slim/clean" near the cpu socket? it looks like a small heatsink on the pic or maybe is because the heatsink of the mobo is giant and make it look smaller?

 

[Rastalovich]

Don't like hdt for the person who may switch out cpus - but obviously that's not "normal".

Looks just as a v2 evolution, big thing is the fan and it's mount - very very quiet from my experience. Bad for me that I haven't got a mobo that allows install with the fan rear facing.

Decent enough.

 

[Jaster]

Very nice fan...however OCZ have give us in the retail trade a pain in the ass...our tech support guys have noticed that OCZ have changed the mounting method on 3 of there 6 fans for 775 under 30 quid heatsinks to the cheapest push pins you can buy...I mean these push pin mounts make the stock intel ones look high quality...we used to use vendettas as they came with back plate on our system builds until we noticed they had changed them...worst thing was they then changed back...maybe its a production problem...but its bloody annoying...maybe its just my preference though as I truly hate pushpin design...you never seem to get good contact and weight on larger coolers is always a problem...anyway ive gone off topic...nice review...nice cooler....keep up the good work

 

[HypoglossalXII]

Why does everything look like the TRUE these days? :>

-HypoG

 

[w3bbo]

TRUE is perhaps the best so no surprise that people use a similar design.

 

[onewingedangel]

I'm not a fan of HDT designs - when I tested the xigmatek designs they were outperformed by a £10 akasa ak-965 cooler.

I believe they're fundementally flawed - the increased material for heat to pass through in a more traditional copper baseplate design in no way harms performance - quite the opposite. A baseplate ensures better contact with the cpu's IHS, makes contact with more of the heatpipes surface area and better distribute the heatload amongst all the heatpipes.

 

[WC Annihilus]

Odd... How did you apply the TIM? It's been found that application method makes quite a bit of difference on HDT coolers

 

[onewingedangel]

The Xigmateks had quite significant gaps between the heatpipes and the base 'fins', so I applied the TIM to the heatsink rather than the IHS to ensure no air pockets. Then after test mounting (which squeezed out any excess paste), any excess paste was removed from the sides and the paste on the IHS flattened/redistubuted on the IHS, before the cooler was mounted properly.

After testing, when the cooler was removed there were no voids in paste with only a thin even layer between IHS and heatpipe, but with mounds of excess paste filling in the gaps between heatpipes.

 

[WC Annihilus]

You seen this?

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=38&limit=1&limitstart=5

 

[onewingedangel]

I applied the thermal paste by hand to ensure a full, even spread - and to make sure all the voids were filled. The biggest issue is that without a baseplate to distribute the heat, the outermost heatpiped made only partial contact, and a good proportion of the centre of the IHS wasn't in contact with the heatpipes, but were either contacting the aluminium 'fins' of the base or the gaps between.