Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler Review

Packaging and Accessories

For anyone familiar with the V10 cooler we recently reviewed, you will instantly recognize the box the box the V8 came in. Sure it may be smaller than the V10's and have slightly different wording; but for all intents and purposes they are the same. This has been done on purpose, and is done to not only for brand recognition in relation to the Cooler Master “V” line but also to drive home that this model, the V8, is the little brother of the bigger V10. We assume that if CM ever does come out with the V12, it’s going to be in one freakin’ HUGE box.


In all seriousness, having the V lineup packaging look very similar to one another and making them a blatantly different size is a good thing. It really would have been a waste to stick this, albeit large cooler, into that massive V10 box; and it does do a good job of telling potential customers where the two coolers “fit” in the overall scheme of things. It may only be at the subliminal level but we think most people will get the idea that this is the little brother to V10. Of course all they have to do is look at the price differences but that usually occurs AFTER a customer has narrowed down his decision to a couple of coolers.


Please don’t get us wrong, this box is not just a pretty face; its size and durable construction (no paper thin cardboard here!), will easily shrug off everything but a full on postman “going postal” rage attack. This level of quality continues to the internal protection scheme as well.

As you can see this cooler (unlike the V10) is in a plastic clamshell pack. This may not afford the same level of protection as the medium density foam found around the V10, but as we have said in the past: if its good enough to protect a high end (and VERY delicate) motherboard, its overkill for something as durable as a CPU heatsink.


Moving onto the accessories list we find once again a veritable cornucopia of parts, which now that we think about it, is the exact same accessory kit which comes with the V10. In a nut shell you get three thick backplates, the necessary screws and assorted items for attaching said backplates to your motherboard and the V8, a very easy to understand, multi-language instruction pamphlet, user manual and a insert for i7 installation. Fortunately, CM listened on the TIM front and included a multi-application thermal compound syringe.