Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler Review

INSTALLATION

Quirky is fine, heck quirky can be wonderful; but when you are talking about an installation process the last word you want a reviewer to use to describe a simple CPU cooling installation process is quirky. Unfortunately, that best sums up the DuOrb’s installation process. You can’t really call the process unique as it borrows heavily from many tower style coolers (like the Silentator & Ultima 90); and it is not exactly bad as it is a fairly easy installation. What the installation is, is quirky...there is no other word for it. It is almost like the Thermaltake engineers designed a proper installation setup and then the accountants came along and told them they had to cut something from it to keep the production costs low, so in typical engineering fashion they dropped the backplate.

This is a 65 frickin’ dollar cooler, the very least Thermaltake could have done is spring for a backplate for 775 systems. This cooler is not exactly a light weight as it weighs in at just under Intel’s maximum rated weight for the socket 775. Heck, we would have actually preferred to have seen pushpins than this streamlined and value oriented setup; and we are firm believers that 600 grams is too heavy for pushpins.


Anyways, let’s take it from the top. The first thing that one must do to begin the installation process is remove the motherboard from the case. This is to be expected as it is a 600 gram cooler that has two fans, creating two specific sets of vibrations and torque that the motherboard has to deal with. When you has done this you simply inserts one of the two mounting brackets through two of the CPU mounting holes, then put the included washer on each screw and tighten down two nuts to secure the mounting bracket in place.

When this stage is accomplished, one simply repeats the process for the second mounting bracket. When both mounting brackets are in place you apply a small amount of TIM to the CPU and gently place the DuOrb in place. Depending on the location of the CPU fan plug, you may want to plug in the fan cord before mounting the DuOrb as this cooler is really short and fitting a plug underneath its considerable girth may be difficult.


To finish the installation process you simply install the tension bracket with the arrow pointing to the fan cord side of the DuOrb and secure it over the two mounting brackets screws with the included metal nuts. You cannot over tighten these nuts as the mounting brackets have stand offs that keep this from happening. As a side note, this spring loaded nut (that looks more like a bolt than a nut) was very nicely executed; one could easily get it started without having to compress the spring first as the spring was slightly shorter than the height of the nut. This is always nice touch and makes installation so much easier, while at the same time still giving the DuOrb positive mounting pressure from the compressed springs. Then you simply reinstall the motherboard back into you case and you are ready to go.

That is the installation process from start to finish, and while it is almost as fast as a pushpin installation (it clocks in at about 7 minutes from start to finish) we do have to wonder: why the extra hassle with the nuts on the underside of the motherboard? Would it really have cost that much more to include a backplate, even a plastic backplate? Don’t get us wrong it is a good and secure mounting system but as mentioned before this is not a cheap CPU cooling solution; and in all honesty, this quirky installation process does cheapen it in our eyes.


On the positive side, this cooler looks downright amazing when it is in use. The red & blue glow that emanates from it is very well done and will add a bit of spice and pizzazz to an otherwise boring system. This goes doubly sure if your case has a clear side window this as you will get the full effect of its colored LEDs.