Conclusion

After working with this unit for over a week it is safe to say we have a good handle on this cooler and while it may share the same lineage as the Xigmatek S1283, it is not the same cooler in the least. It is only natural that parallels will be drawn be drawn between the two products due to their similarities so we have to bring these comparisons to the forefront yet again. This is not a hit at the Xigmatek S1283, which is a very good cooler in its own right, but when you compare the two it becomes obvious that the OCZ Vendetta 2 is a much more refined cooler. The fact this CPU cooling solution costs only a few dollars more than the Xigmatek is a testament to OCZ’s commitment to providing great products at great prices. All in all this is a high performance unit which deserves respect for the engineering prowess that went into it and calling it a “rebadged Xigmatek” would be denigrating and down right insulting to the all obvious hard work that went into creating the Vendetta 2.

However, this unit is not perfect and we truly wish OCZ would do something about that lame fan installation. More importantly than the fan mounting setup, we wish they would make this a backplate mounted cooler and get rid of those cheesy push pins. This may not be totally fair as this is a value oriented cooler, but it doesn’t act like a cheap cooler and we truly wonder how much better it would be if it came with a high performance mounting setup. With all this being said, the pros of this unit far outweigh the cons and we like this cooler so much it will be residing on our new AM2+ test bed where it will be used to cool 95W TDP, 125W TDP, 140W TDP and heaven (and AMD) only knows how much hotter multi-core CPUs.

We could go on and on about how well mannered and performance-oriented this CPU cooling solution is but to us there are five words which transcend mere words and truly convey how impressive a cooler the Vendetta 2 really is. Those words are DAM GOOD VALUE and DAM GOOD. Yes, this cooler really is one of those unique and ultra rare pieces of kit which are not only great coolers regardless of price but are also a great value. We don’t give out many double awards (and as a side note this is a first for me), but we would truly be remiss if we didn’t go which extra mile to help show you the reader how good it is; after all OCZ certainly did, so meeting them half way is more than justified.


Pros:

- Great Cooling Performance (near water cooling levels!)
- Quiet fan
- HDT base works as advertised
- Great price
- Tool-less installation


Cons:

- Fan installation issues