OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler Review

[SKYMTL]

High Performance Fan Results

High Performance Fan Results

Q6600 w/ Noctua NF-P12-1300 fan

Where here at Hardware Canucks feel it is out duty to provide you with as many answers as possible and the very fact that it is downright fun modding things has nothing to do with us going “above and beyond”….honest….trust us! Whether you believe us or not, one question I am sure many of you are asking themselves about this cooler has to do with the Adda fan. Lets face it, on a cooler which costs as little as this one does, the fan is always going to be suspect (i.e. “how much better would it be if it had a really good fan”). In order to answer this question we yanked the ADDA fan from it and grabbed a NF-p12-1300 fan we use for CPU cooling solutions which do not come with a fan and stuck that bad boy onto the Vendetta to see what would happen. Here is what we found out.

A high performance fan certainly does make this impressive cooler into a real 100% Arse Kicker! At stock speeds the NF-P12 was able to drop the average load temperature by 1.9° C, this is better than what the reference design S1283 was able to do. But, the real story is the OC average load reduction of 2.1°C. A little over two degrees doesn’t sound like much but this brings this CPU cooling solution below that magic number of 50° C. This is impressive and really does start to push this cooler in the water cooling level of effectiveness (though just barely and any good WC kit would destroy this cooler faster than a N00B at professional gamers LAN Party!). Just being able to start talking about the two in the same the sentence is only possible with the crème de la crème of Air coolers!

 

[AkG]

Performance Value

Performance Value

The term “Value” is such an amorphous term that it truly has different meanings for different people. For some a CPU cooler is only as good as it overclocking potential, for others it is how quiet it does its job; for others still it’s how effective it is for its cost. We here at HWC try to provide as many answers as possible for the term “Value”. Hopefully by this point in the review people looking at OC potential or loudness levels will have a fairly good idea of what its Value is. For the “best bang for the buck” crowd we have included a chart below showing how much each 1*c less costs when compared to Intel’s FREE stock cooler. No consideration has been made for noise levels, “looks” or any other extraneous factors; this is just raw performance vs. monetary cost. For any cooler which performs worse than the Intel stock cooler a rating of “FAIL” will be given. For any cooler that has a “Value” of more than $10 per 1*C a rating of “FAIL” will be used in the graph but the chart will list its actual “value”.

All prices are based on either their MSRP (if no e-tailer prices were available at review time) or the online price they sold for at the time of their review. IF a CPU cooler does not include a fan the price of a Scythe F has been included ($12).

To make it as easy as possible for you to modify this ratio we have also included the various coolers temperature difference so if you do come across one of them on sale you can easily modify its “Value” rating. We here at HWC are in no way saying this is the definitive answer to “Value”, rather it should be considered another tool to help you make your final decision. After all something is only as “valuable” as what you consider it to be.

E4600 Cooling Value

Please Note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a e4600 @3.2GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with MX-2 TIM) also on a e4600 @ 3.2GHz.

<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Air_Cooling/OCZ_V2/fix/e4600_value_chart.jpg" border="0" alt="" />

<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Air_Cooling/OCZ_V2/fix/e4600_value.jpg" border="0" alt="" />​

Really, what more is there to say? Here we have the Vendetta offering almost the same value as the less-expensive Xigmatek cooler due to its amazing cooling throughout all of the tests. This is without a doubt a GREAT result.

Q6600 Cooling Value

Please Note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a Q6600 @3.0GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with stock TIM) also on a Q6600 @ 3.0GHz.

Now this is just too close to call! Five cents is neither here nor there and for all intents and purposes the OCZ is just as good a value as its reference design Xigmatek S1283 is. Heck with its sleeved fan and OCZ reputation behind it you can actually consider the Vendetta a better value…so to speak.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

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

Thanks to OCZ for sending us this product
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...detta-2-cpu-cooler-review-comment-thread.html
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