ARCHIVES
August 2011
July 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
November 2007
CONTACT
|
| About this blog: Computers hate me. They really do. Every time I try to do something unusual like add new hardware, something is guaranteed to go wrong. I decided to start writing about my constant problems so that someone else might benefit from my experiences - or at least laugh at them! |
This product doesn't seem to be well made. It broke, twice.
First time was when I opened the box, saw what looked like a couple of stray bits of plastic in the bottom, then realised the fan and heatsink were separated. There was no obvious physical damage to the box so I guess it was dropped some time before I received it, and the weight of the heatsink was sufficient to break the plastic tabs holding the fan to it. PC Case Gear were good enough to send me out a replacement without any fuss; didn't even have to return the broken one.
When I was fitting the second one I noticed that the four mounting legs were quite flexible, hmmm, I think I'll actually use the word flimsy. The legs seem to naturally bow outwards so they need to be squeezed in slightly to align them with the motherboard holes. It didn't really come as much of a surprise when the final pin head was a little stubborn about popping in, and the leg broke.
4 pieces of the first cooler, exactly as it arrived. Note the thin and flimsy legs.
Broken leg of the second cooler. This was the final pin to be locked in.
Given that I've been through two of them and they seem to break quite easily I'm going to conclude this product is a P.O.C. Even moving your PC and putting it down a little too hard on the table could possibly be enough to snap the plastic.
I do NOT recommend buying the Artic Cooling Alpine 11!
Back to the stock Intel cooler for now... this uses a metal bracket to hold the plastic pins so there's much less risk of the plastic breaking. I've installed around 7 or 8 and never had any issues.
|
|
Related posts:
[Bong Cooler] Trying out a supplementary cooling system
[Bong Cooler] Power supply heat catcher
[Bong cooler] Using a large body of water to sink heat
Improving the stock Intel cooler
Bong cooler temperatures: the results are in
[Bong Cooler] Version 2 installed outside
[Bong cooler] From water back to air
|