The Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme is the truth!!!

Y

yenniedn

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
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After using the Tuniq Tower for the last year with pretty good results, I installed an Ultra 120 Extreme on my Q6600 G0 w/ EVGA 680i A1 tonight . . . and the only question I have is: why the heck did I wait so long???

It did take me some time to get the thing installed and I was getting a little frustrated - but after I figured out the trick, it was a piece of cake after that.

With the Tuniq, my E6600 and Q6600 cpu's would idle around 32 to 34*C and get up to 57 to 62*C under load. With the Ultra 120 Extreme, on the first boot, idle temps were 28 to 32* and load was 48 to 50*C . . . and typically temps go down after the Artic Silver 5 cures too so the numbers could get even better.

Even more impressive is the fact that I lapped my Tuniq and Ultra 120-e was installed right out of the box with the ridgie base and all. I was thinking about lapping the Ultra before installing but was too lazy tonight . . . maybe I don't need to lap it at all!?!?

Oh yeah, the Tuniq fan is so noisy I had to turn in down to about 1/3rd or 1/2 speed for noise to be tolerable. I just slapped a run of the mill CoolerMaster 120mm blue LED "quiet" fan on the Ultra 120-e and got better results with less noise.

Anyhow, bottom line is that the Ultra 120-e is pretty darn impressive so far!

Q6600 @ 3.30 1.37v / Ultra 120 Extreme
Evga 680i A1
Evga 8800gtx ACS3 KO
2x150GB WD Raptor X + 2x400GB WD + 2x Lite-ON 20x SATA DVD-RW
4x1GB Ballistix Tracer 6400
X-Fi Extreme Music
CM Real Power 1000w
CM Stacker 830SE w/ 9x120mm fans
HP LP3065 30" LCD / Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Ultra / Logitech G9
 
That's some large differences in temperature for two heatsinks that have been on par with one another for a long time. I always thought the TR was a little better though. I've been preaching to my friends about the goodness and their eyes are finally opening. :p

Glad you're happy man. Nice rig.
 
Yeah, I was very surprised by the large difference in temps. I was expecting 1 or 2 degrees at best since the Tuniq is lapped and the U120-e is not. I'll play with it more today to see if the temps hold up.

I have to admit, I had been getting lazy with the Tuniq because I've torn down and rebuilt my system several times within the last few months and may have been somewhat careless installing the Tuniq in my haste.

But I followed the same procedure installing the u120-e last night. I don't do the single line across the IHS, I just put a small dot in the center.

The only drawback to the u120-e is that with the fan blowing through the hsf and pushing the hot air out the back of my Stacker, I can no longer use my OCZ XTC memory cooler b/c the fan is in the way.
 
I just got an IFX-14 on a Q6600, idling at about 22C. For some reason it's gone up to 32 today.
 
Well, after messing around with the system more today, the idle temps are about 32 to 34*C, which is the same as I got with the Tuniq. I figure this is due to higher ambient temps during the day today versus late at night when I installed the u120-e last night.

However, under Orthos, temps never get over 50* for a couple of hours now and that's a good 6 to 8*C lower than the Tuniq ever got for me (fan speeds about the same on both HSF's). It seems like the u120-e really shines when the heat is on, so to speak.
 
yenniedn said:
Well, after messing around with the system more today, the idle temps are about 32 to 34*C, which is the same as I got with the Tuniq. I figure this is due to higher ambient temps during the day today versus late at night when I installed the u120-e last night.

However, under Orthos, temps never get over 50* for a couple of hours now and that's a good 6 to 8*C lower than the Tuniq ever got for me (fan speeds about the same on both HSF's). It seems like the u120-e really shines when the heat is on, so to speak.
Click to expand...

Are you using 1 or 2 fans? I made a 120mmx38mm x2 fan sandwich and it really helps even more. 2* better idle 4-6* better load.
 
I'm using just one (rather mediocre) fan right now - an extra CoolerMaster blue LED quiet fan. This is a temporary fix as I was planning to lap the base when I had some time. And I've got some SilenX 120mm's on the way. Plus . . . I'm waiting on a new Q6600 to come in the mail since the stubborn one I have refuses to go past 3.3GHz regardless of what I do.

But thanks for the heads up, I was contemplating a two fan set-up at some point.
 
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