Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro CPU Cooler Review

Testing

The following system was used in testing:

Case: NZXT Tempest
Motherboard: XFX 680i LT SLI
CPU: Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
Memory: 2x2GB OCZ SLI Ready DDR2 800 MHz
CPU cooling:
– Masscool 8W553
SilenX iXtrema IXC-120HA2
Thermaltake DuOrb
Titan Cool Idol
Cooler Master GeminII S
Cooler Master Sphere
Cooler Master Hyper 212
Zalman CNPS9300 AT
Vantec AeroFlow FX 92
Vantec AeroFlow FX 120
Xilence Xilent Blade Pro
Thermaltake MaxOrb EX
Thermaltake Spinq
Noctua NH-C12P
– Thermaltake BigType 14 Pro
Video Card: XFX 9800 GTX Black Edition

Tests were conducted under idle and load states. The computer was left to sit after 30 minutes after being turned on to check the idle temperature. The load temperature was found by running the latest version of Prime95 which supports multi-core CPUs by default. Temperatures were obtained through SpeedFan.

CPU Cooler
Idle
Load
Masscool 8W553
46C
70C
SilenX iXtrema – Low
45C
69C
SilenX iXtrema – High
44C
66C
SilenX iXtrema – 2x Fans
44C
64C
Thermaltake DuOrb
47C
67C
Titan Cool Idol – Low
45C
62C
Titan Cool Idol – High
44C
59C
Cooler Master Sphere
46C
61C
Cooler Master Hyper 212
44C
54C
Zalman CNPS9300 AT
41C
55C
Vantec AeroFlow FX 92
46C
60C
Vantec AeroFlow FX 120
43C
58C
Xilence Xilent Blade Pro
47C
61C
Thermaltake MaxOrb EX – Low
45C
55C
Thermaltake MaxOrb EX – High
43C
53C
Thermaltake Spinq – Low
45C
58C
Thermaltake Spinq – High
43C
57C
Noctua NH-C12P
41C
54C
Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro – Low
42C
61C
Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro – High
42C
58C

The cooling results for the idle tests performed better than average, but came closer to average whenever on the load tests. I did notice that switching the fan speed to High made the fan speed, of course, increase, but also drastically increased the noise. Thermaltake claims the noise level of only going up to 24dBA, but comparing it to other coolers I think this was far louder. It was by far one of the loudest fans, CPU cooler and case that I’ve ever heard. Whether this was a fault fan or not I can’t be sure, but if you do purchase this CPU cooler your best bet is to only run it on the low speeds because increasing it to a high fan speed doesn’t give you a whole lot of performance upgrade and only gives you a huge sound output.

Conclusion
Overall the Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro is a somewhat decent CPU cooler. There are a couple of flaws that I found in my installation to be quite annoying, but this might not be the case for all. It offers average load cooling rates and above average idle rates, but it seems to lack the low noise while running on high fan speeds that Thermaltake states in their specifications. This probably wouldn’t be my first choice when it would come to purchasing CPU coolers; at least for my current computer setup. If you have a case with an upper mounted motherboard then you probably want to find a different cooler because it just might cause too many problems. However if you have a regular case you shouldn’t see as many problems as I found.

The retail price that Thermaltake gives this CPU cooler is $69.99; probably more than what a lot are looking to pay for, but doing a quick search I found the price a little closer to $60, which still is probably too high for most. Think Computers would like to award the Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro CPU Cooler a 7 out of 10 score.

rating7 10 small

Pros:
– Large 140mm fan
– VR Fan controller
– Decent cooling temperatures

Cons:
– Difficult installation for upper mounted motherboard cases
– Loud fan on high speeds
– Cheap material for fan
– Expensive