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.
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