Date: December 15th, 2008
Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited By: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Vantec USA
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PRODUCT PICTORIAL AND WALKTHROUGH
The FX 120 has a conventional look for a tower cooler of this class, but there are a few features that set it apart from the crowd. The 8mm heatpipes are a bit larger than many coolers and the fan vibration dampers…
…have a unique design I've not seen elsewhere. The silicone dampers are anchored into recesses in the fins and inserted up through the fan mounting holes. The fan is pre-mounted, (it will have to be removed for Intel 775 installation) but the user could swap the Vantec unit for a different fan, provided the new one has open corners.
The fins are thin and moderately closely spaced to provide a lot of surface area to dissipate the heat transferred from the heatpipes. The ‘pipes are spaced on either side of the fan hub to avoid the dead space in this area.
In this photo we can see the “Heatpipe Direct Touch” design. The “pipes are in direct contact with the CPU heatspreader which, in theory, should improve heat transfer and cooling. The FX 120 ships with a protective plastic sticker that must be removed before installation. I would also recommend that this surface be thoroughly cleaned.
As mentioned in the specifications, the fan is of the PMW persuasion and the fantail terminates in the customary 4-pin connector. It will fit and work just fine when plugged into a 3-pin motherboard header, but will run at full speed as the PWM feature will be inactive.
With the sticker removed, the base is relatively flat and the finish is smooth, but lacks the high polish seen on some other coolers.
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