Article by: Joe Anderson (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited By: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Zalman USA
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PRODUCT COMPOSITION
A heavy cardboard carton keeps the contents secure and the glossy finish and bold graphics give the potential customer most of the needed information to make an informed purchase. Hopefully, review sites like Tweaknews can provide the rest.
Inside, the cooler is packaged in a plastic clamshell box with the mounting solutions and manual. A new mount design promises a robust and secure installation, as we'll see in a bit. As always, the manual is very complete and augmented by video tutorials on Zalman's website.
PRODUCT PICTORIAL AND WALKTHROUGH
With all the packing materials removed, we can get our first good look at the cooler. The unique shape gives this massive cooler a sleek appearance and the dark nickel finish lends a unified look to the copper heatpipes and aluminum fins. All three fans feature nine translucent blades and blue LEDs and blow cooling air through the twin V.F.P. (Variable Fin Profile) fin arrays and 6mm composite heatpipes. The rear (exhaust) fan features blades with little airfoils. I don't know what these do, but they do make it easier to orient the cooler properly in the case. A pair of chrome steel hoops lend support to the arrays and the plastic top reads twelve in Roman numerals from either side of the cooler.
Mr. Bones is impressed by the sheer enormity of the 12X, but I find the fin design and spacing much more compelling. A total of fifty-five aluminum fins provide a staggering 9,635 square centimeters (that's almost 1,500 square inches for the metrically challenged,) of area to dissipate the heat delivered by the composite heatpipes. Relatively wide fin spacing would seem to indicate that the 12X will respond well to the reduced fan speed provided by the RC5 resistor cable.
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