Cooler Xtreme : Coolers
: Cpu Cooler : Global Win FOP38
Global Win FOP38
The FOP38 is something of
an overclockers' favourite. It's a perfect example of the Keep It Simple,
Stupid school of CPU cooler design. Make a good-sized plain aluminium heat
sink. Stick a frickin' high power fan on it. Put in box and sell.
The frickin' high power fan,
in this case, is a 7000RPM screamer which passes the Self-Propulsion Test
- if you put one of these fans on a smooth desk and turn it on, it won't
stay in one place unless you chock it with something.
7000RPM fans, of course, aren't
quiet. This CPU cooler by itself makes more noise than most PCs, and it's
not the low hum of most fans; the high rotational speed and the six blades
gives a rougly 700Hz whine. Which is approximately the F above the C above
middle C, if you're a musical type.
The only thing that annoys me about
the FOP38 - and various other Global Win coolers - is the clip. It's a two-part
design with a loosely hinged clip-on end piece, and the design doesn't hold
the end piece as well as it should. With practice you can get the hang of
swinging the clip-end down and on easily enough, with the assistance of
a screwdriver or similar pressure-applying device.
But if your chosen attachment
style turns out to pinch the slotted spring body together and thus release
the end piece, bad things can happen. Gouged motherboard, end piece pinging
off to parts unknown, use of profanity.
If you get one of these coolers,
sit it on a disposable surface and play with the clip for a couple of minutes
until you understand how it behaves. You don't want to learn about it by
shoving a screwdriver through your motherboard.
If you don't like loud computers,
you won't like any CPU cooler with a 7000RPM fan on it. But if you like
cool CPUs, you will like the FOP38; it managed an impressive 0.61°C/W in
my test.
This FOP38 came from Aus PC
Market, but in Aus or Malaysia also don't sell them any more; they're selling
the WBK38 instead now, of which more in a moment.
