Enzotech Ultra-X: If Looks Could Chill
by Wesley Fink on June 27, 2007 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
It is not likely that Enzotech will be a name familiar to computer enthusiasts. However, some IT professionals will probably recognize the name as a manufacturer of highly respected cooling solutions for servers. While Enzotech has been manufacturing cooling solutions since 1982, the Ultra-X is their first venture into an air-cooling solution for desktop computers.
Located in Walnut, California, Enzotech continues to manufacture server cooling components. There are even several 1U cooler designs available to the general public that can be seen at the Enzotech website. The main items that will likely be of interest to AT readers will be the full line of passive cooling solutions for the Northbridge, VGA card and memory. The subject of this review, the Enzotech Ultra-X, is also generating interest among computer enthusiasts.
Many readers asked us to take a closer look at the Ultra-X cooler, and it is clear why they have been impressed with the Ultra-X. The cooler is beautifully finished and clearly made with careful attention to quality. Many have also claimed this to be the best performing air cooler on the market.
If indeed this is the best air cooler you can buy the Enzotech would also break a pattern we have seen in recent cooler reviews. The Ultra-X is a down-facing fan heatpipe cantilever. That class of coolers has not performed quite as well as our top heatpipe towers in our cooling tests.
If the Enzotech does top our cooling charts then it will certainly prove the down-facing coolers can perform at top levels. On the other hand, if the Enzotech performs similarly to other down-facers like the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX, the Scythe Andy Samurai, the Thermaltake MaxOrb, and the Cooler Master GeminII it will simply further the evidence suggesting such designs are not quite as efficient.
Located in Walnut, California, Enzotech continues to manufacture server cooling components. There are even several 1U cooler designs available to the general public that can be seen at the Enzotech website. The main items that will likely be of interest to AT readers will be the full line of passive cooling solutions for the Northbridge, VGA card and memory. The subject of this review, the Enzotech Ultra-X, is also generating interest among computer enthusiasts.
Many readers asked us to take a closer look at the Ultra-X cooler, and it is clear why they have been impressed with the Ultra-X. The cooler is beautifully finished and clearly made with careful attention to quality. Many have also claimed this to be the best performing air cooler on the market.
If indeed this is the best air cooler you can buy the Enzotech would also break a pattern we have seen in recent cooler reviews. The Ultra-X is a down-facing fan heatpipe cantilever. That class of coolers has not performed quite as well as our top heatpipe towers in our cooling tests.
If the Enzotech does top our cooling charts then it will certainly prove the down-facing coolers can perform at top levels. On the other hand, if the Enzotech performs similarly to other down-facers like the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX, the Scythe Andy Samurai, the Thermaltake MaxOrb, and the Cooler Master GeminII it will simply further the evidence suggesting such designs are not quite as efficient.
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Wesley Fink - Thursday, June 28, 2007 - link
CorrectedBarkuti - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
Too much fuss with all of these new massive coolers. Back in 1995 I purchased a Thermaltake Sonic Tower, which proved to be an incredible performer, best passive cooler IMO. The one being currently available is "rev2", guess it's just a mounting accesories update.The cooler comes with a mounting plate for a 12 cm fan, which can be installed on either side. I myself drilled new screwholes on a inner side to be able to install the fan in the center, saving a bit of space. A bit cumbersome to install the fan this way tough. Achieves top performance in this configuration, even with an ultra-low noise fan.
An Anand's review of this cooler is still missing and I think it's really worth the pain, like a gem lost inside and old chest.
And with a bit of skill, a little mod and a lot of space you may be able to install three fans on it... Drools about the kind of performance and perf/noise you could get this way, even with just 2 fans...
Cheers
DrMrLordX - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
Is there a side intake duct or vent that can feed top-down HSFs in your test bed? I'm pretty sure top-downs just don't work well if they can't pull cool air directly in from outside the case (which is why they've done so well in open-air testbeds).vhx - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
Definitely nice, but there are a lot better alternatives according to the results. Anyways, does anyone know whats up with Anandtech's forums? They've been down for like a week.theprodigalrebel - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
The forums have been a little iffy of late but they most certainly haven't been down all week. They just had an update of the forum software and there were a few minor outages here and there - Opera users had some problems, so did IE users. Did you try deleting all forums.anandtech.com cookies? It should work.Wesley Fink - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
The LATEST NEWS at the top of our AT Forums Log-In page:"Clear your cookies... - 06/24/2007 01:17 PM
We recently updated our forum software to fix a number of issues. As a result, some users are having problems using FireFox on the forums.
The fix for this is to delete your forums.anandtech.com cookies.
We recommend that all members delete their forum cookies, though we haven't run into any technical issues with this in other browsers.
Thanks for your patience while we continue to improve the forums."
Pirks - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
I've got myself A cooler master geminII and run it in passive (fanless) mode, and no fan on my passive mobo chipset heatsink as well. finally I've got a silent PC! my wife thinks my computer stopped working now, hehe :) no overclocking of course but who needs it for games anyway. I'm getting high framerates with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. around 30-40 fps and I'm happy. who says you need a mac to get a silent computer? who says gaming PCs are noisy? just ignore those noobs, they know nothingdeadseasquirrel - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
but it seems, at least according to this review, that it is not worth the price for the performance you get. Can anyone else see a better price/performance cooler than the Scythe Mine Rev B? For $38, with fan, and pretty quiet, it seems like a good choice. Oh, and are the forums down or am I having browser problems?kmmatney - Thursday, June 28, 2007 - link
I have a Scythe mine and am happy with. It's a good combination of price, low noise (its nearly silent) and good cooling. I don't know if I'd recommend it for extreme overclocking, but for stabdard overclocks it is great.Goty - Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - link
Based on the little knowledge I have about the inner workings of heatpipes, wouldn't the lower heatsink on the X-Ultra lower the efficiency of the heatpipes (where heat transfer to the main heatsink is concerned) and thus the whole cooler?