CPUs run much cooler than they did just over a year ago. Be it AMD or Intel, looks like we can look forward to the days of less aggressive heatsinks now that thermals do not require obscene cooling. Then again, having a huge cooler does allow for a quieter system overall as the extra thermal dissipation area does not require a fan spinning at full speed to cool down.

That said, if you are still stuck with an older processor, namely the Prescott series of Intel chips, good cooling is still a must. Today we'll be checking out the Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler (CL-P0401) which was provided to us from our friends at Crazy PC, who are our favorite providers for CPU coolers. Not only is the V1 impressive to look at, but it is also versatile, compatible with almost any modern AMD or Intel CPU.

The Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler CL-P0401

Like many modern performance coolers, such as those from Zalman and Scythe, the Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler CL-P0401 is simply huge, measuring 147(L) x 92(W) x 143(H) mm. As seen above, the Thermaltake V1 is significantly larger than the Zalman CNPS9500. Naturally, with most well designed large coolers such as this is that there is the potential for some good cooling performance but the downside is not everyone is going to be able to use it. We had no issues in any of our ATX cases, except for those that had a CPU air duct. For that case (Cooler Master Centurion 532), we needed to remove the duct, but should you have a case where this isn't an option, the V1 will pose a few problems.

The Thermaltake V1 weighs in at 637g without any of the mounting hardware. It's hefty, but not so heavy that it cannot use the Intel-style of anchors. The construction is 100% copper, save for the fan and fan anchor. There were three main criteria in the V1's design, which are style, performance and noise.

The first criteria is going to be subjective, but if you are into blue LED lights and happen to own a case with a side windowed panel, you're going to dig the V1's bright glow. If you prefer red or green, you'll be out of luck here.

Performance and noise are two things that normally go hand-in-hand. The Thermaltake V1 features their 4 Channel - Dual-VTM Architecture Heatpipe Cooling.

There are 4 heat-pipes that run along the base of the unit as well as throughout all of its 100 fins. There is a total of 963mm of heatpipes and the design is such that heat is removed through four different channels.

The 110mm fan is rated between 16dBA~24dBA with a maximum airflow of 86.5cfm at 2000rpm.

You can control the fan speed using the VRFanTM speed control. Lower speeds (1300rpm) will result in less noise at the expense of performance.

The base of the Thermaltake V1 has small holes for installing the appropriate mounting hardware. The base is well machined, but quite a mirrored finish such as the fins.

The Thermaltake V1 is a universal heatsink, meaning it can work with a number of different CPUs. There's a number of parts included for various CPU installs, which covers AMD Socket 754/939/AM2 and Intel LGA775.

Motherboard removal is not required for either CPU platform provided you don't have a custom bracket for your current cooler. The manual does the job of explaining the install process though we found the thumbnail images to be a little on the small side.

What was not explained was the cooler's orientation relative to the motherboard. Their web documentation makes this a little clearer, but basically the fan's anchor is what should face the rear of the case, assuming the exit airflow is going in that direction. In the end, total Intel installation time was about 5 minutes.

Test Setup

Abit AW9D: Intel Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93GHz

We will be comparing the Thermaltake V1 against the Scythe Ninja, and Zalman CPNS9500. All of the fans were configured to run at their maximum rated speed. Arctic Silver 5 was the thermal paste used for all the setups.

Prime95 was run for nine hours, with Folding @ Home running in the background everyday for four days to load the system and allow the thermal paste to even out. During the actual tests, we ran SiSoft Sandra's CPU Burn for 15 minutes, with Folding @ Home running in the background. Ambient room temperature was maintained at 23°C/74°F. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius.

The Thermaltake V1 finishes on top of the other two coolers, besting the Zalman by 3°C at both idle and load. The Zalman was also a little higher pitched at full speed. When we configured the Thermaltake V1 to run at its lowest speed setting, the cooler was near silent but the load temperatures did go up to 43°C, which is an increase of 6°C.

Final Words

The results speak for themselves. We were very impressed with the Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler (CL-P0401) in many areas. The V1 is certainly one of the easiest air coolers to install, second only to the asetek VapoChill Micro. I cannot stress enough how annoying it normally is to remove a motherboard for a new cooler, especially when a lot of time was spent neatly routing cables and making everything presentable. No motherboard removal is needed assuming you're already using a cooler that locks in using AMD or Intel's current anchoring system.

Performance wise, the V1 was again very good, scoring the best among the current mainstays for our Intel cooling needs. It really wasn't close at all and even at its highest speeds, the V1 was the quietest of the bunch, though take this with a grain of salt. It was still noisy. Lowering the fan speed to its minimum made it near silent and performance was still at a point that we were not concerned at all.

The only know we have really is the instructions could use larger pictures. We have also heard that some users have had some installation difficulties with AMD installs, but we did not encounter any issues. The only potential issues with installation may have to do with size. We tested an install (as evidenced in the pictures above) on the MSI P35 Platinum which features a very large North Bridge cooler and we had no problems. However, CPU fan ducts and low profile cases will not be able to fit this cooler in most scenarios without some user modification. Other than those small problems, we think the Thermaltake V1 is a must have if you're planning to stick with air cooling and want the best performance possible.

We'd like to thank our sponsors at Crazy PC for making this review possible. They do have an extensive assortment of CPU coolers so you're bound to find something from the extreme to basic.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

HOME