Introduction

This time we tested Corador DS CPU cooler from Coolink, which uses a "sandwich" design, with two tower heatsinks, four U-shaped heatpipes and one 120 mm fan. Check it out!

Corator DS box is big and simple, with a picture of the cooler and some information about it, as you can see in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Box.

Inside the box we found the cooler with the fan already installed, user manual, installation hardware and a tube of thermal compound.

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Figure 2: Box contents.

In Figure 3 you can have a general view of the cooler. We have already seen this design on other coolers, like Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme, Zalman CNPS9900 NT and Thermaltake ISGC-200, with excellent performance on the first two. This fact, along with the huge size and good general aspect of Corator DS, gave us great expectations about its performance.

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Figure 3: Coolink Corator DS.

In the next page we will see this cooler in detail.

Coolink Corator DS

In Figure 4, you can see the cooler from the front side. Through the fins you can get a glimpse of the green fan, as well as the four well-distributed heatpipes.

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Figure 4: Front view.

In Figure 5 you have a side look of the cooler, where you can check the two-heatsink design. Note how they are not identical: the rear heatsink (where the fan is attached to) has more fins than the front one.

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Figure 5: Side view.

In Figure 6 you can check the rear heatsink. The manual especifically says to install the fan pushing the air on this heatsink.

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Figure 6: Rear view.

In Figure 7 you can notice that even with different heatsinks the shape of the fins is the same.

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Figure 7: Top view.

Coolink Corator DS (Cont'd)

In Figure 8, you can see the base of the cooler. At first sight it seems to be made by a copper plate that covers the heatpipes, but looking carefully we noticed that this base is made by the heatpipes itselves. However, unlike what happens on Nexus VCT-9000, the gap between the heatpipes is filled with copper pieces that fit them perfectly, turning the base into something that looks like a one-piece copper block, which is good: besides having more contact area with the CPU, the heat (mostly generated at the center of the CPU) can be better delivered to the outer heatpipes. If this base was better polished, it would be close to perfection.

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Figure 8: Base.

In Figure 9, you can see the heatsink without the fan. Actually, you need to remove it in order to install the cooler, because it is necessary to fasten the screws located at the base of the cooler.

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Figure 9: Without the fan.

In Figure 10 you can notice one of the silicone stripes at the points where the fan touches the heatsink, which helps to absorb the vibration produced by the fan.

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Figure 10: Anti-vibration silicone stripe.

In Figure 11, you can see the fan used with Corator DS. It has 11 yellow/green turbine-shaped blades. The four-pin mini conector shows it has PWM automatic speed control.

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Figure 11: Fan.

Installation

In Figure 12, you can see the Chillaramic thermal compound tube which comes with Corator DS. This compound uses ceramic nano-particles.

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Figure 12: Thermal compound.

In Figure 13, you can see the installation hardware used for Intel processors. The X-shaped mettalic backplate must be used on the solder side of the motherboard, assuring a simple yet very firm installation.

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Figure 13: Intel installation hardware.

In Figure 14 you can check the holders installed on the motherboard. They are simple to install and do not bend the motherboard. After that, you just need to apply thermal compound, put the cooler over the CPU and fasten both screws.

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Figure 14: Frame installed.

Installation (Cont’d)

In Figure 15 you can check the cooler installed on our motherboard, but still without the fan.

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Figure 15: Installed on the motherboard.

In Figure 16, you can see the fan in place.

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Figure 16: Fan installed.

In Figure 17, you can see the cooler inside our case. Even being a huge cooler, it did not interfere with any motherboard component nor obstruct the memory sockets.

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Figure 17: Installed in our case.

How We Tested

We are adopting the following methodology for our CPU cooler reviews.

First, we chose the CPU with the highest TDP (Thermal Design Power) we had available, a Core 2 Extreme QX6850, which has a 130 W TDP. The choice for a CPU with a high TDP is obvious. To measure the efficiency of the tested cooler, we need a processor that gets very hot. This CPU works by default at 3.0 GHz, but we overclocked it to 3.33 GHz, in order to heat it as much as possible.

We took noise and temperature measurements with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to achieve 100% CPU load on the four processing cores we ran Prime95 with the "In-place Large FFTs" option, and three instances of the StressCPU program, all at the same time.

We also compared the reviewed cooler to the Intel stock cooler (with copper base), which comes with the processor we used, and also with some other coolers we have tested using the same methodology.

Temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer, with the sensor touching the base of the cooler, and also with the core temperature reading (given by the CPU thermal sensor) from the from the SpeedFan program, using an arithmetic average of the four core temperature readings.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the video board cooler so it wouldn't interfere with the results, but this measurement is only for comparative purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Core 2 Extreme QX6850
• Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
• Memory: 4 GB G.Skill F2-6400CL5S-2GBNY (DDR2-800/PC2-6400 with 5-5-5-15 timings), configured at 800 MHz
• Hard drive: 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (ST31000528AS, SATA-300, 7200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video card: PNY Verto Geforce 9600 GT
• Video resolution: 1680x1050
• Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
• Power supply required: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
• Case: 3RSystem K100
  

Software Configuration

• Windows XP Professional SP3
  

Software Used

• Prime95
• StressCPU
• SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2 ^oC error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 2 ^oC are considered irrelevant.

Our Tests

On the tables below you can see our results. We ran the same tests with the coolers shown on below tables. Each test ran with the CPU idle and then with the CPU fully loaded. On BigTyp 14Pro, TMG IA1, NH-U12P and ISGC-300 the tests were done with the fan at full speed and at minimum speed. The other coolers were connected directly to the motherboard and it controls the fan speed based on CPU load level and temperature on PWM models. ISGC-400, iCEAGE Prima Boss, Megahalems Rev. B, Thermaltake SpinQ VT, Zalman CNPS10X Flex, Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme and Tuniq Propeller 120 were tested at minimum speed on idle test and at maximum speed on full load test.

CPU Idle
Cooler	Room Temp.	Noise	Fan Speed	Base Temp.	Core Temp.
Intel stock	14 °C	44 dBA	1000 rpm	31 °C	42 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (min)	17 °C	47 dBA	880 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (max)	17 °C	59 dBA	1500 rpm	26 °C	34 °C
Akasa Nero	18 °C	41 dBA	500 rpm	26 °C	35 °C
Cooler Master V10	14 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	21 °C	26 °C
TMG IA1 (max)	16 °C	47 dBA	1500 rpm	22 °C	30 °C
TMG IA1 (min)	16 °C	57 dBA	2250 rpm	21 °C	30 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme	16 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	21 °C	29 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-100	18 °C	44 dBA	1450 rpm	35 °C	49 °C
Noctua NH-U12P (low)	15 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	20 °C	30 °C
Noctua NH-U12P	15 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	20 °C	28 °C
Noctua NH-C12P	17 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	23 °C	28 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-200	21 °C	43 dBA	1100 rpm	31 °C	35 °C
Schythe Kabuto	22 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	29 °C	34 °C
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro	20 °C	43 dBA	1500 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
ISGC-300 (min)	18 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	26 °C	30 °C
ISGC-300 (max)	18 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	24 °C	26 °C
SilverStone NT06-E	21 °C	66 dBA	2600 rpm	30 °C	41 °C
Zalman CNPS9700 NT	22 °C	48 dBA	1700 rpm	28 °C	35 °C
Scythe Mugen-2	17 °C	41 dBA	700 rpm	25 °C	30 °C
ISGC-400 (min)	17 °C	44 dBA	850 rpm	24 °C	30 °C
Cooler Master Vortex 752	20 °C	48 dBA	1700 rpm	32 °C	44 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss (min)	22 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
Evercool Buffalo	17 °C	51 dBA	1850 rpm	22 °C	29 °C
Scythe Big Shuriken	20 °C	42 dBA	900 rpm	31 °C	39 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3	21 °C	44 dBA	1700 rpm	30 °C	39 °C
Titan Skalli	20 °C	43 dBA	1200 rpm	27 °C	34 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B	21 °C	40 dBA	800 rpm	28 °C	32 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 NT	23 °C	45 dBA	900 rpm	30 °C	34 °C
Cooler Master Hyper N620	21 °C	44 dBA	1200 rpm	28 °C	34 °C
Nexus LOW-7000 R2	23 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	33 °C	42 °C
Evercool HPK-10025EA	20 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	27 °C	34 °C
Evercool HPH-9525EA	23 °C	50 dBA	1900 rpm	38 °C	49 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss II	23 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	29 °C	35 °C
Thermaltake SpinQ VT	24 °C	45 dBA	950 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
Titan Fenrir	21 °C	42 dBA	950 rpm	29 °C	35 °C
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex	23 °C	40 dBA	800 rpm	32 °C	39 °C
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme	24 °C	43 dBA	1100 rpm	30 °C	37 °C
Gelid Tranquillo	22 °C	41 dBA	850 rpm	29 °C	36 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus	20 °C	45 dBA	1200 rpm	27 °C	35 °C
Spire TherMax Eclipse	20 °C	58 dBA	2300 rpm	25 °C	34 °C
Tuniq Propeller 120	20 °C	43 dBA	1050 rpm	24 °C	33 °C
Nexus VCT-9000	20 °C	44 dBA	600 rpm	28 °C	37 °C
Coolink Corator DS	19 °C	45 dBA	1050 rpm	25 °C	32 °C

CPU Fully Loaded
Cooler	Room Temp.	Noise	Fan Speed	Base Temp.	Core Temp.
Intel stock	14 °C	48 dBA	1740 rpm	42 °C	100 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (min)	17 °C	47 dBA	880 rpm	43 °C	77 °C
BigTyp 14Pro (max)	17 °C	59 dBA	1500 rpm	35 °C	70 °C
Akasa Nero	18 °C	48 dBA	1500 rpm	34 °C	68 °C
Cooler Master V10	14 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	24 °C	52 °C
TMG IA1 (max)	16 °C	47 dBA	1500 rpm	27 °C	63 °C
TMG IA1 (min)	16 °C	57 dBA	2250 rpm	25 °C	60 °C
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme	16 °C	51 dBA	1900 rpm	24 °C	50 °C
Thermaltake ISG-100	18 °C	50 dBA	1800 rpm	58 °C	93 °C
Noctua NH-U12P (low)	15 °C	42 dBA	1000 rpm	28 °C	59 °C
Noctua NH-U12P	15 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	25 °C	54 °C
Noctua NH-C12P	17 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	37 °C	76 °C
Thermaltake ISGC-200	21 °C	48 dBA	1900 rpm	42 °C	68 °C
Scythe Kabuto	22 °C	47 dBA	1200 rpm	38 °C	63 °C
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro	20 °C	51 dBA	2300 rpm	49 °C	85 °C
ISGC-300 (min)	18 °C	42 dBA	800 rpm	36 °C	64 °C
ISGC-300 (max)	18 °C	46 dBA	1400 rpm	31 °C	56 °C
SilverStone NT06-E	21 °C	66 dBA	2600 rpm	39 °C	96 °C
Zalman CNPS9700 NT	22 °C	56 dBA	2600 rpm	34 °C	63 °C
Scythe Mugen-2	17 °C	46 dBA	1300 rpm	28 °C	54 °C
ISGC-400 (max)	17 °C	47 dBA	1400 rpm	36 °C	69 °C
Cooler Master Vortex 752	20 °C	55 dBA	2300 rpm	48 °C	92 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss (max)	22 °C	53 dBA	2000 rpm	35 °C	59 °C
Evercool Buffalo	17 °C	51 dBA	1850 rpm	32 °C	67 °C
Scythe Big Shuriken	20 °C	50 dBA	1500 rpm	51 °C	85 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3	21 °C	53 dBA	2700 rpm	39 °C	66 °C
Titan Skalli	20 °C	47 dBA	1550 rpm	37 °C	69 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B	21 °C	61 dBA	2600 rpm	30 °C	51 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 NT	23 °C	56 dBA	2000 rpm	34 °C	54 °C
Cooler Master Hyper N620	21 °C	50 dBA	1650 rpm	32 °C	56 °C
Nexus LOW-7000 R2	23 °C	53 dBA	1900 rpm	45 °C	74 °C
Evercool HPK-10025EA	20 °C	54 dBA	1900 rpm	39 °C	69 °C
Evercool HPH-9525EA	23 °C	50 dBA	1900 rpm	58 °C	100 °C
iCEAGE Prima Boss II	23 °C	56 dBA	2100 rpm	32 °C	56 °C
Thermaltake SpinQ VT	24 °C	52 dBA	1500 rpm	40 °C	68 °C
Titan Fenrir	21 °C	50 dBA	1600 rpm	33 °C	58 °C
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex	23 °C	61 dBA	2600 rpm	33 °C	59 °C
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme	24 °C	56 dBA	1900 rpm	35 °C	60 °C
Gelid Tranquillo	22 °C	46 dBA	1450 rpm	31 °C	60 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus	20 °C	52 dBA	1900 rpm	32 °C	64 °C
Spire TherMax Eclipse	20 °C	58 dBA	2300 rpm	29 °C	73 °C
Tuniq Propeller 120	20 °C	55 dBA	1900 rpm	36 °C	68 °C
Nexus VCT-9000	20 °C	50 dBA	850 rpm	43 °C	88 °C
Coolink Corator DS	19 °C	56 dBA	1800 rpm	32 °C	62 °C

The next graph shows how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our idle tests.

 

The next graph gives you an idea on how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during our full load tests.

Main Specifications

Coolink Corator DS main features are:

• Application: Socket LGA775, 1156, 1366, AM3, AM2+ and AM2 processors.
• Fins: Aluminum.
• Base: Copper, with heatpipes in direct contact with the CPU.
• Heat-pipes: Four 8-mm copper heat-pipes.
• Fan: 120 mm.
• Nominal fan speed: 1,700 rpm.
• Fan air flow: 127.6 ml/h.
• Maximum power consumption: 3.96 W.
• Nominal noise level: 27.1 dBA.
• Weight: 2.29 lbs (1040 g).
• More information: http://www.coolink-europe.com
• Suggested price: USD 60.00

Conclusions

Coolink Corator DS is a good cooler. At first it impressed us by its size, weight and construction quality. It looks nice, but we don't think that "sandwich" coolers are the most beautiful ones.

Talking about noise, it is on an average category, quiet when the CPU is idle and a little noisy when it is under full load.

Its cooling performance is not bad, but does not compete with the most effective coolers we tested so far. As it looks (and costs) like a top-shelf cooler, we were a little disapointed with its performance.

There are CPU coolers with better cost/benefit options out there, but if you want a good and big cooler, you can buy Corator DS with no fear. Therefore it receives our Hardware Secrets Bronze Award.