Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU Cooler Review
By Rafael Otto Coelho on April 13, 2010

Introduction

We tested Tuniq Propeller 120 CPU cooler, which has a two-piece horizontal heatsink, four heatpipes and a 120 mm fan. Check it out!

Propeller box is actually made by two boxes, one external printed in thin card paper and a black internal thicker one. The plastic handle helps carrying the box.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 1: Box.

Just like it happens with Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme, Propeller 120 accessories come organized in a foam-filled box with matching holes. User manual is printed in high-quality paper. Tuniq shows that their products are top-shelf starting with the packaging.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 2: Box contents.

In Figure 3 you can have a general view of the heatsink. The fan does not come preinstalled.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 3: Heatsink.

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

Tuniq Propeller 120

In Figure 4, you can see the front side of the heatsink. On top of the base there is a small auxiliary heatsink. The main heatsink is horizontal and keeps a good distance to the base.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 4: Front view.

In Figure 5, you can see the heatsink from the side. According to the manufacturer, the "V" shape is inspired on the mighty aircraft carriers. Here you can see the four 8-mm heatpipes. Since there are two independent heatsinks, each tip of each heatpipe is connected to one heatsink. The fins are not plain, but with some rugosity in order to achieve better heat transfer.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 5: Side view.

From the top you can better see the disposition of the heatpipes.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 6: Top view.

Tuniq Propeller 120 (Cont'd)

On the bease of Tuniq Propeller 120 you can notice that the heatpipes touch the CPU directly. The base surface is very smooth, as you can see in Figure 7.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 7: Base.

In Figure 8, you can see the 120 mm fan that comes with the cooler. This fan has blue LEDs that glow when it is turned on. The connector is a three-pin type, so with no PWM speed control.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 8: Fan.

This cooler comes with a fan controller that must be installed in one of the case rear slots. It could be nicer if the manufacturers start to include front-mounted fan controllers (using a disk drive bay), instead of rear ones.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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 Figure 9: Fan controller.

Installation

To install Propeller 120 you must use a backplate, shown in Figure 10. First of all, you need to insert the screws on the backplate holes that match your CPU socket. This backplate does not support socket 1156, but the manufacturer sells a compatible one.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 10: Installation hardware.

It is curious that the holding system from Propeller 120 is identical to the one we found on iCEAGE Prima Boss II and Spire TherMax Eclipse.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 11: Backplate with screws installed.

In Figure 12, you can see the cooler installed on our motherboard, with the fan already in place.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 12: Installed on motherboard.

In Figure 13, you can see Propeller 120 installed inside our case.

Tuniq Propeller 120
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Figure 13: Installed inside 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

Software Configuration

Software Used

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 the 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

CoolerRoom Temp.NoiseFan SpeedBase Temp.Core Temp.
Intel stock14 ºC44 dBA1000 rpm31 ºC42 ºC
BigTyp 14Pro (min)17 ºC47 dBA880 rpm29 ºC36 ºC
BigTyp 14Pro (max)17 ºC59 dBA1500 rpm26 ºC34 ºC
Akasa Nero18 ºC41 dBA500 rpm26 ºC35 ºC
Cooler Master V1014 ºC44 dBA1200 rpm21 ºC26 ºC
TMG IA1 (max)16 ºC47 dBA1500 rpm22 ºC30 ºC
TMG IA1 (min)16 ºC57 dBA2250 rpm21 ºC30 ºC
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme16 ºC44 dBA1200 rpm21 ºC29 ºC
Thermaltake ISGC-10018 ºC44 dBA1450 rpm35 ºC49 ºC
Noctua NH-U12P (low)15 ºC42 dBA1000 rpm20 ºC30 ºC
Noctua NH-U12P15 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm20 ºC28 ºC
Noctua NH-C12P17 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm23 ºC28 ºC
Thermaltake ISGC-20021 ºC43 dBA1100 rpm31 ºC35 ºC
Schythe Kabuto22 ºC42 dBA800 rpm29 ºC34 ºC
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro20 ºC43 dBA1500 rpm32 ºC39 ºC
ISGC-300 (min)18 ºC42 dBA800 rpm26 ºC30 ºC
ISGC-300 (max)18 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm24 ºC26 ºC
SilverStone NT06-E21 ºC66 dBA2600 rpm30 ºC41 ºC
Zalman CNPS9700 NT22 ºC48 dBA1700 rpm28 ºC35 ºC
Scythe Mugen-2 17 ºC41 dBA 700 rpm25 ºC30 ºC
ISGC-400 (min)17 ºC44 dBA850 rpm24 ºC30 ºC
Cooler Master Vortex 75220 ºC48 dBA1700 rpm32 ºC44 ºC
iCEAGE Prima Boss (min)22 ºC42 dBA1000 rpm29 ºC36 ºC
Evercool Buffalo17 ºC51 dBA1850 rpm22 ºC29 ºC
Scythe Big Shuriken20 ºC42 dBA900 rpm31 ºC39 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper TX321 ºC44 dBA1700 rpm30 ºC39 ºC
Titan Skalli20 ºC43 dBA1200 rpm27 ºC34 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B21 ºC40 dBA800 rpm28 ºC32 ºC
Zalman CNPS9900 NT23 ºC45 dBA900 rpm30 ºC34 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper N62021 ºC44 dBA1200 rpm28 ºC34 ºC
Nexus LOW-7000 R223 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm33 ºC42 ºC
Evercool HPK-10025EA20 ºC54 dBA1900 rpm27 ºC34 ºC
Evercool HPH-9525EA23 ºC50 dBA1900 rpm38 ºC49 ºC
iCEAGE Prima Boss II23 ºC42 dBA1000 rpm29 ºC35 ºC
Thermaltake SpinQ VT24 ºC45 dBA950 rpm32 ºC39 ºC
Titan Fenrir21 ºC42 dBA950 rpm29 ºC35 ºC
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex23 ºC40 dBA800 rpm32 ºC39 ºC
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme24 ºC43 dBA1100 rpm30 ºC37 ºC
Gelid Tranquillo22 ºC41 dBA850 rpm29 ºC36 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus20 ºC45 dBA1200 rpm27 ºC35 ºC
Spire TherMax Eclipse20 ºC58 dBA2300 rpm25 ºC34 ºC
Tuniq Propeller 12020 ºC43 dBA1050 rpm24 ºC33 ºC

CPU Fully Loaded

CoolerRoom Temp.NoiseFan SpeedBase Temp.Core Temp.
Intel stock14 ºC48 dBA1740 rpm42 ºC100 ºC
BigTyp 14Pro (min)17 ºC47 dBA880 rpm43 ºC77 ºC
BigTyp 14Pro (max)17 ºC59 dBA1500 rpm35 ºC70 ºC
Akasa Nero18 ºC48 dBA1500 rpm34 ºC68 ºC
Cooler Master V1014 ºC54 dBA1900 rpm24 ºC52 ºC
TMG IA1 (max)16 ºC47 dBA1500 rpm27 ºC63 ºC
TMG IA1 (min)16 ºC57 dBA2250 rpm25 ºC60 ºC
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme16 ºC51 dBA1900 rpm24 ºC50 ºC
Thermaltake ISG-10018 ºC50 dBA1800 rpm58 ºC93 ºC
Noctua NH-U12P (low)15 ºC42 dBA1000 rpm28 ºC59 ºC
Noctua NH-U12P15 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm25 ºC54 ºC
Noctua NH-C12P17 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm37 ºC76 ºC
Thermaltake ISGC-20021 ºC48 dBA1900 rpm42 ºC68 ºC
Scythe Kabuto22 ºC47 dBA1200 rpm38 ºC63 ºC
Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro20 ºC51 dBA2300 rpm49 ºC85 ºC
ISGC-300 (min)18 ºC42 dBA800 rpm36 ºC64 ºC
ISGC-300 (max)18 ºC46 dBA1400 rpm31 ºC56 ºC
SilverStone NT06-E21 ºC66 dBA2600 rpm39 ºC96 ºC
Zalman CNPS9700 NT22 ºC56 dBA2600 rpm34 ºC63 ºC
Scythe Mugen-2 17 ºC46 dBA 1300 rpm 28 ºC54 ºC
ISGC-400 (max)17 ºC47 dBA1400 rpm36 ºC69 ºC
Cooler Master Vortex 75220 ºC55 dBA2300 rpm48 ºC92 ºC
iCEAGE Prima Boss (max)22 ºC53 dBA2000 rpm35 ºC59 ºC
Evercool Buffalo17 ºC51 dBA1850 rpm32 ºC67 ºC
Scythe Big Shuriken20 ºC50 dBA1500 rpm51 ºC85 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper TX321 ºC53 dBA2700 rpm39 ºC66 ºC
Titan Skalli20 ºC47 dBA1550 rpm37 ºC69 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B21 ºC61 dBA2600 rpm30 ºC51 ºC
Zalman CNPS9900 NT23 ºC56 dBA2000 rpm34 ºC54 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper N62021 ºC50 dBA1650 rpm32 ºC56 ºC
Nexus LOW-7000 R223 ºC53 dBA1900 rpm45 ºC74 ºC
Evercool HPK-10025EA20 ºC54 dBA1900 rpm39 ºC69 ºC
Evercool HPH-9525EA23 ºC50 dBA1900 rpm58 ºC100 ºC
iCEAGE Prima Boss II23 ºC56 dBA2100 rpm32 ºC56 ºC
Thermaltake SpinQ VT24 ºC52 dBA1500 rpm40 ºC68 ºC
Titan Fenrir21 ºC50 dBA1600 rpm33 ºC58 ºC
Zalman CNPS 10 Flex23 ºC61 dBA2600 rpm33 ºC59 ºC
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme24 ºC56 dBA1900 rpm35 ºC60 ºC
Gelid Tranquillo22 ºC46 dBA1450 rpm31 ºC60 ºC
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus20 ºC52 dBA1900 rpm32 ºC64 ºC
Spire TherMax Eclipse20 ºC58 dBA2300 rpm29 ºC73 ºC
Tuniq Propeller 12020 ºC55 dBA1900 rpm36 ºC68 ºC

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

 Tuniq Propeller 120

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.

 Tuniq Propeller 120

Main Specifications

Tuniq Propeller 120 main features are:

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

Conclusions

According to tests we have done, coolers with horizontal heatsinks have a lower performance compared to the best "tower" coolers. Tuniq Propeller 120 was no exception.

Even though it has an excellent construction quality, it achieved an average performance, comparable to cheaper tower-design CPU coolers. Note, however, that it performed better than most coolers with similar design, like Nexus LOW-7000 R2, Thermaltake ISGC-400, SilverStone NT06-E and Noctua NH-C12P.

Its looks are very cool with the blue-glowing fan and its noise level is very low, virtually inaudible when in low speed.

Being an expensive cooler with average performance, we cannot give it an award seal. But if you are looking for a cooler with a horizontal heatsink with high-quality construction, nice looks, low noise level and capable of cooling a medium- or low-TDP CPU and price is not an issue for you, you can buy Tuniq Propeller 120 with no fear.

Originally at http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Tuniq-Propeller-120-CPU-Cooler-Review/970

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