Thermalright Ultra 120: Elegant, Fanless and Efficient Cooling
by Wesley Fink on March 5, 2007 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
When the Tuniq Tower 120 was reviewed to begin this round of cooler tests we knew from benchmarking that it was an outstanding cooler. We really did not know at that time how good it would prove to be, as it has taken many cooler reviews to find a unit that matches or surpasses the performance of the Tuniq. The Thermalright Ultra 120 is that cooler.
The Ultra 120 is the first cooler tested that can effectively cool a stock Core 2 Duo without a fan. This works best when you use a fanless Ultra 120 in a case with a down-facing power supply cooling fan. You will also get better performance by paying careful attention to airflow and exhaust in the case design. However, this is true with any effective fanless design, and we are still impressed that the Thermalright Ultra 120 is capable of performing better without a fan than the stock Intel Retail cooler with its 80mm fan.
Of course the Thermalright HR-01 is the fanless Thermalright design and the Ultra 120, while derived from the HR-01 design, is designed to be most effective with a 120mm cooling fan. After an easy and secure installation, you will find the fan clips for the Ultra 120 will only work with a few fans. Fortunately they will work with Scythe S-Flex and Noctua fans - either of which are a good match to the Ultra 120. The problem here is that the mounted fan cannot have a closed mounting post, which is common on many fans. The Thermalright design will only work with open holes and no posts on the fan
When combined with the Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fan the Ultra 120 is a record setter. Not only does it match or surpass the excellent cooling of the Tuniq Tower 120, it also does so with lower noise at high fan speeds. That is always a winning combination. The Ultra 120 combo also matches the highest overclock seen with the test bed CPU at a stable 3.90 GHz.
The Thermalright Ultra 120 has earned an excellent reputation in the cooling market as one of the most effective heatpipe towers you can buy. Our tests indicate that reputation is fully deserved. While the Ultra 120 is a bit smaller than most of its competitors, it is at least as effective in cooling and in most cases even better. The quality of construction and finish is also impressive.
You don't seem to be risking hand slicing with the Ultra 120 in the way you do with many other heatpipe towers. The layout of the fins and the edge creases make snagging a hand much less likely. The installation is both logical and easy, and the installed Ultra 120 is exceptionally secure. With the Ultra 120 weighing in with fan at a bit over 2 pounds a secure installation becomes very important. We still don't recommend using the Ultra 120 in a system that will be constantly moved, such as a LAN Party PC, but it does appear this heatsink install is more secure and safer than most competing heatsink towers.
The price is also competitive with other top heatpipe tower designs, even when you consider the added cost of a separate 120mm fan purchase. Thermalright has made the Ultra 120 a decent value, and you will definitely be satisfied with the quality of the finished heatsink.
It is not completely fair to attribute all the good results to the Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink by itself. The Scythe S-Flex fan, which uses the Sony Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan motor, also contributes to the total performance. The S-Flex moves a lot of air with relative quiet. If you want even more quiet, down to 8dB-A, you can choose other models of the S-Flex or Noctua fans. Based on the performance as a fanless cooler, the Ultra 120 will be very effective when combined with any low-noise fan.
We still have a few coolers to test before we start naming names and rewarding the best coolers with our Editors Choice Awards. For now the Thermalright Ultra 120 and Tuniq Tower 120 reside at the top of our air cooling tests. Either unit will do an outstanding job of cooling a Core 2 Duo. If you lean toward the silence camp in cooling, then the recommendation tilts toward the Ultra 120, but you could always replace the excellent Tuniq fan with the even better Scythe S-Flex.
When the Tuniq Tower 120 was reviewed to begin this round of cooler tests we knew from benchmarking that it was an outstanding cooler. We really did not know at that time how good it would prove to be, as it has taken many cooler reviews to find a unit that matches or surpasses the performance of the Tuniq. The Thermalright Ultra 120 is that cooler.
The Ultra 120 is the first cooler tested that can effectively cool a stock Core 2 Duo without a fan. This works best when you use a fanless Ultra 120 in a case with a down-facing power supply cooling fan. You will also get better performance by paying careful attention to airflow and exhaust in the case design. However, this is true with any effective fanless design, and we are still impressed that the Thermalright Ultra 120 is capable of performing better without a fan than the stock Intel Retail cooler with its 80mm fan.
Of course the Thermalright HR-01 is the fanless Thermalright design and the Ultra 120, while derived from the HR-01 design, is designed to be most effective with a 120mm cooling fan. After an easy and secure installation, you will find the fan clips for the Ultra 120 will only work with a few fans. Fortunately they will work with Scythe S-Flex and Noctua fans - either of which are a good match to the Ultra 120. The problem here is that the mounted fan cannot have a closed mounting post, which is common on many fans. The Thermalright design will only work with open holes and no posts on the fan
When combined with the Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fan the Ultra 120 is a record setter. Not only does it match or surpass the excellent cooling of the Tuniq Tower 120, it also does so with lower noise at high fan speeds. That is always a winning combination. The Ultra 120 combo also matches the highest overclock seen with the test bed CPU at a stable 3.90 GHz.
The Thermalright Ultra 120 has earned an excellent reputation in the cooling market as one of the most effective heatpipe towers you can buy. Our tests indicate that reputation is fully deserved. While the Ultra 120 is a bit smaller than most of its competitors, it is at least as effective in cooling and in most cases even better. The quality of construction and finish is also impressive.
You don't seem to be risking hand slicing with the Ultra 120 in the way you do with many other heatpipe towers. The layout of the fins and the edge creases make snagging a hand much less likely. The installation is both logical and easy, and the installed Ultra 120 is exceptionally secure. With the Ultra 120 weighing in with fan at a bit over 2 pounds a secure installation becomes very important. We still don't recommend using the Ultra 120 in a system that will be constantly moved, such as a LAN Party PC, but it does appear this heatsink install is more secure and safer than most competing heatsink towers.
The price is also competitive with other top heatpipe tower designs, even when you consider the added cost of a separate 120mm fan purchase. Thermalright has made the Ultra 120 a decent value, and you will definitely be satisfied with the quality of the finished heatsink.
It is not completely fair to attribute all the good results to the Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink by itself. The Scythe S-Flex fan, which uses the Sony Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan motor, also contributes to the total performance. The S-Flex moves a lot of air with relative quiet. If you want even more quiet, down to 8dB-A, you can choose other models of the S-Flex or Noctua fans. Based on the performance as a fanless cooler, the Ultra 120 will be very effective when combined with any low-noise fan.
We still have a few coolers to test before we start naming names and rewarding the best coolers with our Editors Choice Awards. For now the Thermalright Ultra 120 and Tuniq Tower 120 reside at the top of our air cooling tests. Either unit will do an outstanding job of cooling a Core 2 Duo. If you lean toward the silence camp in cooling, then the recommendation tilts toward the Ultra 120, but you could always replace the excellent Tuniq fan with the even better Scythe S-Flex.
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Wesley Fink - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
I have changed the comment to "remove" air.A quick glimpse at www.newegg.com shows a number of power supplies with down-facing fans. Examples are the the OCZ GameXStream 700 at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., the Seasonic at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., the Coolermaster 550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., the Thermaltake 550w at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., the Raidmax at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., and the Enermax at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82....
Even at the low end you can find down-facing fans such as the Xion 500W, $29.95 after rebate at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., the house brand Rosewell 400w at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82..., and the Sparkle 350W at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82....
Fans which remove air from the CPU area are VERY common and not difficult to find.
johnsonx - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
I think you misunderstood the gist of my comment, but your correction to the article is indeed correct. I was making the point that the bottom fan of a power supply does not BLOW air onto the CPU area, rather it intakes air FROM that area. I'm well aware there are numerous such power supplies available (personally I prefer the ones that have both a bottom and a rear fan, but there are valid points both ways on that debate).Sometimes I try to be too creative in my phrasing, thus obfuscating my central point beyond recognition.
nilepez - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
Since you're reviewing HS, perhaps you need to test them all with the same fan (assuming they take the same fan size). Obviously some come with fans, and you'd want to test with the stock fan, but to make things equal, I think you need to pick a fan (Skythe, Noctua, Panaflo et al.) and test them all with that fan as well. Only then will we know what the best HS is.My guess is that Thermalright would still be up there, as they're generally one of the best HS makers (if not the best) out there.
Rocket321 - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
I would love to see a review of the Ultra 90 you mentioned on page 2. I'm hoping to find something a little lighter than these highend coolers without moving into the budget sector.ADDAvenger - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
I'd be interested in a review of that as wellorion23 - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
Thank you guys for another great review! Great Job!It's nice that these coolers are being tested with new setups (C2D) unlike many other sites that choose to test with "old hardware".
I've always been a fan of the Thermalright Ultra 120 which BTW has kept my 4ghz overclock (E6600) idling @ 28-35 and 50c under load. I tried a Tuniq Tower but the results were @ least 5c higher with the Tuniq!
Go Thermalright!
jonman03 - Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - link
I have to agree, we get alot of requests for these on our custom systems. Great cooler, looks great in windowed cases. What else could you ask for?http://www.plugcomputers.com">Custom Gaming Computers - Plug Computers
1111111 - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
A few minutes with a hacksaw works fine to remove a section of the fan posts. That's what I ended up doing with my Thermalright Ultra-120/Yate Loon D12SL-12.
Wesley Fink - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
Your suggestion works, and the hack saw works best if you have a vise to hold the fan while you saw. A jigsaw melts the plastic as it moves too fast and creates too much heat for the plastic as it cuts - so it does not work as well.HOWEVER, this is a review of a heatsink that does not come with a fan and the special fan post requirements need to be pointed out. Not everyone wants to do shop work on a fan before it will mount on a heatsink.
hiepbiz - Monday, March 5, 2007 - link
I wonder why you tested only the single fan setup. The design of the Ultra 120 definitely suggests a perfect push and pull combo. Also, you didn't mention about the mounting surface of the Ultra 120. It's known that Ultra 120 has a pretty much uneven surface (observable with unaided eyes). I had to lap mine to not only expose the copper surface but also to make the surface flat.The reason I brought this up because there are people that don't care about noise and would prefer a very high-performance air-cooling. If the dual setup and a more even mounting surface would help, I would think it would put the Ultra 120 head and shoulder above the Tuniq Tower for these people (that would include me).
I happened to own both Tuniq and Ultra 120, and I would say I prefer the flexibility the Ultra 120 offers.
Other than some of the minor points that I've pointed out, I would say that this review (and other recent HSF reviews) is an excellent one. Keep up the good work. BTW, I wonder when you're gonna do a piece on the Coolit Freezone.