Akasa Venom Voodoo CPU Cooler Review

The Voodoo doesn’t manage to keep pace with the mighty Cooler Master V6GT but its performance is very much on par with Xigmatek’s Aegir SD128264 and Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 Plus which retail at around £35/$60 and £20/$25, respectively. Cooler Master have a price vs performance champion in the 212 Plus which even Akasa’s offerings can’t match. Looking at the competitor’s results from a price vs performance point of view, the £40/$60 Akasa offering may not be considered a particularly appealing buy, but we do have to remember that a cooler which ‘punches above its own weight’ as much as the Hyper 212 Plus does is very rarely seen. As we know though, performance isn’t the be all and end all of any modern day computer component.

One major issue that came to our attention was that the sheer area of 6 6mm heatpipes makes it very difficult for all of a CPU’s heat to be distributed evenly between them. On our LGA 1155 Core i7 2600K processor, the relatively modest size of the heat spreader meant that only 4 heatpipes were in direct contact at any one time. We feel that this is a rather large concern which is down to the H.D.T. design rather than Akasa’s engineering or quality control. The issue will be less significant on a CPU with a larger heat spreader area such as the upcoming LGA 2011 processors as well as some of AMD’s AM3 offerings, but it is still a concern nevertheless.

Some may disagree, but I think that the appearance of the Venom Voodoo is rather aesthetically pleasing. The bright fan blades are an attractive contrast to their smooth black frames. The lemon yellow and black design continues to the heatsink’s top mounted shroud with the addition of a silver ‘Venom’ badge. The Venom Voodoo is unlikely to fit in with a build looking for extreme elegance, but any gaming styled system would be a great home for it.

Relatively quiet operation and ease of installation are both strong points for the Voodoo. We didn’t run into any major installation problems with the simple process and clear instruction guide. Operating at a slightly lower noise output than the similarly performing Aegir and being significantly quieter than the V6GT, we are pleased to report that Akasa’s fan choice and unique installation method worked very well.

Supporting every modern Intel and AMD platform including the upcoming LGA 2011 socket, mounting compatibility and future proofing are areas that you need not worry about with the Venom Voodoo. The cooler’s size however is substantial and demands a case which can accept this 163.5mm tall brute. RAM clearance is also another possible issue as 2 of our motherboard’s 4 DIMM slots were covered when using this cooler, proving that low profile RAM modules are a must.

We had high hopes for Akasa’s Venom Voodoo ever since setting eyes upon the original design with its 6 heat pipe H.D.T. base and dual 2200 RPM fan glory. Unfortunately, our expectations weren’t met entirely but we weren’t disappointed either. The Venom Voodoo is a good CPU cooler which is worthy of extensive thought when choosing the perfect £40/$60 CPU cooler for your needs.