Final ThoughtsSimply put, the cooling that can be achieved with this cooler cannot be beaten by any air-based cooler out on the market currently. That said, the downside to this extreme cooling is the noise and while this cooler will run whisper quiet it is pretty loud and very obtrusive when running flat out. I did however hope that I would be able to find a good compromise in between the two, but found with my set-up that this was quite hard to achieve as it had to run at a good 1500 RPM to have any effect on my overclocked CPU and with 2 fans running at this speed the volume is certainly cranking up. That said, you could replace the Antec fans and you might find that the Nexus or Akasa fans were quieter, but you would certainly lose that top-end airflow.
On a further note, I was surprised to see that the pre-applied thermal paste was not in the same league as the Antec Formula 6 or Formula 7. It is certainly not either of these compounds as the consistency is too thin. The pre-applied amount of thermal paste is very small and if, as I suspect, it is not the most expensive stuff out there, it will not allow the cooler to work to its full potential. To get the maximum out of this cooler I would recommend wiping the thermal paste clean and using some thermal paste that does not come with a product – although I would say this about all coolers as they pre-applied stuff tends to be very ‘run of the mill’.
For the price, the cooler does offer exceptional cooling, but be warned if you really want to cool an overclocked CPU then you will find that the noise level will have to significantly increase. If you are running a low TDP CPU and want an ultra quiet cooler then the Antec 920 in Silent mode will deliver.
Overall, I was very impressed, it is a very easy to install and clean system. While I may knock the sound-level on Extreme it does offer superior cooling. This system gives you the best of both worlds, both silent operation and extreme cooling, you just can’t have them both at the same time!
Pros
Cons
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