Thermaltake Toughair 310 CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look

Out of the box, the first thing that strikes you regarding the Toughair 310 is that this is when compared to many other air cooler designs, quite small. However, while not exactly tiny, it abundantly clear from the size that this cooler should be entirely suitable for the vast majority of PC systems. Before we get onto the testing, however, let’s take a closer look at some of the individual components that make up the overall design.

Contact Plate

Despite this being quite a small cooler design, Thermaltake has certainly managed to pack a lot of action into the contact plate. Usually, you would only expect to see 3 heat pipes leading away from each side for a product this small. However, as you can see below, we have four here, which is certainly impressive of the potency available in such a small package.

Radiator

The radiator stack itself is surprisingly compact despite those four heat pipes, but in terms of aesthetics, Thermaltake has really done an excellent job here. With its sleek stainless steel design with black highlights, this looks exceptionally impressive.

To compensate for the small size of the radiator, Thermaltake has been very clever in designing the fins to allow for maximum coverage while still keeping the overall design as minimalistic as possible. So while I could attempt to explain it myself, I’ll let Thermaltake themselves have a go:

“The fin is designed with an asymmetric structure that allows larger air intake through the fins. This design lowers the air turbulence and straightens out the airflow making it easier to disperse heat from the fins, delivering superb cooling performance.”

The top of the radiator comes with a plastic case shrouding with their logo nicely located to the centre. Although this is a small point in the overall design, this is without a doubt one of the nicest aesthetic aspects of the Thermaltake Toughair 310. If anything, it proves that even without RGB/ARGB (which many would argue has become something of a crutch to hide an otherwise bland exterior), they are a manufacturer entirely capable of making a product stand up visually on its own two legs (metaphorically speaking).

Fan

As the name might’ve already suggested, presuming you’re familiar with Thermaltake products, the Toughair 310 comes equipped with a TOUGHFAN 12. This is a recent launch by the company as their new premium fan design, and, as such, seeing it here is certainly indicative that performance is a key factor.

We have seen this fan utilized before, and we should note, is available to buy individually as a case cooling fan upgrade. With its sleek black and off-silver colouring, this should be a perfect accompaniment to the radiator. Not only in terms of visuals but also in shifting that all-important heat away as quickly as possible.

Overall

As an assembled design, the Thermaltake Toughair 310 looks absolutely fantastic. The fan and radiator complement each other fantastically, not only in visuals but in providing near-total coverage of the fins. All in all, this should translate into some potentially excellent test results.

While there is a little branding here and there, Thermaltake has made wise choices in where it goes and how big it is. Overall, it seems to add to the aesthetic rather than detract, which is a pitfall/mistake many other manufacturers make, particularly in their air cooler products.

In terms of size, the Toughair 310 is amazingly slim with it fully assembled being no more than around 3 inches thick. As such, although not specifically a key highlight of this design, we see absolutely no reason at all why this shouldn’t offer near-total 100% RAM compatibility.

So, as a whole and individually, the Thermaltake Toughair 310 looks to be an exceptionally potent cooler in a pleasantly small and pretty package. Looks are, however, one aspect of this review. So, let’s see just how easy (or difficult) this is to install!