Thermaltake is one of the brands to consider when making an upgrade to your computer's case, power supply, or the cooling solution for a variety of system components. They've been around for about ten years now, and over that time they've definitely earned a reputation for quality and innovation in the product categories mentioned above, as well as a few others.

The is review is going to take a look at one of their newer CPU coolers, the BigTyp 14 Pro. Thermaltake has had a line up of "Big Typhoon" coolers with similar designs to the BigTyp 14 Pro, and my assumption is that they have just dropped the "hoon" and the space between the words for this latest variation.



The promotional image above provides an overview of the this rather interesting cooler. In a market that is presently dominated by heatpipe tower coolers, the horizontally mounted fan may be the first feature that catches your eye. If not that, then maybe you'll notice that the fan measures a whopping 14cm in diameter, or that the there are twelve copper heatpipes taking heat from the base to the cooling fins.

Before taking a closer look at the Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro CPU cooler, let's take a look at some of its features and specifications taken from the official product page.

Features:

» Strong Cooling Structure:
   With mirror coating copper base, 6 copper heatpipes,supports up to TDP 130W
» 14cm Giant Fan with Blue LED
   The downward flow big fan covers more area to help system cooling not only for CPU
» VR Fan Function
   Allows you to adjust the fan speed for your need
» Completely Silent
   14cm fan could make good cooling effect at only low fan speed and generate minimum noise
   at the same moment
» Universal Clip
   For the mainstream PC platforms such as LGA775 and AM2 sockets

Specifications:

» Compatibility:
   » Intel Core 2 Extreme (Socket LGA775)
   » Intel Core 2 Quad (Socket LGA775)
   » Intel Core 2 Duo (Socket LGA775)
   » Intel Pentium D (Socket LGA775)
   » Intel Pentium 4 (Socket LGA 775)
   » Intel Celeron D (Socket LGA775)
   » Intel Celeron (Socket LGA775)
   » AMD Phenom (Socket AM2+)
   » AMD Athlon 64 FX (Socket AM2/939)
   » AMD Athlon 64 X2 (Socket AM2/939)
   » AMD Athlon 64 (Socket AM2/939/754)
   » AMD Sempron (Socket AM2/754)
» Heatsink Dimension: 156(L) x 155(W) x 128(H) mm
» Heatsink Material: Aluminum Fins w/ Copper Heatpipes & Base
» Heatpipe: Ø 6 mm x 12
» Fan Dimension: Ø 140 x 30 mm
» Fan Speed: 1000 ~ 1600 RPM
» Bearing Type: ----
» Noise Level: 16 ~ 24 dBA
» Max. Air Flow: 85.76 CFM
» Max. Air Pressure: 1.60 mmH2O
» LED Fan: Blue LED
» Power Connector: 3 Pin
» Rated Voltage: 12 V
» Started Voltage: 7 V
» Rated Current: 0.32 A
» Power Input: 3.84 W
» MTBF: 50,000 Hours
» Weight: 800 g

There is a bunch of useful information provided, but the thing I am most interested in is the assertion that it is "completely silent". A 14cm fan should be able to move plenty of air while spinning slowly enough to be rather quiet, but we'll see if it can be operated in complete silence. The fan has a built in speed controller, and with a speed range of 1000-1600 RPM, I am hopeful to find a good balance of noise and cooling performance.