| Thermalright HR-01 Passive CPU Cooler
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Conclusion:
The Thermalright HR-01 would be perfect for a HTPC, or any situation where you need your computer to be at its absolute quietest. With no fan on the HR-01, the processor cooler makes absolutely no noise. I was initially concerned that it would not be able to cool my Opteron 148 sufficiently, but in my tests I received a 10 degrees Celsius drop from the stock AMD CPU cooler. Considering its performance in the review, I would say that this cooler should be able to keep your processor nice and cool.
I have been hard pressed to find a negative on items before, but this one is probably the hardest to come up with. The only negative I can think of is due to its size, but then again, that is what gives it the great cooling ability. Just be sure you have plenty of room for this cooler between your motherboard and your side panel, and you won't have any issues. Another consideration is to remember to have plenty of room around the cooler, especially if you install a fan, or have taller DDR (like the Corsair PRO Series). My Thermaltake Tai-Chi with a 120mm fan on the side panel would not close with the fan added to the HR-01. However, I can not hold that against the HR-01 as it is not included with the install.
If you are looking to quiet a computer that is not overclocked, I can easily recommend the Thermalright HR-01. Thermalright mentions that the HR-01 can take the abuse that overclockers dish out. I would be cautious about using this on a computer that is overclocked. However, the temperatures I received in my tests still allow for some additional heat generation that would be produced by overclocking. Just watch the temperatures, and you should not have any issues.
The HR-01 is just starting to hit the market, and isn't as widely available as many of Thermalright's items. Thermalright has a suggested retail price of $49.95 for this cooler, and you can find it for that price or less at places like jab-tech.com, sidewindercomputers.com, and heatsinkfactory.com.
I am really impressed by the cooling properties of the HR-01.Overall I have to give this 4.5 out of 5 stars...
"Recommended" for silence.
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
» Easy installation
» Good cooling performance
» Option to add fan and fan duct
» Noiseless
Cons:
» Potentially too tall for some installations
» No fan clips included
Special thanks to Thermalright for providing the HR-01 processor cooler to Bigbruin.com for review!
Please drop by the Bigbruin.com Forum and feel free to post any comments or questions.
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