| Raidmax Glacier CPU Cooler
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Conclusion:
Who says size doesn't matter? The Raidmax Glacier is one of the largest heatsinks I have seen, and can cool processors with the best of them. The testing shows the Glacier outperforming the competition, and even with just one fan on low speed the performance is excellent! Installation is an easy task, even with the large size. With two fans running on high speed the noise is similar to a jet engine, but you can't really complain after seeing the numbers.
The one negative thing I can say about this heatsink, which is a major one, is that the included fan quit working at low speeds. I was initially willing to assume the fan failure was an isolated incident, as the limited availability of this cooler makes it hard to find other instances of fan failures. But then I found something while searching PriceGrabber (link) for more information on pricing. The only listing of this cooler for sale is from Newegg.com, where one unhappy customer has posted a few 'reviews' of his own. His initial Glacier had a fan that died after one day, and although it seems that Raidmax quickly sent him a replacement, it then died after 2 days! With our sample, we now have three strikes.
Even if you decide that you can not trust the stock fan (which you shouldn't), all is not lost with this cooler. Thermalright doesn't provide fans with their coolers (such as the XP-120 used in this review), and leaves it up to the consumer to select their own. Perhaps this is the road Raidmax should take, and at the same time shave a few dollars off the price. Adding your own 120mm fan (or two) to the Glacier is not a problem, and the test results indicate that this cooler is a solid choice, able to outperform the well respected Thermalright XP-120.
Our findings were of course brought up to Raidmax, and they confirmed that they had recently become aware of the issue with the fan. They state that all units are now being shipped with a new fan that doesn't have the problems that the original fan had. Bigbruin.com will be receiving one of these fans to test, and we will post an update sometime in the near future regarding our findings.
After some searching on PriceGrabber, the only place that had the Raidmax Glacier in stock and for sale was Newegg.com, where it retails for $50. The only other store that turned up in other searches was Xoxide.com, and there it has been discontinued.
Now check the price of the Thermalright XP-120 (link). Roughly the same price as the Raidmax Glacier, and you do not receive a fan or fan controller. If you were considering the XP-120 previously, you would be well justified buying the Glacier and the same fan you intended to use on the XP-120. It would wind up costing the same, but the performance may be better!
If the cooler shipped without a fan, it might have earned 5 out of 5 stars, but averaging that with 1 out of 5 stars based on the serious issue of the fan failure, we arrive at our final score. Overall I give the Raidmax Glacier 3 out of 5 stars based on the incredible overall performance being tempered by the fan failure. Raidmax acknowledging the problem and switching to a new fan is a good step, but we will have to wait to see how the new one does before we get too excited.
Final Rating (3 out of 5 stars): 
Pros:
• Excellent performance
• Can use one or two 120mm fans
• Ultra quiet with one fan on low speed
• Does not compromise performance with only one fan
• Fan comes with external speed control knob
Cons:
• Fan stopped running while computer was in use
• Buy your own fan (or look for new model provided by Raidmax)
• Very loud when configured with dual 120mm fans
• Very large (might interfere with some setups)
Special thanks to Raidmax for providing the Glacier CPU 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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