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Next up is a far more sophisticated cooler from GlacialTech: the Turbine 4500. As you can see from the picture it really does look like a turbine, with an 80mm ball bearing fan fitted on each side. The fans are low noise and the two ar quieter than the single fan on the Ultra cooler. Each fan has its own power cable, which can either be connected to a motherboard header or a Molex connector.

The Turbine 4500 not only works with Socket-478 processors but also with Socket-603/4, which is for Xeon processors. The installation procedure on a Socket-478 is not that straightforward though, as you have to remove the plastic bracket that holds a standard cooler in place and fit the supplied ones. The supplied brackets are of the Socket-603/4 type so if you have a Xeon there's no need to change this. The metal clips are also much harder to fit than the normal ones due to the construction of the clips.

The Turbine 4500 has three heatpipes running from the bottom to the top of the cooler. These should help improve the cooling performance by moving the heat away from the CPU and in to the cooler. However, I was disappointed with the results. Using the same test platform as the Ultra cooler the idle temperature was much higher at 46 degrees Celsius and after five minutes of 100 per cent CPU load the Turbine 4500 hit 62 degrees.

Nor it is much quieter than the Ultra cooler. It is however, much more awkward to install. But the real downer is that it’s expensive too, at £43.29 - about four times the price of the Ultra. Low noise is all well and good but at this price I’d stick to a slightly louder cooler with better performance.

Manufacturer: GlacialTech
www.glacialtech.com

Supplier: Selwyn Electronics
www.selwyn.co.uk
Price £43.29

Score: 6

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