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Thermalright IFX-14 CPU Cooler Review

Cooling/CPU Cooling by jmke @ 2008-02-11

CPU coolers keep growing in size, this monster from Thermalright is proof of that. The Inferno Fire eXtinguisher is a heatsink large enough to accommodate up to three 140mm fans! Furthermore it comes with a separate smaller heatsink which sole purpose is to keep the backside of the CPU socket cool. Will this powerhouse CPU cooler grab first spot in our performance charts? Time to find out!

Intro, Specs and In the Box

Introduction

Whenever Thermalright announces a new PC component cooling product the enthusiast market holds its breath, waiting to see if the latest addition will be a kick-ass product as they have come to expect.

Thermalright has been in the thermal management business for quite some time now, as early as the first AMD Athlon’s, as time goes by the heat output of CPU went up steadily and companies like Thermalright were forced to redesign their heatsinks, making them bigger and bolder, to cope with the little furnaces, we call our CPUs.

Today’s product continues the tradition of “bigger is better”, the aptly named IFX-14 stands for “Inferno Fire eXtinguisher”, with a name like that you are sure to impress, but only if the product itself is worthy. Here’s where the “14” part of the name comes into play, the IFX is build to fit fans up to 140mm in size. While we have tested a 140mm capable heatsink in the past, this one from Thermalright is a tower cooler, and there's not only room for one, but up to three of these 140mm fans.

But wait, there’s more, if the massive size and fan support don’t impress you yet, you can find a second tower heatsink in the package, which sole purpose is to remove heat from the backside of the motherboard’s CPU area.

Our stress tests today will prove whether the IFX-14 is overkill for your PC or not. But before we continue we have to acknowledge that this article could not have been possible without the help of a dedicated enthusiast webshop. PC-Cooling, based in Germany, send us this Thermalright cooler to play with, thanks guys!

Specifications

Heatsink Body

Dimension : L146.2 x W124 x H161 mm (heatsink only)

Weight: 790g (heatsink only)

Recommended Fan : All 120mm & 140mm Fan

Back-side Heatsink

Dimension : L134.5 x W163.5 x H112.6 mm (heatsink only)

Weight : 130g (heatsink only)

Recommended Fan : All 80mm & 70mm Fan

Compatibility

INTEL: All Intel Socket LGA775 processors

AMD: Athlon64 / FX / X2 / Opteron Socket AM2 processors

Packaging and In the Box

The IFX-14 ships in Thermalright’s standard packaging, but mega-sized:

Madshrimps (c)

Inside you’ll find the following components:

Madshrimps (c)

Thermalright IFX-14 Heatsink

Thermalright IFX-10 Heatsink

Two pairs of fan mounting clips

Installation manual for S775/AM2

Mounting gear for S775/AM2

Tube of Thermal Paste

Rubber strips for fan mounting (vibration reduction)

Double sided thermal tape (for HR-10)

A Thermalright Sticker

Let’s take a closer look at the beast ->

Comment from Rutar @ 2008/02/11

A Q6600 at 1.6V above 3 Ghz would be bette to test, 138W isn't that much for todays quadcore standards. I like those passive results tought.

Comment from geoffrey @ 2008/02/11

Jmke has been using Prescott all the way, it's not easy repeating every test, again and again, whenever a new generation of CPU's hit your local retailer. The Prescott is off the older generation Prescott CPU's and does produce quite an amount of heat for heatsinks to deal with, heck the high differences in our chart. Why would you want to use 1,6V with your air cooled Q6600, do you really want that extra clock in favor of such high voltage?

Comment from jmke @ 2008/02/11

what's the TDP of Intel's highest end Quad Core?

Comment from Rutar @ 2008/02/11

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmke

what's the TDP of Intel's highest end Quad Core?

125W stock, Overclocked and overvoltet, a lot more is possible.

Comment from jmke @ 2008/02/11

125W for Q6600? the QX6750 scores lower? what about QX9750 and QX9770 ?

Comment from Rutar @ 2008/02/11

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmke

125W for Q6600? the QX6750 scores lower? what about QX9750 and QX9770 ?

http://www.golem.de/0710/55669.html

130W

Comment from Faiakes @ 2008/02/11

Nice!
But I think if one has the Ultra 120 Extreme there is no real need to upgrade to the IFX, is there?

Comment from jmke @ 2008/02/11

will be testing the Ultra-120 eXtreme soon, not sure if the IFX-14 is an upgrade

Comment from Kougar @ 2008/02/12

Argh, was thinking that was the Extreme in those results. Was a shocking difference between the regular and the Extreme versions, so I suspect the IFX-14 isn't going to last very long at the top of those results....

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