Cooler Master V10 Hybrid T.E.C. CPU Cooler
| Cooling your computer is one of the most important tasks when it comes to building it. If you want the computer to last any decent amount of time, you will want to make sure that your selecting the best cooling products for your configuration. The CPU is the most important component to keep cool, so choosing the right CPU cooler is a must. CPU coolers come in all shapes and sizes, not to mention types. Although air coolers are the most commonly used coolers, they are not always the best option for everyone. Today we are going to look at the Cooler Master Hybrid TEC cooler which combines two types of cooling, the standard air cooling and thermalelectic cooling. Will this combination prove to be a worthy option for users? Read on to find out. |
First Impression |
| When looking for the best CPU cooler for your configuration, you have to take several things into consideration. The most important part is choosing a cooler that will be able to handle what you plan on throwing at your CPU. All though a small air cooler might be sufficient for some, it’s not going to offer enough performance for Joe to take his Core i7 past 4GHz. So take a little time to figure out what your end goal is going to be with your computer. If you’re going to plan on OCing one of the latests processors on the market, make sure you look at coolers that can handle the kind of heat you’re going to be generating with your CPU. I personally always like to go a little overboard on the CPU coolers I select. If I think a standard air cooler will just get me by, I’m probably going to jump up to the next level (water cooling, or TEC cooling). And for the really hard core users, there are a few more options.
The Cooler Master V10 CPU Cooler is a Hybrid TEC cooler. They have mated a dual 120mm fan air cooler design with a TEC cooler which is stated to offer 200 watts of cooling power. Now the Cooler Master V10 is not the first CPU cooler to offer a Air / TEC combination, but they have put a slight spin on the coolers design as compared to the other options available. So let’s dig in and see just what we get.   The Cooler Master V10 comes packaged and a fairly large black box that shows the top section of the cooler across the front. Looking at the box itself, one will easily find that it isn’t just a plain ol cardboard box. It’s a bit thicker than most to offer a bit more protection to the massive V10 cooler that it holds. Flipping the box around to the rear we will find a full list of the specifications listed along with the key features of the V10.
 Once you crack open the box you will find the V10 well sandwiched in a dense foam compartment. The V10 is probably one of the best packed coolers I have seen to date. It would really take some effort to physically damage the cooler while its still boxed. Looking at the above image, we can see that the brackets and accessories are tucked into a little pocket in the foam. When you go to remove the V10 from its little home, you might find it a bit of a challenge. I simply cheated and cut two slits down the side of the foam to relieve a little pressure and allow the cooler to slip right out.
 With the Cooler Master V10 removed from the packaging, we can get an idea of just how big it is. This is one of the biggest coolers on the market up there with Cooler Masters Gemin II, which wasn’t on the small side. Looking at the above image, we can see one of the two included 120mm fans. This one will sit just above the Memory area of your board, and offer a little air flow to help cool the memory modules and surrounding area.
 Here we catch a glimpse at the side profile of the V10 along with the included contents. Cooler Master has included some of their Thermal Fusion thermal paste, a pamphlet about TEC cooling, the Warranty pamphlet, the User Manual, and the hardware accessories bag. From looking at the size of the Cooler Master V10, one would thinking right off that cooling performance shouldn’t be an issue. The V10 has a total of 10 heatpipes that transfer the heat from the base up to the two sections of cooling fins, with each having its own 120mm LED fan. My biggest concern is going to be the size of the V10. It is going to definitely be limited to what chassis it can be installed in. I will be using one of popular Cooler Master Cosmos-S chassis for testing, which might pose to be a problem with the large side fan. We will have to see how that plays out later on. Features: Extreme Innovative Engineering Design
Optimal Cooling Technology
Specifications:
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