OCZ Vanquisher CPU Cooler

There are lots of pretenders to the ‘silent’ title out there – manufacturers who unscrupulously brand their products as ‘silent’ when they barely qualify as ‘quiet’. We’re pleased to report that the OCZ Vanquisher is not one of these – for a modest processor with low TDP, the Vanquisher is a great option for silent cooling on a budget. In fact, even under full load on our test rig, the Vanquisher kept our 65-watt CPU at positively chilly temperatures. We’d recommend this cooler for users who value silence, and don’t aggressively overclock their rigs, though we have no doubt that the Vanquisher could support a respectable overclock in exchange for a slight increase in noise. The 1-year warranty is also appreciated – the warranty is long enough to protect against most bad units.

Our experience with the Vanquisher cooler was bittersweet, however – we did manage to accidentally strip out one of the screws that attached the LGA 775 brackets, and the Socket AM2 mounting clip didn’t allow us to choose the direction of airflow (we prefer front-to-back, not vertical). Also, the Vanquisher’s fan isn’t removable or replaceable – if you don’t like the fan, you’re stuck with it. And if the fan fails out of warranty, the whole cooler goes in the trash. For a bit more money, you can have the OCZ Vendetta, which offers a similar 92mm ceramic-bearing fan (which is replaceable), and a more optimized fin structure.

Overall, we feel that the OCZ Vanquisher is an excellent value, and definitely deserves your highest consideration where excellent thermal performance with low noise is desired. We award the OCZ Vanquisher an overall score of 7/10, because we did manage to break it, and we had a few beefs with aspects of its Socket AM2 clip, but in the end we find that its merits outweigh its faults.

Pros
• Great value
• Extremely low noise
• Good thermal performance
• Attractive Styling

Cons
• Some marginal hardware
• Socket AM2 mounting lacks flexibility
• Base was not particularly smooth

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