Misc

Review: Titan Fenrir EVO

Titan's Fenrir EVO is a big tower cooler whose looks live up to the macho name (a monstrous wolf from Norse mythology). The stack of fins are anodised a snazzy matt black with a copper-coloured section, and the top sports a wolf's-head logo. The basic construction is the same at the original Fenrir, with four 8mm copper heat pipes featuring Direct Touch, where the pipes are machined into the bottom of the heat spreader to touch your processor directly. Clipped to one side of the stack is a main change, a new fan that features nine kukri-shaped blades. Its main rival for looks, as well as layout, is Xigmatek's Thor's Hammer, which is similarly butch. The Fenrir EVO fits the latest generations of both Intel and AMD processors and computability includes LGA775, 1156 and 1366 as well as AM2 and AM3. The big bag of fittings includes all sorts of washers, bolts and some very sturdy plates. Fitting is easy – it screws down onto the supplied backplate using four big knurled nuts, which you can tighten by hand. On AMD systems you remove the retention frame completely and fit four posts instead, so no questionable spring clips here. It is a slightly cumbersome beast, you don't get heavyweight cooling without a big cooler, but its worth bearing in mind. At least it can be oriented in both directions if heat spreaders on your memory sticks try to spoil the party, although this isn't ideal for proper airflow. Our first test proved a failure, and we had to slip in some unspecified washers to get it to press down on the processor hard enough. That done, it proved itself highly capable. Our i7 930 test system was chilled to 32 degrees at idle. When we stressed all cores and left it to run while we made tea, it stabilised at 51.25 degrees. This is excellent stuff, and only a short way behind the twin fans of the excellent CoolerMaster V6 GT we tested at the same time (31.5 and 50 degrees). The new fan is supposed to be able to deliver higher pressure at low speeds, all down to the new blade shape, apparently. It's notably quiet, too. This is a big cooler for systems that need serious heat transfers. It looks the part, but it hasn't sacrificed style for performance; the Fenrir EVO cools things down very nicely indeed. We liked:The fittings are good and solid for both AMD and Intel. That aside, there's not a lot to complain about here. This new version of Fenrir will sell at the same price as original, which is good news as the original was pretty good value at £30.We disliked:To get much cooler than this you'll need a fair bit more fin and pipe, or two fans. This is one area we can moan about, because you can't fit a second fan without getting creative and knocking up a mounting yourself.Final word:That seals the deal then: the Fenrir EVO is an improvement on a cooler we already thought was good stuff.Related LinksRead more cooling reviewsTechRadar's Reviews GuaranteeRelated StoriesReview: Scythe Yasya SCYS-1000Review: Thermaltake Silent 1156Review: Gelid TranquilloReview: CoolIT Eco C240 A.L.C.Review: Cooler Master V6 GT

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