Right then.
Here we go.
Do you consider yourself a clever consumer?
When you want to buy a component do you spend the time to Google search for every review you can find?
Do you belong to more than one tech forum and soak up all the info you can?
Do you obsessively ask questions/seek opinions before a major ( or even minor, for that matter) purchase?
Well, me too.
How many times have you done all this... done the research, asked the questions, made your decision, bought the item and still felt completely ripped off by the reality of the item?
For me, the answer is "Quite often".
I have boxes of stuff that was touted as the latest and greatest only to turn out to be mediocre or riddled with odd qualities never mentioned in the reviews.
From fans to heatsinks, HDD coolers to cases, much of the merchandise sold for computers has simply failed to meet my expectations. And trust me, after I have shelled out my hard-earned cash for something I want it to be good. I bend over backwards to like what I've just bought.
A friend of mine on another forum recently suffered just such an experience.
After months of searching for a new case he finally bent to popular advice and purchased a Lian-li.
If you are not familiar with Lian-li, they are generally considered to be the Cadillac of cases....a pioneer in aluminum construction with removable motherboard trays and all the best bells and whistles.
The eagerly anticipated delivery day finally arrived and now, one week later, he literally cannot stand the case and is actively trying to sell it.
All the advertised features were there...that's not the problem.
What no one mentioned was how flimsy it is, how thin the sheetmetal is, how cheesy it feels.
For the big bucks ( Lian-li's ain't cheap) he paid he feels completely underwhelmed.
I know the feeling.
My personal PC fetish is cooling.
From fans to heatsinks I've explored as deeply as I could.
Air to water, I am eager to experience it all.
This has lead me to try several different HS solutions, most recently the Thermaltake SilentTower.
This unit would seem to have it all....a huge finned area to dissipate heat fed by heatpipes from a copper base. The stock 92mm fan can be augmented by a second fan should you desire.
Reviews were mixed, I admit this up front.
I decided to try it anyway.
If you've read this far, this is not going to be a review of the HS...that will come later...just bear with me a bit longer.
I was incredibly disappointed.
For many reasons.
I removed the heatsink and went back to my beloved Zalman 7000cu.
After thinking about it for a while I was going to write a scathing review and post it here.
Then I thought a bit more and decided to try something else.
Something better, I hope.
Perhaps, I thought, the fault lay with me and my particular setup.
Frankly, I doubt it, but it's certainly possible.
So...
I have contacted another member of our World, and he has agreed to install and test the heatsink on his PC.
He will then post his own review of the SilentTower.
I shall be sending the sink to him on Thursday ( probably) and in the fullness of time he will reveal his identity ( or not, that's up to him) and his results.
This should provide a fair and balanced evaluation of this particular item...something that is sadly lacking in tech forums, I think.
I'm excited about this experiment, to my knowlege this has never been done here before and it should be interesting to see what comes of it.
I'll be working on my assessment of the SilentTower over the next few days, Part Two ( the mystery reviewer) will follow as time and circumstance permits.
That's about it.
As you were.
