Thermaltake V14 Pro CPU Cooler
A Closer Look
Based upon first impressions, the Thermaltake V14 Pro is an unusual looking beast. Resembling what can only be described as a clam shell, the V14 Pro isn’t going to appeal to everyone’s tastes. However, if the V14 Pro is able to effectively tame my Q6600 and maintain good temperatures, then it could resemble a kitchen sink for all I care – function over form any day!
The first thing that you’ll notice about the Thermaltake V14 Pro is the impressive amount of copper fins and snaking heatpipes. The only parts of this CPU cooler that aren’t copper are the plastic 140mm fan and the aluminium plate above the base. Generally the V14 Pro feels quite solid, although the copper fins are very easily bent.
The Thermaltake V14 Pro’s 140mm fan sits snugly between the two halves of the clam shell design, but the overall design intrigues me somewhat. With a cross-flow design CPU cooler you would want to be maximising the air flow generated by the fan, and this would be achieved through a fan shroud in a conventional fan. As the 140mm fan in the V14 Pro doesn’t have a fan shroud, I can’t help but feel that a significant amount of air flow generated will be blown out the sides of the CPU cooler. I guess we’ll have to wait and see during the tesing phase of the review as to whether we get any major air flow loss, and whether it proves to be detrimental to the performance of the CPU cooler itself.
The copper base of the V14 Pro is very well lapped and features a mirror finish which can be seen from the image above (left). Those with a keen eye will also notice that the Thermaltake V14 Pro has an adjustable pot (potentiometer) for adjusting the fan speed, instead of catering for PWM control. Thermaltake has finished off the V14 Pro very nicely with the inclusion of cable sleeving on the wiring for the 140mm fan . The cable sleeving is neatly held in position by some tidy heat-shrink works that covers all of the visible cable.
Well that concludes our tour of the Thermaltake V14 Pro, so let’s head over the page to see how we’re going to test it…
