Titan Fenrir CPU Cooler Xmas Edition Review

Titan Fenrir CPU Cooler Xmas Edition Review

Manufacturer: Titan
UK Price (as reviewed): £35.06 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): N/A

Weight: 1,080g
Size (with fan): 107mm (W) x 124mm (D) x 156mm (H)
Fan Speed: 800 to 2,200rpm
Noise Level: 17.2 - 39dBA
Warranty: N/A
Supported Sockets: Intel LGA775, Intel LGA 1156, Intel LGA1366, AMD 754, 939, 940, AM2, AM2+, AM3

When the Titan Fenrir was released earlier this year it didn’t just make waves in the performance heatsink market; it tipped the gravy boat over, threw the sprouts off the table and pinched all the stuffing for itself. Finally here was a CPU cooler that not only delivered superb performance on any CPU, but did so affordably and quietly too, something which you’d previously have had to spend a serious chunk of change to accomplish.


Six months on and not much has appeared to rival the Fenrir when it comes to top cooling at a reasonable price tag and to celebrate its superb heatsink Titan has decided to deck the halls with copper heatpipes (falalalala-lalalala) and release a special Christmas edition of the Fenrir for us all to unwrap on Christmas day morning.

Heatsink fans will be pleased to note though that the only real difference between the Fenrir Xmas edition and the original heat demolishing monster is a change of colour scheme, with the fifty aluminium cooling fins now coming in an attractive red, silver and black combo rather than the plain silver of the original.

Other than the new vaguely festive colour scheme though, the Fenrir Xmas edition is still very much structurally the same as a standard Titan Fenrir. Four 8mm direct contact copper heatpipes handle the job of efficiently directing heat away from your CPU and into the stack of cooling fins above. The heatpipes have been well finished and flattened too, creating a flat and receptive surface for your CPU with minimal gaps between the heatpipes and the mounting block between them.


The cooling fins themselves are well secured to the heatpipes which run through them and sport curved edges to promote air turbulence when air is blown over them, optimising cooling. This works well when combined with the high density of cooling fans on display and allows the Fenrir to offer excellent high end cooling while keeping the cooler’s overall size small enough to fit underneath your Christmas tree.

The Fenrir’s manageable size and weight are particularly important when mounting the cooler, a process which remains extremely straight forward for LGA1366 users thanks to the excellent back plate based mounting mechanism. LGA775 and Socket AM2 are a little more difficult though, requiring the use of a custom back plate and more fittings to secure the cooler, although Titan wisely reuses the same mounting thumbscrews for all the Fenrir’s mounts, saving on parts.

The big new addition since we last looked at the Fenrir however is the support for Intel’s line of LGA1156 Lynnfield CPUs, a fact that will come as welcome news for those who’ve been looking for a high-end cooler to unlock more overclocking potential from their Intel Core i5-750. The LGA1156 mount doesn't use backplate, instead threading screws through the motherboard’s mounting holes and connecting the mounting standoffs to these. The cooler and it’s retention clip then attach to these standoffs via the universal thumbscrew mounts, a simple procedure that results in a firm and secure mount, albeit one that might require elf like fingers if you’re motherboard’s CPU socket is cramped.

The 120mm chrome effect cooling fan is still attached via mounting wires; making fitting it like topping off your well decorated Christmas tree, only with the option of PWM or 6V step down cable.The 120mm fan even manages to smell of tinsel (7/10 of those polled agreed), adding to the Fenrir Xmas edition's festive spirit.