Thermalright Venomous-X CPU Cooler Review

Performance analysis

Just in case you missed it earlier, we used first one, and then two Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm fans to test the Venomous-X with. These were the best fans we found in our 120mm fan group test. We also used a very high-airflow fan to see if that made a difference.

Obviously a key question for the Venomous-X is how it compares to the Ultra Extra 120 (aka the TRUE) - and truth be told, it struggles to decisively unseat its predecessor. Fitted with a low noise Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000RPM fan a load delta T of 56°C is disappointing considering the Venomous-X’s £50 price tag - it's way off where it needs to be in order to be a competitive product. Adding an ultra high CFM six amp 120mm fan changes things around though, with the Venomous-X delivering a top end delta T of just 48°C when at load. Clearly the cooling potential is there then, but is very much reliant on which fan you choose to use with the cooler.

On LGA1156, the Venomous-X fared worse, with a load delta T of 38°C with one Silent Eagle attached, of 37°C with two, and of 34°C with the high-airflow fan. In comparison, the Fenrir was able to keep the CPU to 30°C with its fan at full speed and to 38°C at low speed.

The idle temperatures are worth looking at too, as they give some clue as to the cause of the Venomous-X’s surprisingly mediocre cooling. With idle Delta Ts of no lower than 13°C, compared to the 8°C of the Fenrir, it just doesn’t seem that the heat is being transferred from the CPU into the cooling fins as effectively as possible.

Value

If you factor in the price of even one decent fan added (£10 or so), let alone two, the Venomous-X costs roughly what a low-cost water-cooler such as the Corsair H50 costs. The Venomous-X plus a Silent Eagle would also costs very nearly twice what a Titan Fenrir does. Even the superior, if older, Ultra 120 eXtreme 1366 RT (and its effective fan) now costs £45.

Conclusion

It’s tough at the top; a phrase that applies as much heatsinks and computer components as any other field. Following up on a product as dominant as the TRUE was always going to be tough, especially considering the high quality competition that’s emerged in the last few years. The Venomous-X's cooling performance is heavily dependent on the fan it's fitted with - fit an ultra high CFM model and with some CPUS (LGA1366 models) it's capable of outperforming the Fenrir and the TRUE - but only by a slender margin. On LGA1156 CPUs, performance is even more mixed, with the Fenrir and a Zalman model outperforming it. The Venomous-X's lack of overwhelming cooling superiority becomes all the more critical when you factor in its price, and the cost of the high CFM fans it needs. It's an underwhelming and ultimately disappointing follow up to the TRUE, and the Fenrir is still the high performance cooler to beat.

In our opinion, the Venomous-X is very, very expensive, too. At £15 more than the TRUE and £20 more than the Titan Fenrir, it's a hard sell, especially as we imagine these competing coolers would have the better of the Venomous-X if fitted with a similarly high CFM fan as the one we’ve used here. Lots of potential then, but the high price and keenly priced competition still don’t do the Venomous-X any favours, and it remains an expensive product that offers little advantage over its predecessor or the competition.

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Ease of Use
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 4/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• -
• 6/10

Score Guide