Introduction

Since the release of the Core i7 processors, with a stock TDP of 130W, finding a cooler that can handle that task isn't as easy to accomplish as it should seem to be. I see a lot of people complaining of the high temps associated with i7 overclocking, some even finding this the perfect time to try their hand in water cooling for the first time in their building resume. With the release of the LGA1156 socket, or Core i5, we are blessed to see smaller TDP on some chips being as low as 95 watts at stock settings, while the upper echelon of the i5 line can have a TDP as high as 125watts. With this in mind most coolers on the market should be able to handle the heat output of the 95W TDP Core i5 market with no issues.

Now, Cooler Master has been making big strides to aid in this quest of superior cooling technology to apply to all this new tech available for us to get our upgrading hands on. We have seen quite a few coolers over the past year from Cooler Master; some did really well, while others were a bit below expectations. As a whole they have done a good job supplying the market with "alternatives" to the basic tower coolers. This time they take a step back and have used a simpler approach to cooling the Core i5 processors.

That leads me to why I am here. Cooler Master is releasing a new cooler to coincide with the release of all the new Core i5 goodies that are hitting the market as we speak. They are the first to offer me their solution to this matter, with the release of their newest cooler in the lineup. This cooler is part of the already well known Hyper lineup and shares a lot of its basic ideas from the Hyper TX2 Cooler Master has already released previously. This time their Core i5 cooler carries the Hyper TX3 moniker. It's time again where we fire up the T.E.C.C. and see just how well the Hyper TX3 does.