NZXT Respire T20 CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

It has been quite a long time for me since I have mentioned air cooling and NZXT in the same sentence, but today that all changes. The last inception of an air cooler we had looked at from them was the HAVIK series of CPU coolers, and if memory serves me correctly, they were really good solutions for the time they were released. This time around with the new Respires Series of CPU coolers, the idea is to be compact using as many heat pipes as could be used in such tight confines to deliver , in their words, "ultra-high thermal transfer performance". While trying to stay within the tiny space allowed for tower coolers without cutting into other things like memory or hitting a GPU, this cooler should "vanquish heat without breaking the bank".

My first thought as I was reading the features page of the cooler was that "compact" doesn't mean it will perform poorly, just look at the Hyper 212 line. There are a lot of things that come into play, and as long as you get most of them right, you should be able to keep almost any processor in a reasonable temperature range. It isn't all about CFM these days, more coolers are relying on static pressure to rid new towers of the heat accumulated there, taking a page from the book of Noctua. Since I am already aware of the specifications, I can say the fan that comes along is capable in both CFM as well as static pressure, so it seems we should be good to go.

The new line of Respire Series coolers from NZXT comes with two offerings. First, and the one we will be looking at today, is a three pipe variant labeled the T20. There is also a slightly larger four pipe solution in the T40 that we will be looking at as well very soon.

As I said, these both were placed on the market to be affordable solutions with a bit of style, that should not just replace the ugly stock cooler, but as described, should allow a bit of headroom to overclock the CPU a bit. On that note, I say we look at the details, cruise through the images and get right down to what the Respire T20 is going to offer its users.