Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 CPU Cooler Review

Evercool has sent along a very budget friendly CPU cooling solution, the Evercool Venti HPQ-12025. Let's take a look as Chad puts it through its paces.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Evercool
12 minutes & 9 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 76%

The Bottom Line

While the Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 is indeed very affordable, we just feel that there are better bang for the buck coolers out there in this price range. While an effective cooler, we also don't think it is really capable of its rated TDP.

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

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After what seems like forever and a year ago, Evercool is once again sending us samples from their CPU cooling segment. In fact, it seems the last cooler we had the pleasure of looking at under the Evercool name was the Transformer 4, which we reviewed way back in the middle of 2009. With plenty of time between then and now, we hope Evercool has evolved along with the market, and is still offering coolers capable of handling the processors currently on the market. With five years since we last looked at their products, what they are doing now is anyone's guess.

What we have today is a single tower cooler that comes with a single fan to cool the tower of fins. We also know up front that this is an economically considerate solution, intended as a stock replacement with headroom still left over for a fair bit of overclocking. While most coolers in this category are very plain and have little to offer aesthetically, and typically offer push-pin style mounting, that is not what we see in this latest sample. Here, you are given a decent looking cooler, with good styling, and an embossed company name in the fins. It also comes with some very secure and easy to use hardware, so you can get the best out of this direct touch cooler with some ease.

Today we will be looking at Evercool's latest cooler to come to market, the Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 CPU cooler. Since we are going to be covering all of the specification soon enough, we will jump right to the point here: along with the Hyper 212 coolers, the Brocken ECO, the Enermax ETS-N30, and other budget friendly solutions, this cooler is a new contender to the throne. Now, let's see what the Venti is all about.

The chart provided by Evercool on their product page is, to be honest, kind of lame. We do get the overall dimensions of the cooler; we see it stands 160mm tall, only 125mm in width, and is a mere 68mm thick with the fan on the cooler, as the fin stack is 43mm in thickness. That is everything about the cooler, except for the weight of 588 grams shown at the bottom, and again, this is a measurement including the fan.

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There is no mention of the four 6mm heat pipes that are exposed in the base to make direct contact to the CPUs HIS. There is also no mention of the aluminum base that offers a bit of a pre-cooler, and a way to install the mounting hardware. They also do not even mention that the pipes are copper, and the fins are aluminum - let alone that we are given a stack of forty-six, 3.0mm thick fins, and that the top fin has the Evercool name embossed on top twice. Also, they neglect to mention there is no plating in play with this design; both the aluminum and copper used in this build are left in their natural states.

What we do see is a bunch of information on the EC12025H12EP fan included with the cooler. We find it spins on a patented EL bearing for longer life, expressed by the 60,000 hours of run time it is said to offer. We see this fan is capable of speeds from 800 RPM on the low-end, and up to 2200 RPM when maximum voltage is applied to them. We are also shown that at these speeds, airflow ranges from 35.05 to 75.13 CFM while delivering a maximum of 38.1 dBA of noise. What Evercool doesn't tell us is that the fan sports a black frame, it takes a four-pin connection for PWM control and speed sensing, and it has seven large, white blades to force air through the cooler's fin stack.

Finding the Evercool Venti on this side of the pond is a bit tough, as we only found four locations showing this cooler for sale. While Amazon.com does not currently stock this cooler, we were still able to ascertain its pricing. The best deal we found for the Venti HPQ-12025 just happens to be at Newegg.com, where it is listed for $29.99 with free shipping, which is very affordable.

This is a cooler that is easily within anyone's grasp, and we already know it does not take all that much to beat a stock cooler. So, now it's time to take a close look at the Evercool Venti HPQ12025 cooler, and put it through its paces to see just what sort of performance you should expect from this super economically friendly cooling option, and what we get for that investment.

Packaging

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The Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 ships in a cardboard box that is mostly white on the front. The white surface area allows the image of the cooler, naming, iconography, and features shown here to be easily distinguished.

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As we move around to the right side of the box, we see the white background has been replaced with black background. Here, the cooler's compatibility is listed at the top, followed by images of the installed cooler, and also by images of some of the features. In the bottom right corner, we also see dimensional renderings of the cooler, so you can be sure it will fit your setup prior to purchase.

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Around the back of the box, we find Evercool has duplicated the front panel almost exactly, with one exception: this side of the box does not indicate this cooler is LGA1150 ready with the large blue and silver notation at the top.

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Evercool uses the last panel on the packaging to draw out an extensive list of features found in the Venti, and it repeats these features in another language. The features' list, we find a specifications chart that is no better, or worse than the one we saw earlier.

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To keep the cooler safe during its travels, the cardboard box is, of course, the first line of defense against drops and stabbings. Inside of the box, we see clear plastic caps used on the sides of the cooler and the fan, keeping both away from the cardboard, and each other. One of our plastic caps was bent and crushed at the bottom, but the cooler and fan still arrived in perfect shape. As for the hardware, there is a thin box at the bottom that also helps to protect the HDT base design.

Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 CPU Cooler

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Our first look at the Evercool Venti is from the front, where we can see the four pipes coming out of the aluminium base at both sides. Two of the pipes are on the inside and the other two are on the outside; they all run through the forty-six aluminium fins in the stack of this single-tower design.

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The sides offer a very thin profile. We can see the pipes run very close together, and we also see there are two runs of folded tabs like the ones across the front to help keep the fin spacing exactly the way it was when the Venti left the factory.

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Here we laid the Venti down to get a good feel for the fin design at the back. The outsides are thicker where the fan frame will rest, and then it angles inward until it runs into the large V-shaped section in the middle. This is all done in an attempt to maximize the efficiency of that 78 CFM the fan provides.

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We chose to show the last thinner side of the Venti like this for two reasons. First, it is much easier to see the grooves cut down the middle that will eventually hold fan clips. The second reason is that from this point of view, we can also tell the aluminum fins are pressed over the pipes.

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The aluminum base plate has a triple purpose design. Not only does it space and secure the copper heat pipes, but it also offers a pre-cooler design at the top, and it is also where you mount the hardware to the Venti, at either side in the provided threaded holes.

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Flipping the cooler onto its top, we can get a great view of the HDT base offered here. The pipes are run through the base with aluminium between them, but the entire surface is milled at once. We also like that the gaps between the pipes and base are kept to a tight tolerance, so we don't need to go heavy on the paste to fill major voids.

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At the polar opposite end of the cooler, we find the Evercool name embossed into the top fin twice. Since the cooler is not offset at the base, it can be installed in any direction and still function properly, and the name will always be legible.

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Grabbing the fan and clips, we can see that the EC12025H12EP fan covers the fin stack nicely. While the fan can be kept level with the top of the cooler to keep the 160mm height, the clips will be a few millimetres higher, so keep that in mind. With the fan being so low, it also offers air flow to the base, and the motherboards phases.

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Even with the fan on the Venti, as we look at it from the side, there still isn't a lot of cooler or fan to get in your way. The slim form of the cooler will allow access to eight-pin connection, and to the memory on motherboard's of almost any form factor. Although, Mini-ITX is excluded, as they tend to be laid out differently from most others.

Accessories and Documentation

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The majority of the provided cooler mounting hardware is shown here. The top row shows the AMD and Intel spacers for the top of the motherboard, and the screws with springs on them to mount the cooler into those spacers. In the middle we have small screws for mounting the AMD or Intel brackets to the cooler, then there are the screws that go through the plate and secure the spacers, and four plastic washers to isolate the board and the spacers. At the bottom we have spacers for LGA2011 and 2011 V3 that screw directly into the socket brackets.

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In this image, we have the universal backplate that is cut to fit Intel in two ways, and its isolated for AMD and Intel with black plastic pads applied to both sides. At the top there is a pair of Intel brackets that attach to the cooler's base, and at the bottom there is a pair for AMD mounting.

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The provided instruction sheet shows various renderings of the included bits, and how to install the cooler. However, there is very little text to go with the images, and the images are small and tough to figure out at times. We are also given a small tube of Evercool thermal compound, and four fan clips.

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The last thing left in the box to show is the 120mm fan that cools the tower. We are given a black and white, seven blade fan with a prismatic sticker on the hub that changes colors depending on the angle. To power the fan there is plenty of wire that terminates in a four-pin connection.

Installation and Finished Product

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The instructions show us that we are to set the backplate onto the board and align the holes. Once that is done, we drop the hex head screws in through the holes. The next step requires the motherboard to be flipped over.

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Once there is access to the top of the socket, you drop on the black washers, one for each screw, and then you tighten the spacers down to secure the plate to the motherboard.

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We then screw the Intel legs into the base of the cooler. Notice the bent section is pointing downward, and the Intel moniker stamped into them is on the underside. Once all of this is secured to the cooler, you place it on the CPU, and use the screws and springs to lock the cooler to the motherboard.

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After that fairly easy installation process, we get to see the Venti as it stands over the top of even our taller memory. In all fairness, we took another measurement when the fan was even with the pipe tips at the top, and in that setting the fan clips will add another 3mm of height, but we do like that almost the entire fan has access to fresh air.

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As thin as this cooler is, even with the fan mounted to it, we thought that there would be no issues clearing the memory. This view proves that assumption to be correct, as you have full access to all four slots, and nothing requires moving before you swap out the memory.

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As we step back a bit further, it is easy to see that this cooler takes up as little room as possible. While this will have an effect on its overall efficiency versus many thicker, or dual-tower designs, they have rated this cooler to handle a 200W TDP, so we can assume it should perform admirably.

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To give an idea of what the Venti would look like inside of a chassis, here we have it mounted in our test system. The cooler is shy of the top of the board to allow access for mounting the board with the cooler in place. There is also plenty of room to the left, even with a second fan, to make the PSU connection.

Test System Setup, Thermal Tests and Noise Results

Test System Setup

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I would first like to thank ASUS, InWin, Corsair, and Fractal Design for supplying products for me to test with.

To see our testing methodology, and to find out what goes into making our charts, please refer to our CPU Cooler Testing and Methodology article for that information.

Thermal Results

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While the 53.75 degree results in our stock level testing seems to be pretty far down the list, pay close attention to the Venti's company there. It is slightly outpaced by the Enermax, but most of the coolers within a degree or so, before and after, are much more expensive options.

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Again, there is no denying that there are much better options in air cooling than the Evercool, but look at it from a cost perspective. Considering this cooler is less than $30, and it will keep the CPU from throttling, even with a pretty healthy overclock applied, we have to give them their dues.

Noise Level Results

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We get this noise level with the voltage limited for the stock testing. With the fan at a speed of 1500 RPM, we saw a reading of 27 dB on our meter at a foot away from the back of the cooler.

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When the fan is allowed to spin at full speed, which in our sample was at 2136 RPM, the noise levels will come up. While 49 dB is pretty noisy, it will only be at that level under extreme loads, or intense gaming; there is a PWM option to control the noise levels as needed.

Final Thoughts

On its own, the Venti isn't the most stellar performer we have ever tested, but that does not mean the Venti has no upsides to it. The Venti is very compact and light-weight, even with the fan, or fans in play. It allows the user to install the cooler to the motherboard before mounting the board into a chassis, and still provides full clearance around it to install memory, get to the motherboard screws, and even get to the eight-pin connection at the top left corner.

The Venti is easy enough to install; even with directions that are not all that helpful, we still managed. With this hardware, there is also a fairly high socket pressure applied with the screws and their heavy springs. So, how tight do you go? Well we found all of the hardware will run out of threads, or get so tight that it is obvious you are at the correct point. All in all, the Evercool Venti is not that bad of a cooler in most respects.

When it came to the testing, the stock temperatures were no surprise to us. What did make us scratch our head slightly was the fact that this is a 200W TDP rated cooler, and we took it to nearly 80 degrees with only roughly 110W of CPU heat produced. In our opinion, the Venti may be able to handle that rating with two fans, but even then, we think that you would be just shy of the throttle point. We get that you can only get so much bang for the buck in a cooler, and that this does perform leaps and bounds better than a stock cooler, but your personal comfort level or rules about temperatures may leave you a bit wanting with this cooler.

The thing that really puts the nail in Evercool coffin with the Venti is that while it does beat out the stock cooler, the much smaller Gabriel, and the more expensive Shadow Rock 2, that isn't the end of the story. Looking further up the list, we see that the ETS-N30 beat it, as did the Alpenfohn Sella and Brocken ECO, and as we get to that point, we are seeing an almost four degree jump in efficiency too.

Considering all these coolers are in the same price range, and most are close in noise production, there really just isn't anything special that would make this Venti HPQ-12025 stand out in the crowd. While it does do what we expected of it, and the pricing is more than fair, sometimes it is worth $10 more or so to take that next big leap in performance, rather than getting something only slightly better than the stock cooling solution.

Performance 70%
Quality including Design and Build 85%
General Features 80%
Bundle and Packaging 75%
Value for Money 70%
Overall 76%

The Bottom Line: While the Evercool Venti HPQ-12025 is indeed very affordable, we just feel that there are better bang for the buck coolers out there in this price range. While an effective cooler, we also don't think it is really capable of its rated TDP.

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

USUnited States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com

UKUnited Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.co.uk

AUAustralia: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.com.au

CACanada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon.ca

DEDeutschland: Finde andere Technik- und Computerprodukte wie dieses auf Amazon.de

Chad joined the TweakTown team in 2009 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. After a year of gaming, Chad caught the OC bug. With overclocking comes the need for better cooling, and Chad has had many air and water setups. With a few years of abusing computer parts, he decided to take his chances and try to get a review job. As an avid overclocker, Chad is always looking for the next leg up in RAM and coolers.

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