To begin with, let me take a moment and make mention of the choice you have in fans. I’ll show them in order of fan speed.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the meanings of their labeling.
The top image shows what is referred to as the Ultra Low Noise fan. It is the meekest of the choices and draws only .2 amps of power. At maximum speed the fan spins at only 2350 RPM, puts out a slight 17.7 CFM of airflow, but only emits 28dBA of noise. If you plan on using this in a home system and don’t want a lot of noise, this should be your likely choice.
Next in line is the fan referred to as the High End model. This beast is a good deal louder, but has a lot more muscle as well. The fan draws almost .4 amps of power while spinning at 3800 RPM. It puts out 67 CFM of airflow while creating about 35dBA of noise output. This isn’t going to be useful in a quiet system, but it will work nicely in a gaming box or one that makes use of moderate levels of overclocking.
The last choice in fans is called simply Extreme Performance. It draws a full .5 amps of power while spinning its more aggressively pitched blades at 3800 RPM to create roughly 73.7 CFM of airflow at almost 40dBA of noise output. This will be the monster of the group. We will test all three fans during our test phase to give you a better idea as to performance levels.
As far as the actual installation goes, it is a very simple and painless process. You will not have to remove the mainboard from the case, and the process of installing the cooler itself is as noted earlier. Slip the mounting bracket around the base and install the cooler with the two screws that came with the motherboard bracket. Once installed, the entire unit had a very solid feel and did not move around.
One interesting concept with the VapoChill Micro is the ability to change out fans without having to remove the entire cooler. The plastic shroud used to secure the fan in place can be slipped off the heatsink to make changing out fans a simple matter. While there are three fan options from asetek, you can use any 92mm fan with this cooler.
As a side note, I would still not recommend leaving the cooler mounted while going to a LAN simply due to the height of the unit. This is a simple precaution to protect your investment, and besides, it is too easy to install and uninstall this cooler to take unnecessary chances.
