NZXT HAVIK 140 CPU Cooler

NZXT ‘s new Havik 140 looks like it could rival some of the best in the cooler market. Let’s see how it performs.

introduction

NZXT is a company that, in the past, has had a huge focus on computer cases targeted mostly for gamers. NZXT also offers fans, fan controllers, case accessories and other miscellaneous computer accessories. Earlier this year, NZXT announced their entry into the CPU heatsink market. The announcement of the Havik 140 got us excited to get the cooler into our labs for testing to see how well it performed compared to the many other heatsinks already available. 

With a price tag of $60 on Newegg, the Havik 140 is priced at the low end of other heatsinks that boast 140mm fans and right in the middle of most 120mm options. Let’s continue on to the features and specifications of the cooler and see what NZXT has put into their first heatsink offering.

Features

specifications

unboxing & first impressions

The Packaging for the Havik 140 cooler is simple, clean and well laid out. That being said the sample we received was a little outdated for the packaging as maximum socket compatibility is listed as 1156, even though the cooler definitely supports LGA 1366 as packaged. The parts are well cared for in closed cell foam packaging which does a great job of protecting the parts if they have a bumpy ride.

Click Image For a Larger One

Here we see the tower itself, and overall simplistic but sleek design. The fact that the heatpipes are soldered means thermal transfer should be improved as well. Unfortunately, the base is not mirror finished, and has visible tool marks, which could potentially affect heat transfer capability.

installation

Testing

TEST RIG

METHODOLOGY

During the testing stage of this review, we will be comparing it to two coolers, the Prolimatech Armageddon, which is considered a very high end cooler, and the EVGA Superclock cooler just to have the lower mid range cooler covered as well.. Our processor is a Core i7-920 which has a stock clock of 2.66GHz. We also tested the coolers with the processor overclocked to 4.0Ghz at 1.38v.

We will use the program Intel burn test or IBT as it is a accurate stress test of the worst case scenario we would encounter even though some may say this is far in excess of what could be experienced in real life. however it is a repeatable test that bears repeatable result so this will test its handling of heat output.

RESULTS

As we can see from the results above the Havik 140 really performs quite well, as it beat out the EVGA Superclock cooler by a large margin and the Armageddon by approximately 1 degree. The Armageddon is an excellent cooler in comparison, so we can consider this a notch in the Havik’s belt.

Conclusion

The Havik 140 turned out to be an awesome performer with an easy to install design, a decently flat base, powerful fans that are not too loud. All of this adds up to a winning combo that knocks out one of the best coolers the Prolimatech Armageddon. This is quite a feat as the Armageddon is a very accomplished high performance cooler.

Anyone looking for a high performance CPU cooling solution without too much noise would not go wrong by taking a look at the Havik 140.

OUR VERDICT: NZXT Havik 140 CPU Cooler

Performance 9 Value 9 Quality 9 Features 8 Innovation 8 We are using a new addition to our scoring system to provide additional feedback beyond a flat score. Please note that the final score isn’t an aggregate average of the new rating system. Total 9 Pros Cons Good overclocking potential Good performance Quiet solution for the cooling performance delivered Solid mounting design Rubber fan mounting is efficient and easy to use Temps that rival some of the best coolers Base has visible tooling marks which gives an unfinished appearance Rubber fan mounting can come loose if not attached correctly

Summary: The Havik 140 by NZXT offers some great performance with a reasonably easy to install package. This kind of performance and flexibility merits the NZXT Havik 140 the Bjorn3D Golden Bear Award.