Thermaltake CL-P0497 Intel Heatsink with Fan

Simplicity is what won me over with this fan. Four spring loaded screws into four holes you can actually see and you're done. Channels to guide the screws are part of the aluminum. There is no intermediate mounting bracket to crack or add to the bulk. I don't see any part of this setup going bad except for the fan motor. Over the past few years, I've had a bunch of PC's on my bench that kept shutting down after 30 seconds or continuously restarting. They all had the same problem - a cracked fan bracket that allowed the heatsink to lift halfway off the processor. You won't get much runtime out of processor not in contact with the aluminum. Fan noise is about average with this model.

Needless to say the originally installed Intel fan started to make noise as the bearings were shot. With that, I looked over a few different fans and besides being more robust with a larger heatsink, it also sports a backplate where the fan screws into. The stock Intel has the worst plastic push and turn pieces imaginable. I know some people have knocked the backplate---- but honestly it is the best way to go--- you know it is attached and tight against the processor. With that said, I only had to remove the top two screws from the motherboard to the case and loosen one more--- I slid in the backplate, and put it back together. Cake to do. What is also a nice touch is the heat transfer compound is already in place and no need to add any more--- this was also well received.As far as sound level, it is fine. About 20-25% quieter than the stock Intel fan and will definitely work better as the heatsink is bigger. Will it make a difference in system performance-- probably not for what we have, but I do have to say that quieter is always better. Other than that it only had three wires versus my motherboards 4-pin connector (and the old fan had 4-pins) and by lining up the tab on the connector--- all works perfectly.For the price, I can never complain as long as it live a respectable life. Would I recommend it? Yes. Am I ready to buy another one for another similar system? Yes I am.12/2012--- I just picked up a second one as I re-purposed the machine. The OEM Intel fan in this machine was in much better shape, but still not perfect. Again, I had to loosen the motherboard screws to slide the backplate in, but overall it was cake to install. I like the design for this particular processor.

Good replacement for a stock cooler. With a 3-pin fan connector how loud the fan is will depend on your motherboard. The older MSI board I installed it on was able to control the speed of the fan and thus was not load, well no loader then the Intel stock cooler. Mounting was easy, but you do have to press fairly hard to get the screw threaded. I would by again to as a stock replacment.

Allowed my go upgrade my tower to run flight sims without lag. Worked great!