Enter the Triglav, Alpenföhn’s latest cooler to join their already successful and growing line-up of products. Can its revolutionary 3x10mm heat pipe design compete against more conventional heatsinks?
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Alpenföhn
MSRP: ~£35/ 39.90Euros
Street Price: N/A
While on the verge of installing a brand new, yet to be released cooler from a currently unknown brand, an unexpected package came to my door. Opening it revealed a brand new cooler from Alpenföhn, the Triglav. Normally, this would have just been chucked to the corner while I focussed on the more exciting unreleased cooler but a few things caught my attention which meant that it had to be given priority over anything else. First of all, it was a product from Alpenföhn, a brand which has become renowned over the past two years for their quality and craftsmanship. Secondly, the Triglav, as it is known, features some very unique and interesting features that suggest it could potentially challenge other coolers in a different price bracket to itself.
Like the recently reviewed Alpenföhn Matterhorn, the Triglav derives its name from the Alpine mountain by the same namesake. Its English translation, “three-headed”, is a very fitting name for the cooler as it features three heat pipes. On initial impression three heat pipes doesn’t seem to be the making of a mid-range cooler, yet alone a high end one, but the Triglav is unique in that its three heat pipes are 10mm in diameter. Generally heatsink manufacturers opt for more conventional 6mm or 8mm heat pipes but Alpenföhn have taken the bold step of trying a new concept. For this reason, I thought it a very promising cooler to put through our tests.
In many ways, the Alpenföhn Triglav shares more in common with the older Nordwand than the more recent Matterhorn. Both use the same HDC direct heat pipe contact technology, share the same mounting mechanism, and feature similar LED fans. In fact, the LED fan bundled on the Triglav is the same one found on the Brocken rather than the rubberised fan found on the Matterhorn. While we eagerly anticipate the release of the Alpenföhn K2, let’s see what the Triglav has in store meanwhile.
Let’s see what Alpenföhn have to say about their Triglav heatsink:
With the Triglav, Alpenföhn are catapulting the proven HDC technology to a new level. Through use of three massive 10mm heat pipes, heat generated by the CPU can be delivered more quickly to the aluminium fins.
The bundled fan has a 4-pin connector and can therefore be controller by the motherboard. This allows for speed adjustment between 850 and 1500RPM.
With the Triglav, Alpenföhn are catapulting the proven HDC technology to a new level. Through use of three massive 10mm heat pipes, heat generated by the CPU can be delivered more quickly to the aluminium fins.
The bundled fan has a 4-pin connector and can therefore be controller by the motherboard. This allows for speed adjustment between 850 and 1500RPM.
Next page please…
Features & Specifications
Features
HDC-Technology:
This technology enables direct heat dissipation through the heat pipes to the aluminium fins which ends up in high thermal performance at a compact size.
Fin Design:
By having a wide fin pitch at the air inlet area, the Alpenföhn Triglav can be run with very low fan speed as the airflow faces less resistance. Despite the heatsink’s closed sides, it helps guide the air through the narrow fin area and offers better mechanical stability.
Heat pipes:
Alpenföhn Triglav is the first cooler worldwide with 3x10mm heat pipes, which are in direct contact with the CPU because of the HDC Technology (Heat pipe Direct Contact).
This technology enables direct heat dissipation through the heat pipes to the aluminium fins which ends up in high thermal performance at a compact size.
Fin Design:
By having a wide fin pitch at the air inlet area, the Alpenföhn Triglav can be run with very low fan speed as the airflow faces less resistance. Despite the heatsink’s closed sides, it helps guide the air through the narrow fin area and offers better mechanical stability.
Heat pipes:
Alpenföhn Triglav is the first cooler worldwide with 3x10mm heat pipes, which are in direct contact with the CPU because of the HDC Technology (Heat pipe Direct Contact).
Specifications
•Cooler dimensions with 1 fan: 134x84x163.5mm (LxWxH)
•Cooler dimensions with: 134x59x163.5mm (LxWxH)
•Cooler weight: 760g (With 1 fan)
•Heat pipe: 10mm x3 units
•Cooler material: copper heat pipes, aluminium fins
Fan specifications
•Fan dimension: Length 120x120x25mm (LxHxW)
•Operating voltage: 12 VDC
•Fan speed: 850-1500RPM
•Fan noise level: 21.4 dB(A)
•Fan Airflow: 60.32CFM
•Bearing type: Hydro-bearing
•LED: 4x purple LED
Included accessories
•1x Mounting material for Socket 775,1156,1366, AM2, AM2(+), AM3
•4x Fan mounting brackets
•1x syringe thermal grease
The Alpenföhn Triglav has some very interesting design features; most notably the 10mm thick heat pipes that promise to deliver superior performance to narrow more conventional heat pipes. While this is highly welcomed, three pieces might not be enough to compete with 4x8mm or 6x6mm designs. As such Alpenföhn have other innovative features borrowed from their other products to deliver performance. HDC technology makes a return from the likes of the Nordwand, while the fin design shares the same characteristics as the Matterhorn’s. Despite our reservation on the fin design, it has been tweaked to create a higher surface area whilst retaining the same advantages of lower resistance.
The Triglav is a fairly sizeable heatsink despite its lower heat pipe count but not comparable to our high end coolers. At 59mm thick, it is 16mm narrower than the Matterhorn. The only cooler to be narrow is Thermalright’s Archon at 53mm but the latter is much larger in all other dimensions. The Triglav is also 4mm shorter length-ways when compared to the Matterhorn. However it does compensate in its height by being 5.5mm taller.
The bundled 120mm fan is akin to the Nordwand and Brocken’s. It boasts PWM functionality and purple LED fan ensuring good performance as well as aesthetics.
Packaging and Content
The improved packaging
The Triglav comes packaged that I am delighted to say is far more aesthetically pleasing than what the Matterhorn came in. The box is fairly compact to reflect the shape of the cooler and the design boasts more artistic flair than previous iterations. Depicted on the front is the Triglav itself with its 120mm fan attached and surrounding it are wave-like strokes. The black and blue colour scheme works very effectively. Unlike previous Alpenföhn packaging, there are no windowed cut-out making this one a cleaner more appealing design. On the side are the features and specifications as we have become accustomed to.
The features
The specifications are all listed on one side of the box and on the other are the features as depicted above. The three main features Alpenföhn highlight are HDC Technology, its fin design and the unique 10mm heat pipes. The latter is emphasised on all sides of the packaging. As expected, the Triglav supports all current AMD and Intel sockets dating back to socket 754 for AMD and LGA775 for Intel.
Inside the box
Inside, the heatsink is protected on top with a piece of foam and on the side are two white boxes, one containing all the accessories and bundle and the other holding the fan. Below the heatsink is another specially cut out piece of foam to provide additional protection to the base.
The bundle
The accessories box contains everything to ensure compatibility with both AMD and Intel sockets. Included are the:
-Triglav heatsink
-120mm Fan x1
-Universal backplate
-Thermal paste (Missing from this sample)
-Spring loaded screws x4
-Nuts x8
-Screws x4
-Isolating rings Intel x8
-Steel wire clips x4
-Washers x4
-Bracket fittings AMD x2
-Nuts AMD x4
-Screws AMD x4 +1 spare
-Isolating rings AMD x4
-Installation manual
There are a surprising number of small components for installation which makes that losing one piece easier. However, Alpenföhn do include a few spare screws and washers. The accessories come separated in Intel and AMD packets so users only have to use what they need. Low noise voltage adapters are understandably missing thanks to the fan’s support for PWM functionality. Four fan wire clips have been provided so the cooler can be fitted with an additional fan if necessary. To some, the mounting kit might be familiar and this is because we have seen it adopted by the Nordwand and Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme previously. The only difference is the added support for LGA1155/1156.
The Triglav!
The Triglav is a modestly sized cooler with undertones of the Matterhorn in terms of design, more specifically the fin layout. The heatsink uses an aluminium fin construction and copper heat pipes which as the HDC technology implies has been milled to be in direct contact with the CPU. The Triglav itself is lighter than the majority of cooler that come for testing at 760g including the fan, mostly because of its size. It’s certainly welcoming to see given that many coolers end up over 1kg. The most prominent feature is of course the 10mm heat pipes sticking out at the top.
The heat pipe ends
Taking a closer look at the top, we see the ends of the 10mm thick heat pipes. As usual, half the ends are rounded while the other three are more irregular, these marking the respective ends of the heat pipes. The heat pipes are lined up in the direction of airflow meaning the 2 back columns of heat pipes are not directly cooled by the flow of air. At the top, we can also see the somewhat irregular fin shape. Unlike most coolers that opt for a more rectangular approach, the Triglav fins resemble Batman’s emblem. Looking at each side of the fin we see two semi-circular grooves running down the centre. However on one side, the fin curves inward to a tip prior to the groove whereas on the other side the fin has an outward protrusion on either side of the groove resembling bat ears. This becomes relevant when we take a closer look at the fin array.
Closer Look
The fin array
The fin array is very reminiscent of the Matterhorn. Like we mentioned on the last page, the fins resemble batman’s emblem and as such is asymmetrical width ways. What is interesting to observe is that each alternating fin along the stack is oriented in the opposite direction akin to the Matterhorn’s design. This means that on one face of the Triglav, one set of alternative fins are longer than the next set, and the opposite pattern is present on the other face. The reason is to create a wider fin pitch towards the outer side of the heatsink at the air inlet area and to guide airflow towards the narrow fin area in the centre, which is typically covered by the fan rotor. According to Alpenföhn, it also provides mechanical stability but the real question is how this translates to real world performance.
The front of the heatsink
The heatsink is comprised of an array of 45 fins with a 2.5mm separation, not too dissimilar from the Matterhorn but lacking two extra fins. They are stacked in parallel, albeit in alternate orientations. Also visible are the three 10mm thick heat pipe columns.
The side of the heatsink
From the side view, we can see that the Triglav heatsink is very narrow at only 59mm thick. At the side of each fin is a bent piece which when stacked creates closed sides. To do so, the fins had to be stacked in alternating orientations as already mentioned. This gives the Triglav an armoured finish but more importantly, the design is to help guide airflow across the heatsink. The edges of the side profiles are still opened to allow cool air to be drawn in.
The three 10mm heat pipes
The highlight of the Triglav is the three 10mm U-shaped heat pipes. These are made of nickel-plated copper and spread out from either side of the base. Their thicknesses are such that not anymore heat pipes can be fitted to the heatsink.
The base uses Heat pipes Direct Contact technology meaning the bottom of the each heat pipe has been milled flat and integrates into the base plate so that they are in direct contact with the CPU when installed. This is the same as the Nordwand’s design and ensures better thermal conductivity. In reality, most top coolers do not rely on this concept but it proves effective on mid-range heatsinks. Another component integrated to the base of the Triglav is the mounting bracket, thus following in the footstep of the Nordwand. This time LGA1156/1155 is provided. Additional brackets are still required to mount on AMD motherboards.
Y0 dawg, I heard you liked to cool so I put a heatsink in your heatsink so you can cool while you cool
The Matterhorn had a small heatsink integrated above its base, as did the Nordwand. The Triglav follows on the same concept although this time it is merely an aluminium block with grooves to produce a higher surface area for heat dissipation. The small heatsink is more subtle that on Alpenföhn’s previous coolers.
Closer Look (Continued)
The fan
The Alpenföhn Triglav is bundled with a single 120mm LED fan with PWM support. The nine bladed fan is the same one bundled with the Nordwand and Brocken which from experience performed admirably even against the likes of the Noctua NF-P12s. The fan operates between 850 and 1500RPM making it ideally suited to the heatsink as it favours low RPM fans.
Purple LEDs
In each corner of the fan casing are purple LEDs that emit in bright glow when the fan is operating. It is a nice touch over regular fans but the colour may not suit some
Rubber fan adapters
At the back of each corner, Alpenföhn have installed white rubber adapters. The purpose is to prevent vibrations when installing the fan onto the heatsink. The disadvantage is that their thicknesses make clipping the fan adapters harder. The fan cable has been pre-braided although the weave isn’t dense enough to hide appearance of the three coloured cables.
Installing the fan
With the fan installed, the Triglav looks like a very professionally finished job. The fan sits snugly and the heatsink shape means that there are no restrictions to the fan shape that can be accommodated as long as they have 120mm mounting holes, so even Thermalright’s TY TR-140 can be fitted without problems. Despite the inclusion of only one fan, 4 wire clips are provided to support an additional fan.
The metal wire clips
Installing the fan is a fiddly process, more so because the wire adapter has to clip into the fan mounting holes first. It means that they have to be secured onto the fan first before clipping into the notches on the heatsinks. The problem is that the ends of the wire adapter often came out of the fan before I could even place it on the heatsink. However, once installed the clips held the fan securely.
Memory compatibility
The Triglav is one of the few coolers to not overhang any of the memory slots thanks to how narrow it is. It allows users to opt for any sized memory modules without worry.
Installed
The Triglav still towers the Rampage III Extreme motherboard when finally installed. This isn’t surprising at 163.5mm tall.
Alpenföhn Matterhorn VS Alpenföhn Triglav
The Triglav is noticeably more compact than the Matterhorn, albeit slightly taller. The finish on the Triglav is far superior thanks to its shiny aluminium finish, whereas the steel plate at the top of the Matterhorn makes for a duller finish.
Test Setup
CPU – Intel Core i7 920 – 2.66/4.0GHz
RAM – 6GB (3x2GB) OCZ Platinum DDR3 1333MHz
Motherboard – ASUS Rampage III Extreme
Graphics card – XFX HD5870 1024MB
Power Supply – Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W
Hard Drive – OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB
Samsung F1 320GB
Samsung F3 1TB
Drivers – ATI Catalyst 10.10
CPU Coolers:
Alpenföhn Triglav including tests using 1 stock fan, 2 Noctua NF-P12s/NF-P14s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Antec KÜHLER H2O 620 including tests using 1 stock fan, 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 including tests using 2 stock fans, 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Prolimatech Genesis including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s/NF-P14s, 2 SWiF2-120Ps and 2 Prolimatech Blue Vortex 14s
NZXT Havik 140 including tests using 2 NZXT fans, 2 Noctua NF-P12s/NF-P14s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Alpenföhn Matterhorn including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s/NF-P14s, 2 SWiF2-120Ps and 2 Föhn 120 Wing Boost fans
Prolimatech Super Mega including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s/NF-P14s, 2 SWiF2-120Ps and 2 Prolimatech Blue Vortex 14s
Noctua NH-C14 (U.L.N.A and default speed) including tests using 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Thermalright Silver Arrow including passive and tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Thermalright HR-02 including passive and tests using Noctua NF-12/NF-P14s and Thermalright TR TY-140
Thermaltake Frio (Low/med/high speed) including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s
Corsair H50 including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
CoolIT ECO A.L.C including tests using 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Thermalright Venomous X using 2 Noctua NF-P12s and 2 SWiF2-120Ps
Coolink Corator DS including tests with dual fan setups
Tuniq Propeller 120(High speed fan)
Noctua NH-C12P SE14
Prolimatech Megahalem
Noctua NH-D14 (U.L.N.A and default speed)
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
Thermolab Baram (with 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans)
CoolIT Domino A.L.C
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus including test with 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans
Alpenföhn Nordwand including test with 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans
Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme (Low/med/high speed)
Program Suite:
Core Temp 0.99.5
LinX stress Test
CPUID HWMonitor
How I tested:
Testing will be based on temperatures recorded by Core Temp and PC wizard after 20 passes of LinX stress test. The absolute temperatures recorded in the tables are averages of the 4 cores and the delta value provided for a fair comparison, taking into account ambient temperatures. The test will be run at stock speed and at an overclocked speed of 4GHz.
Installation
After my complaints about installation on the Matterhorn, it seems Alpenföhn have listened and gone back to their old method. Those who have read the Alpenföhn Nordwand and Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme reviews previously will easily recognise the mounting kit but for those have haven’t, it’s safe to say that installation is very easy. We will focus mainly on the Intel platform in the following steps.
1.) Locate the universal motherboard backplate and identify the appropriate mounting holes.
2.) Insert the long screws into the appropriate mounting holes making sure that the notches on the screws are secured. Screw in the isolating rings to secure the long screws.
3.) Install the backplate into the motherboard and secure it from the top using 4 more metal isolating rings.
4.) Apply thermal paste and place the heatsink on top of the CPU making sure the long screws go through each corner of the heatsink’s integrated bracket. Use the spring loaded screws to tighten down the heatsink, stopping when no more force can be applied.
Installation is very easy with the Triglav requiring few steps. It is very intuitive and the manual does a good job describing the process with illustrations. The spring loaded screws differ from the older ones in that they can be tightened using a screwdriver whereas they had to be hand mounted before.
Results (Grouped)
The results have been arranged in terms of the fan configuration that yields the best results for each cooler. However, it is important to take into account that many coolers come with their own fans and changing those increases the costs significantly, so the “out of the box” cooler configurations have been highlighted in red each group.
Stock
Let’s take a first look at how the Triglav fares in various fan configurations. With a single fan, i.e. the stock one, the temperature delta is 34.5C which is a commendable achievement in itself. Surprisingly, opting for two Noctua NF-P12s which operate only 200RPM less than the bundled fan give the exact same load temperatures and slightly higher idle delta temperatures. This suggests that the default fan is very efficient without the added cost of noise. Using two of Noctua’s larger fans resulted in more favourable results although this gain was a mere 0.75C. The much faster Coolink SWiF2-120P fans only improved the delta temperature results by a mere 0.25C. This showcases the advantage of Alpenföhn’s wide fin pitch design which makes the most of lower RPM fans.
Results (Ascending order)
Stock
Comparing the Triglav to other coolers, we see that it’s no slouch. In its stock configuration or with two NF-P12s, it is enough to match the Coolink Corator DS and even outperform the Matterhorn with two NF-P14s. It is comfortably ahead of the Antec KÜHLER H2O 620 we recently reviewed. More impressively, with its single fan the Triglav managed to match the Thermalright HR-02 with a single TY-140 fan, a cooler with three more heat pipes. Switching to two NF-P14s, performance was enough to beat the Thermalright Archon and HR-02 in a number of fan configurations. Coupled with the SWiF2-120Ps, the Triglav matched the Coolink Corator DS once again and the Matterhorn with the same two fans. So far, the Triglav proves to be competitive against coolers in a slightly higher price band than itself. Let’s see how efficient it is as a heatsink…
Results (In-depth analysis)
In the next comparison, we look at the default cooler performance as they come out of the box with their bundled fans. Coolers that come with no fans have been coupled with Noctua’s NF-P12 or fans that the manufacturers intended their coolers to be used with.
In its out-of-the-box configuration, the Triglav is certainly very impressive and shoots straight to the middle of our highly competitive table. Despite featuring only three heat pipes, it competes with coolers with far more demonstrating the effectiveness of the 10mm thick design and the heatsink itself. It even outperforms the Matterhorn and the Nordwand, the latter using the same fan. Even the Megahalem with the two NF-P12 fans is only marginally ahead.
Efficiency with two NF-P12s is once again fairly impressive. It is on par with the Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 which costs more than twice the price! It manages to outperform the Matterhorn by 0.5C and leaves the recently reviewed KÜHLER H2O 620 in the dust.
Unfortunately, the heatsink doesn’t seem to respond well to higher RPM fans and it drops down the table. However, it is still on par with the Coolink Corator DS and the Alpenföhn Matterhorn so the results are not disappointing.
The Triglav is amongst the few coolers that allow larger fans with 120mm mounting holes to be installed. With that in mind, it makes excellent use of their low RPM nature to deliver excellent performance. Only the much more expensive Thermalright, Prolimatech, Noctua and NZXT coolers can outperform the Triglav
Results Overclocked (Grouped)
The results have been arranged in terms of the fan configuration that yields the best results for each cooler. However, it is important to take into account that many coolers come with their own fans and changing those increases the costs significantly, so the “out of the box” cooler configurations have been highlighted in red each group.
4GHz
This is where the three heat pipes become the limiting factor. Comparing different fan setups, we see the same trends as before. The single default fan ends up marginally ahead of the two Noctua fans whereas the 140mm fan and higher RPM ones produce better results. The SWiF2-120Ps are only marginally ahead of the NF-P14s, again highlighting the heatsink’s preference towards lower RPM fans. Idle delta temperatures were 14C regardless of the fan configuration.
Results Overclocked (Ascending order)
4GHz
At 4GHz, the Triglav starts to struggle dropping to the lower end of the chart. The stock configuration becomes comparable to some of the ALC units. The likes of the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ and the old Noctua NH-U12P are the only heatsinks to fall behind the Alpenföhn. Even with the better fans, the Triglav struggles to beat the 60C delta temperature. It is nonetheless marginally ahead of the Coolink Corator DS in those configurations.
Results Overclocked (In-depth analysis)
In the next comparison, we look at the default cooler performance as they come out of the box with their bundled fans. Coolers that come with no fans have been coupled with Noctua’s NF-P12 or fans that the manufacturers intended their coolers to be used with.
As a budget cooler, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the Triglav falls short of our higher end coolers but after the brilliant showing at stock CPU speed, it’s a shame to see its limitations come to light here. The Triglav falls behind other Alpenföhn offerings like the Nordwand and the Matterhorn suggesting the latter two are more catered towards overclocked system.
Heatsink efficiency starts to diminish at the higher clock speed and this is evident here. No longer do we see the Triglav in the mid tables but instead it falls to the bottom. The Triglav ended up 3C behind the Nordwand and the Matterhorn.
With the two Coolink fans, the Triglav just cannot compete. This is likely down to the fins’ design favouring low RPM fans and not making the best use of the faster RPM ones. It could also be because the two cooler that failed to beat the Triglav with the NF-P12s were never tested with the SWiF2-120Ps.
Here the Triglav was only 1C short of the NH-C14’s default configuration.
Conclusion
The Triglav is a very unique and interesting concept by Alpenföhn. On the face of it, it borrows heavily from previous coolers by them such as the fin design being reminiscent of the Matterhorn, and the HDC Technology being akin to that employed on the Nordwand. In some ways, the Triglav is the culmination of some of the best features from different heatsinks. Where it differs is its use of three 10mm heat pipes, a first in the industry. The choice to opt for this over more conventional four or six heat pipes is questionable at first but when we look at the Triglav, it starts to make sense. Three heat pipes allow the heatsink to be much narrow that typical heatsinks, thus saving space and ensuring memory compatibility. You could argue that Thermalright managed to achieve the same thing but with all 6 heat pipes present in the Archon, but we have to remember that the latter was extended in all other dimensions. The Triglav on the other hand is a more compact package. Three heat pipes also reduce costs making the Triglav a more affordable option. But the question is whether the design has sacrificed performance and whether the 10mm diameter is enough to alleviate any potential limitations.
The answer unfortunately isn’t a simple yes or no. Starting with the CPU at stock speed, we see some very impressive results from the Triglav. It may not be amongst the best but it easily challenges more expensive coolers like the Thermalright HR-02, Coolink Corator DS and even Alpenföhn’s own Matterhorn. With different fans, it proved to be on par with Antec ALC units that easily cost twice as much in the case of the KÜHLER H2O 920. However, when we turn our attention to overclocked results, the Triglav begins to fall behind suggesting that the design becomes a limiting factor. My hypothesis is that heat isn’t being transferred and dissipated onto the fins as effectively as other heatsinks with higher heat pipe counts. This could also explain the marginal gains when selecting two fans.
What about the Triglav’s other attributes? Aesthetically, it is a very nice looking cooler and the purple LED adds a nice touch. Its compact form factor ensures compatibility with all memory module sizes and installation is a very simple procedure. It was refreshing to see Alpenföhn opt for their old mounting mechanism over the one employed by the Matterhorn. The fan is also reasonably quiet at full speed, not much different from Noctua’s NF-P12s in fact.
One downside is price. At an RRP of 40 Euros or £35 here, one particular cooler stands out its main competitor, the Thermaltake Frio. The reason we haven’t previously mentioned it in the analysis is simply because the Frio is a much better performer competing with higher end coolers rather than mid-range ones. With a street price of around £40, it’s the obvious choice for anyone on the market for a cooler in this price bracket. The Triglav, despite its many attributes fails to compare performance wise. Ideally it would have to be £20-£30, closer to the likes of the Coolermaster 212+.
On the whole, Alpenföhn have done a decent job with the Triglav. I must admit that I was not keen on the 3 heat pipe design at first but its performance proved to be much better than I expected. For anyone searching for a quiet and aesthetically pleasing cooler and isn’t interested in overclocking, the Triglav is definitely worth a look.
Pros
+Decent performance at stock CPU speed
+Well packaged
+Aesthetically pleasing
+Support for Intel and AMD sockets
+Quiet operation and PWM functionality
+Easy installation
+Memory compatibility
+Compact size
+Innovative features
Cons
-Performance is lacking with overclocked CPU
-Pricing should be lower
-Purple LEDs may not appeal to some.
+Decent performance at stock CPU speed
+Well packaged
+Aesthetically pleasing
+Support for Intel and AMD sockets
+Quiet operation and PWM functionality
+Easy installation
+Memory compatibility
+Compact size
+Innovative features
Cons
-Performance is lacking with overclocked CPU
-Pricing should be lower
-Purple LEDs may not appeal to some.
The Alpenföhn Triglav deserves our Vortez Bronze Award and gets our seal of approval.
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
