Thermaltake Contac 39
| Thermaltake Contac 39 specification | |
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| P/N | CLP0597 |
| Heatsink Dimension | 120 x 103.8 x 159.5mm (L x W x H) |
| Heatsink Material | Aluminium Fins Aluminium Base |
| Heatpipe | 8mm x 3 |
| Fan Dimension | 120 x 120 x 25 mm (L x W x H) |
| Rated Voltage | 12 V |
| Start Voltage | 9 V |
| Rated Current | Low:0.10A High:0.25A |
| Power Input | 1.2W (Max 3.0W) |
| Fan Speed | 800 ~ 2000 RPM (PWM) |
| Air Flow | 29.434 ~ 72.084 CFM |
| Air Pressure | 0.356 ~ 1.985(mmH2O) |
| Noise | 15.0 ~ 33.2dBA |
| Life Expectancy | 30,000 Hours |
| Connector | 4 Pin |
| Weight | 645g |
| Compatibility | Intel:
LGA 2011,
LGA 1366,
LGA 1155/1156,
LGA 775 AMD: FM1, AM3+ / AM3, AM2+ / AM2 |
| Product Page | http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001824 |
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Thermaltake's reasoning behind the Contac 39 is "excellent cost/performance value," and at £32 for a dual-fan cooler, it might have a point. But have sacrifices been made to hit that price point? In some aspects, perhaps so.
The package itself is quite simple, but Thermaltake bundles in everything you need; including mounting kits for the latest Intel and AMD platforms and a small tube of thermal paste. The Contac 39 is mounted using a backplate and fits securely, but the mounts don't feel as precise as they should. The backplate, for example, has closely-spaced holes for the varying Intel sockets, but there's so little definition to them that the screws have more wiggle room than they ought to have - you need to hold things in place while you tighten.
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The cooler itself sends mixed signals, too. We like the fact that you get two 120mm PWM-controlled fans and an aluminium heatsink that stands almost 160mm tall, but clear fans with blue LEDs won't be everyone's cup of tea (we found them to be a bit tacky) and they're attached to the heatsink via awkward rubber mounts. Though we appreciated NZXT's use of rubber bands, Thermaltake's short rubber plugs are more difficult to work with; the idea is that the fan should just pull away with a decent amount of force, but in doing so we snapped one of the plugs and Thermaltake doesn't provide any spares in the box.
The fans are frustrating to work with - and you will have to remove them each time you attach the cooler to a new system - but the biggest problem here could be noise; each 120mm unit is rated to run at speeds of up to 2,000 RPM.
Such lofty speeds are usually to compensate for shortcomings in other areas, and with the Contac 39 we suspect it's the heatpipes. There are only three (though each is a good 8mm thick) and Thermaltake's using a direct-touch approach that leaves gaps of aluminium between each pipe. We'll find out exactly how/if that affects performance later on in the review, but we suspect it will hamper the Contac 39's ability to compete with some of the alternatives on show.
Aesthetically, you're either going to love or hate Thermaltake's solution, but the good news is that the cooler leaves just enough room for us to use all four memory slots on our Gigabyte board.
Presentation |
Installation |
Aesthetics |
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