One of the things that it's all too easy to overlook when considering which cooler to buy is how easy or difficult it's going to be to install.
And, as motherboards become even more complicated and coolers grow ever bigger, the need to know about ease-of-installation will only increase.
Although renowned for its stability, our test motherboard, the exceptional Intel D975Xbx, pushes the boundaries of socket-clearance space. It has high heat-sinks on three sides of the socket and memory DIMMs obstructing the fourth.
We expected this to produce some casualties along the way and were surprised to discover that there wasn't even one cooler in the group that couldn't be accommodated. Others, reviewers, though, might not have persevered as we did. Sometimes we had to resort to pliers and contortion to ensure that a cooler sat correctly on the socket.
We've long been mindful of the problems that can arise when installing coolers. That's why we tried to get an objective measure with each of the products we tested. Hence, our timed fitment tests.
We timed everything – from the parts being laid out on a desk, right up to the point where the fan's header cable was connected to the motherboard, where applicable. We did not read the instructions in advance and nor did we carry out any practise runs (well, not deliberately). Consequently, what we discovered was how long it takes to carry out each first-time install.
Some of the coolers in this review are quite similar to others. So, we kept similar products as far apart from each other as possible in an effort to stop ourselves (and any particular cooler) from benefiting from what we'd learnt.
