Thermaltake Beetle Cooler

Under power, the UV reactive plastic housing gave off a nice glow.  Interestingly enough was that the center cap of the intake fan's guard had an LED behind it.  This LED was a color shifting LED cycling between at least seven colors in a slow pulse.

Performance

To measure performance we pulled out a Dr. Thermal TI-T707TN which is an excellent OEM type cooler.  Using our Dr. Thermal sink as a comparison product, both coolers were tested with SiSoft Sandra 2004 Pro with its Burn In test module.  Each went through five rounds of putting the processor under 100% load for 30 minutes with a final temperature reading taken at the end of that time.  The highest and lowest results for each were thrown out and the remaining three averaged and shown below in degrees Celsius.  Fan speed for both units was set to max.  Ambient temperature was 22.1 degrees Celsius.  Generic silicone thermal grease was used in all tests. 

Test Bed

• Intel P4 2.4GHz C @ 3.2GHz

• ASUS P4C800E Deluxe mainboard

• Chaintech GeForce AA6800

• (2) 512 mb DIMM of Corsair XMS4400 DDR

• Seagate 120gb SATA HDD

• Generic DVD-RW drive

• Windows XP Pro with all service packs installed

Results

Conclusion

Performance wise the Thermaltake Beetle gets the job done nicely.  At full honk, the 90mm Beetle fan didn't have the whine of a high pitched fan but rather a throatier tone.  Almost like a small four cylinder sports car compared to a big V8.  The sound was minimally tolerable at full speed but could easily be adjusted to suit your preferences using either of the included rheostats Tt has in the Beetle package.  The Beetle has several notable strong points.  The LED lighting and UV reactive package give off a nice look that can't help but accent a windowed rig.  Another strong point is the ability to mount a second fan to the rear of the Tt Beetle to increase the air flow if you so desire.  Last but certainly not least is the Tt Beetle's ability to be mounted to most any platform currently available.  Good performance, good looks, great adaptability add up nicely.

The downside of the Beetle was a short list but significant.  While the oversized body was unique, it will present some possible mounting issues with some boards/case combinations.  Whether the cooler points the exhaust up or to the case's rear boils down to the orientation of the CPU on the mainboard.  The large plastic fins in some instances pointing up will not allow the Tt Beetle to mount as you could see in the pic we had earlier.  It should also be pointed out that the ATX power connector placement on some boards may be complicated with the Beetle.  The other concern was again with mounting.  Installation of this cooler takes patience and while it is straight forward in most instances, be prepared.  You try to quit smoking and install this cooler at the same time and someone will get hurt.

All in all, if you do your research and the Beetle's housing overhang looks to not be an issue for your box, you will be rewarded with something that looks and performs nicely.  Many thanks to Thermaltake for making this review possible.

Pros

• Universal application to P4, LGA775, K7, K8 and AMD Sempron.

• Strong performance

• Ability to add in a second fan for improved performance.

• Quiet operation with use of included rheostat

• Very innovative design

• Color cycling LEDs

• Texas BIG!!

Cons

• Not compatible with all mainboard/case combinations due to its large size

• Installation can easily lead to migraines

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