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Home » NZXT Respire T40 CPU Cooler Review

NZXT Respire T40 CPU Cooler Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The Respire T40 is a CPU cooler from NZXT, with a tower heatsink, four 8 mm heatpipes, and a 120 mm fan. Let’s test it and check its performance.

The black and white cardboard box of the Respire T40 is shown in Figure 1.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 1: Package

Figure 2 shows the contents of the box: the cooler, a small bag of thermal compound, manual, and installation hardware. The cooler comes with only one fan, but it has the holder for a second optional fan.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 2: Accessories

Figure 3 displays the Respire T40.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 3: The NZXT Respire T40

This cooler is discussed in detail in the following pages.

[nextpage title=”The NZXT Respire T40″]

Figure 4 illustrates the front of the heatsink, where the 120 mm fan goes.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 4: Front view

Figure 5 reveals the side of the cooler, where you can see that the heatpipes have no gap between them.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 5: Side view

Figure 6 unveils the rear side of the cooler. You can see the “step” between the sides of the fins.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 6: Rear view

In Figure 7, you can see the top of the cooler, where the tips of the heatpipes are visible.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 7: Top view

[nextpage title=”The NZXT Respire T40 (Cont’d)”]

Figure 8 illustrates the base of the cooler. The heatpipes touch the CPU directly, and there is no gap between them. The surface is not polished enough for a mirror-like look.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 8: Base

Figure 9 reveals the heatsink with the fan removed.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 9: Fan removed

Figure 10 shows the 120 mm fan that comes with the cooler, mounted on its plastic holder. This fan has a three-pin connector, which means it is not compatible with PWM speed control.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 10: Fan

[nextpage title=”Installation”]

Figure 11 shows the backplate and the four screws that must be installed on the solder side of the motherboard prior to installing the Respire T40. Figure 12 shows the tips of the screws on the component side, with the plastic spacers installed.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 11: Backplate

NZXT Respire T40Figure 12: Spacers

In Figure 13, you can see the two metal pieces wherein the cooler will be screwed.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 13: Metal holders

Then put the heatsink in place, and attach it to the metal pieces using a third bar and two nuts.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 14: Heatsink installed

The last step is to reinstall the fan.

NZXT Respire T40Figure 15: Installation finished

[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]

We tested the cooler with a Core i5-2500K CPU (quad-core, 3.3 GHz), which is a socket LGA1155 processor with a 95 W TDP (Thermal Design Power). In order to get higher thermal dissipation, we overclocked it to 4.0 GHz (100 MHz base clock and x40 multiplier), with 1.3 V core voltage (Vcore). This CPU was able to reach 4.8 GHz with its default core voltage, but at this setting, the processor enters thermal throttling when using mainstream coolers, reducing the clock and thus the thermal dissipation. This could interfere with the temperature readings, so we chose to maintain a moderate overclocking.

We measured noise and temperature with the CPU under full load. In order to get 100% CPU usage in all cores, we ran Prime 95 25.11 with the “In-place Large FFTs” option. (In this version, the software uses all available threads.)

We compared the tested cooler to other coolers we already tested, and to the stock cooler that comes with the Core i5-2500K CPU. Note that the results cannot be compared to measures taken on a different hardware configuration, so we retested some “old” coolers with this new methodology. This means you can find different values in older reviews than the values you will read on the next page. Every cooler was tested with the thermal compound that&n
bsp;comes with it.

Room temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer. The core temperature was read with the SpeedFan program (available from the CPU thermal sensors), using an arithmetic average of the core temperature readings.

During the tests, the panels of the computer case were closed. The front and rear case fans were spinning at minimum speed in order to simulate the “normal” cooler use on a well-ventilated case. We assume that is the common setup used by a cooling enthusiast or overclocker.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed near the top opening of the case. This measurement is only for comparison purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

  • Processor: Core i5-2500K
  • Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z
  • Memory: 6 GB OCZ (DDR3-1600/PC3-12800), configured at 1,600 MHz and 8-8-8-18 timings
  • Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB
  • Video card: Point of View GeForce GTX 460 1 GB
  • Video resolution: 1920×1080
  • Video monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2470HN
  • Power supply: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
  • Case:  Cooler Master HAF 922

Operating System Configuration

  • Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1

Software Used

  • Prime95
  • SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2°C error margin, meaning temperature differences below 2°C are considered irrelevant.

[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]

The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on all coolers listed below. Each measurement was taken with the CPU at full load. In the models with a fan supporting PWM, the motherboard controlled the fan speed according to core load and temperature. On coolers with an integrated fan controller, the fan was set at the full speed.

< td align="center">Xigmatek Praeton
Cooler Room Temp. Noise Speed Core Temp. Temp. Diff.
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 18 °C 50 dBA 2850 rpm 69 °C 51 °C
Corsair A70 23 °C 51 dBA 2000 rpm 66 °C 43 °C
Corsair H100 26 °C 62 dBA 2000 rpm 64 °C 38 °C
EVGA Superclock 26 °C 57 dBA 2550 rpm 67 °C 41 °C
NZXT HAVIK 140 20 °C 46 dBA 1250 rpm 65 °C 45 °C
Thermalright True Spirit 120 26 °C 42 dBA 1500 rpm 82 °C 56 °C
Zalman CNPS12X 26 °C 43 dBA 1200 rpm 71 °C 45 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 Max 20 °C 51 dBA 1700 rpm 62 °C 42 °C
Titan Fenrir Siberia Edition 22 °C 50 dBA 2400 rpm 65 °C 43 °C
SilenX EFZ-120HA5 18 °C 44 dBA 1500 rpm 70 °C 52 °C
Noctua NH-L12 20 °C 44 dBA 1450 rpm 70 °C 50 °C
Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme 21 °C 53 dBA 2550 rpm 71 °C 50 °C
Gamer Storm Assassin 15 °C 48 dBA 1450 rpm 58 °C 43 °C
Deepcool Gammaxx 400 15 °C 44 dBA 1500 rpm 60 °C 45 °C
Cooler Master TPC 812 23 °C 51 dBA 2350 rpm 66 °C 43 °C
Deepcool Gammaxx 300 18 °C 43 dBA 1650 rpm 74 °C 56 °C
Intel stock cooler 18 °C 41 dBA 2000 rpm 97 °C 79 °C
19 °C 52 dBA 2900 rpm 83 °C 64 °C
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 18 °C 42 dBA 1300 rpm 69 °C 51 °C
Deepcool Frostwin 24 °C 46 dBA 1650 rpm 78 °C 54 °C
Thermaltake Frio Advanced 13 °C 56 dBA 2000 rpm 62 °C 49 °C
Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition 9 °C 48 dBA 2100 rpm 53 °C 44 °C
Thermaltake Frio Extreme 21 °C 53 dBA 1750 rpm 59 °C 38 °C
Noctua NH-U9B SE2 12 °C 44 dBA 1700 rpm 64 °C 52 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Pro 15 °C 54 dBA 2000 rpm 52 °C 37 °C
Deepcool Fiend Shark 18 °C 45 dBA 1500 rpm 74 °C 56 °C
Arctic Freezer i30 13 °C 42 dBA 1350 rpm 63 °C 50 °C
Spire TME III 8 °C 46 dBA 1700 rpm 70 °C 62 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Performer 11 °C 54 dBA 2000 rpm 49 °C 38 °C
Arctic Alpine 11 PLUS 11 °C 45 dBA 2000 rpm 82 °C 71 °C
be quiet! Dark Rock 2 10 °C 41 dBA 1300 rpm 58 °C 48 °C
Phanteks PH-TC14CS 16 °C 47 dBA 1300 rpm 58 °C 42 °C
Phanteks PH-TC14PE 16 °C 48 dBA 1300 rpm 57 °C 41 °C
SilverStone HE01 (Q) 19 °C 44 dBA 1150 rpm 63 °C 44 °C
SilverStone HE01 (P) 20 °C 57 dBA 2050 rpm 62 °C 42 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (S) 17 °C 44 dBA 1250 rpm 52 °C 35 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (E) 17 °C 53 dBA 1900 rpm 50 °C 33 °C
Deepcool Neptwin 11 °C 46 dBA 1500 rpm 56 °C 45 °C
SilverStone HE02 19 °C 49 dBA 2000 rpm 64 °C 45 °C
Zalman CNPS9900DF 23 °C 45 dBA 1400 rpm 68 °C 45 °C
Deepcool ICE BLADE PRO V2.0 22 °C 43 dBA 1500 rpm 67 °C 45 °C
Phanteks PH-TC90LS 24 °C 47 dBA 2600 rpm 95 °C 71 °C
Rosewill AIOLOS 20 °C 40 dBA 1600 rpm 94 °C 74 °C
Corsair H60 20 °C 49 dBA 2000 rpm 64 °C < font size="1">44 °C
Zalman LQ310 27 °C 51 dBA 2050 rpm 65 °C 38 °C
Noctua NH-L9i 24 °C 44 dBA 2500 rpm 95 °C 71 °C
NZXT Respire T40 20 °C 45 dBA 1850 rpm 76 °C 56 °C

In the graph below, you can see how many degrees Celsius hotter the CPU core is than the air outside the case. The lower this difference, the better is the performance of the cooler.

NZXT Respire T40

In the graph below, you can see how many decibels of noise each cooler makes.

NZXT Respire T40

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main specifications for the NZXT Respire T40 CPU cooler include:

  • Application: Sockets AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, LGA775, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, and LGA2011
  • Dimensions: 5.3 x 3.3 x 6.3 inches (134 x 85 x 160 mm) (W x L x H)
  • Fins: Aluminum
  • Base: Direct-touch heatpipes
  • Heat-pipes: Four 8-mm copper heatpipes
  • Fan: 120 mm
  • Nominal fan speed: 1,800 rpm
  • Fan air flow: 68.8 cfm
  • Power consumption: 2.4 W
  • Nominal noise level: 34 dBA
  • Weight: 1.65 lb (750 g)
  • More information: https://www.nzxt.com/
  • Average Price in the U.S.*: USD 40.00

* Researched at Amazon.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

The NZXT Respire T40 is a good value cooler, with decent performance and low noise level. However, we were expecting more from it, since the four 8 mm heatpipes with no gaps between them is a high-end configuration for air coolers.

Being a decent cooler with reasonable performance, the NZXT Respire T40 receives the Hardware Secrets Bronze Award.

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