TITAN Vanessa S-Type

Introduction

TITAN is not extremely well known, mainly because they’ve always made budget products for budget systems. They broke that barrier by introducing their first external/internal watercooling kit, which wowed many enthusiasts. Although we didn’t have the opportunity to receive the watercooling kit, it does look very promising. The good news is that we were able to receive their new universal CPU cooler. Read on to find out if it’s worth your investment.

TITAN Vanessa S-Type

The new CPU cooler has been dubbed Vanessa. Even a mascot is chosen to represent the new cooler. The heatsink is based on superior heatpipe technology that extends the tradition of the aircooling method. The Vanessa follows the tradition of heatpipe towers and has numerous aluminum fins spread out across the heatpipes for heat distribution. The fins are then cooled by the attached fan. For a more attractive look, TITAN shaped the fins in the shape of a butterfly. The Vanessa is a universal cooler that is compatible with all current desktop platforms, including the ancient Socket A.

The Vanessa makes use of 6 long heatpipes that extrude from the copper base. The base doesn’t look much like copper because it has a shiny plating to add to the overall looks. Although TITAN didn’t specify the material used to coat the copper base, I assume that it should be nickel plated, much like the popular Tweakmonster ramsinks. Don’t take my word for it though, I’m just guessing here. The base is pretty thin, but that’s good enough because the base doesn’t need to be thick. The base doesn’t have to act as a heat capacitor because the heatpipes are used to help distribute heat across the fins fast and efficiently. The base is shaped to accommodate the compatibility issues that may occur with certain motherboards. The base comes well protected by a plastic layer. Simply peel it off before installation. One thing that I like to do is wipe the base with alcohol after you peel off the protective layer. Although it didn’t happen with the sample I had, there might be some glue residue leftover. Because of the copper base plating, the base is extremely shiny and reflective. That is not the important part, though, because a flat base is more important than a shiny base. In this case, the Vanessa made perfect contact with the CPU.

Included in the box are the installation accessories for all desktop platforms, a fan controller, a small tube of Nano Blue thermal grease, and an instructions manual. The inclusion of the Nano Blue thermal grease is surprising and extremely pleasing. This paste is way better than typical white silicone paste. The instruction manual is extremely detailed and is aided by pictures for proper installation. The fan controller comes already installed in a 3.5” drive bay. It can be removed via the two screws and reinstalled on the provided PCI bracket. This allows for more user flexibility. Installation on the LGA775 platform was straightforward and easy. Take the top plate (the one used for LGA775 platforms) and sit it on top of the heatsink base. There is a small notch for the small hole in the top plate. This is used to ensure that the heatsink does not move around during installation. Slip the backplate through the 4 motherboard holes and sit the heatsink down on top of the CPU. Use the 4 provided thumbscrews and tighten in a crisscross manner. Installation for LGA775 and Socket 478 platforms requires no tools at all; but for Socket 754/939/940/A, you’ll need a screwdriver. Make sure that you install the heatsink before you clip on the fan. It will make your life so much easier.

Specifications

Although the TITAN didn’t specify the weight of the Vanessa, it did feel a lot lighter than most heatsinks available. This is good for enthusiasts who like to do a lot of traveling with their systems. The fan is a 92mm fan that makes close to no noise when running at low RPMs. When turned to full blast, the noise does increase, but not enough to become annoying. With the case closed, you can barely hear it. The fan does come in a nice blue finish. For installation, the fan uses a clip that hooks on to the fins of the heatsink. The fan can only be attached at the head of the heatsink, where Vanessa’s head is at.

Test Setup and Results

Test Setup and Method:

Testing will be conducted on the LGA775 platform with an overclocked CPU. I figured that this is the best testing method because LGA775 CPUs produce the most heat. If it can cool down an overclocked LGA775 CPU, it can cool down just about any other CPU.

Ambient temperature was kept at a consistent 22°C. Arctic Silver Ceramique thermal paste was used during the entire testing process. A temperature probe was placed next to the Intel heatspreader to measure CPU temperature. Two instances of CPU Burn-in were used to create maximum load on the CPU. The purpose of this test was to determine the results a home end user would obtain. There was no scientific testing conducted, simply because I do not have the proper equipment.

Test System Specifications:

• Intel LGA775 560 3.6GHZ (18 x 200FSB = 3.6GHZ @ 1.4v BIOS)
• ASUS P5AD2 Premium
• Centon Gemini Low Latency PC2-4200
• ATI Radeon X700 Pro
• Ultra Products 600W

Competition:

• Swiftech MCX775-V w/ Vantec Tornado @ 7v
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 7

Test Procedures:

• Idling at desktop for 30 minutes
• Full load with 2 instances of CPU Burn-in for 60 minutes

The ASUS P5AD2 Premium motherboard overvolts on the VCore. Setting it at 1.4v in BIOS would read 1.564v idle and 1.515v load in CPUID. And from the test results, the actual VCore should be 1.564v during idle and 1.515v during load.

Results:

The Vanessa sure is one heck of a heatsink. The performance is absolutely amazing. Although the Freezer 7 performed better at silent operations, the Vanessa managed to drop 2°C under load with the fan running at full blast. It’s not really all that bad because the fan is only a bit louder. It’s still very tolerable if it was installed inside a system with the side panels closed.

Conclusion and Thoughts

TITAN’s performance cooler is very well made. The Vanessa performs great and does so with reasonable noise. The only issue is that it’s not dead silent like the Freezer 7. For those who don’t mind the little noise, the Vanessa is a wise investment. The only issue I have with this cooler is the height. The heatsink is extremely tall, the tallest I’ve encountered so far. I installed it in my cousin’s system the other day and almost ran into trouble with the side panel closing properly. Although it did manage to fit without hassle, the rubber tips of the heatpipes came into contact with his Cooler Master Wavemaster side panel. For those who are interested, make sure that your case is wide enough to accommodate the height. I came close to awarding the Vanessa the Must-Have but then realized that the performance is only great when the fan is turned up. At low and medium speeds (adjusted through the fan controller), the Vanessa didn’t perform as well as the quieter Freezer 7. Nonetheless, the Vanessa does deserve a great recommendation. It is an excellent heatsink for the enthusiasts who need the performance and care little for noise. For those who are interested in the Vanessa, please contact TITAN for distributor information. I was unable to find one here in the U.S.

We would like to thank TITAN for providing us the sample. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit us up in the forums. You can also check out more of our latest reviews on the front page.