Computers and modern gadgets

Packaging and equipment

The updated packaging of the AMD FX-8370 processor has noticeably increased in size. As before, it is made in black and orange shades, but now it has an image of an improved cooling system, which is also reminded by the corresponding inscriptions on the sides.

Inside the box, most of the space is devoted to the cooling system, while a small box contains the processor, a sticker on the case and a user manual.

AMD FX-8370 has not undergone any changes. This is still the same high-performance solution with a TDP of 125 W, capable of simultaneously processing up to 8 data streams. Efficient operation is also facilitated by a high clock frequency (4-4.3 GHz), which allows us to characterize this processor as a universal solution suitable for working as part of a gaming system and running applications that require CPU power (for example, for editing video content).

Appearance and design

The AMD Wraith Cooler, in its appearance and layout, is vaguely reminiscent of its predecessor - the AMD D3 boxed cooler. But the plastic decorative casing made the cooler much more pleasant in appearance, and the increased size of the radiator hints at increased efficiency.

The design as a whole remains the same: four U-shaped copper tubes emerge from a large rectangular base (77 x 40 mm), on which nickel-plated radiator fins are tightly placed. High rigidity is ensured by the use of solder at the contact points of the tubes and plates, which should also have a positive effect on the efficiency of heat transfer between these elements.

On the side wall of the decorative panel there is an AMD inscription, which is illuminated by white LEDs when power is applied. When turned off, it merges with the rest of the surface.

By unscrewing four screws, we gain access to the pre-installed turntable. The 92 mm propeller is secured using four guides and the same number of latches on both sides (remember, the 70 mm solution was previously used).

It is represented by the Delta Electronics QFR0912H model, based on rolling bearings, which should ensure long-term operation even under maximum loads. If desired, the fan can be replaced with any other solution of the appropriate standard size, choosing the most preferable one in terms of noise level and performance.

Note the presence of four anti-vibration pads at the corners of the propeller. Power is supplied to it using a 20 cm cable with a 4-pin connector.

Installation process

The AMD Wraith Cooler can only be installed on AMD platforms, which is quite natural. Fortunately, the versatility of the mount allows it to be used on most current connectors: AMD Socket AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / AM3+ / FM1 / FM2 / FM2+. There is still too little information about the upcoming AMD Socket AM4 to draw conclusions about the future compatibility of processor coolers.

For installation, a standard design is used, pre-installed on the system board, which includes a support plate and a pair of plastic fasteners.

The process of installing the cooler involves fixing it using a lever. Before doing this, do not forget to place the processor itself in the socket. As for the thermal interface, it is already applied by the manufacturer to the base of the cooler. As you can see, the new product is characterized by excellent compatibility with nearby radiators on the elements of the processor power subsystem.

But there are some restrictions on the use of RAM modules. So, it will not be possible to install a high memory stick in the first slot, but a standard-sized module with a radiator will fit right here, touching the processor cooler fins. A solution without a radiator can be used in the first slot without any restrictions. The same applies to strips of any design when installed in other available slots.

The AMD Wraith Cooler looks very nice in the case. Thanks to its laconic and strict design, it will fit into any system, especially if the components are selected primarily in dark colors.

Note that placing the fan parallel to the motherboard has an additional advantage in the form of cooling the space around the processor, including elements of the CPU power subsystem.

Testing

The following equipment was used to test the AMD Wraith Cooler processor cooling system:

CPU

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T @ 3.3 GHz (Socket AM3+, 3.3 GHz, L3 6 MB)

motherboards

ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX (AMD 990FX, Socket AM3+, DDR3, ATX)

RAM

2 x DDR3-1333 1024 MB TwinMOS 9DRTBKZ8-TATP

Video card

AMD Radeon HD 6950 (2 GB GDDR5)

HDD

Samsung HD080HJ (80 GB, 7200 rpm, 8 MB, SATA 3 Gbps)

power unit

Seasonic X-760 (SS-760KM), 120mm fan

Enermax Hoplite ECA 3220, 2 x 120mm fans

Thermal paste

akasa AK-460 pro-grade (3.3 W/m K, -45…+200°C)

Testing the cooler while cooling a processor operating at the nominal frequency allowed us to compare its performance with other solutions. It turned out to be one of the highest due to its rotation speed of 2900 rpm. Unfortunately, this mode of operation may be uncomfortable for many if they spend a long time at the computer. Reducing the frequency to 2200 rpm allowed for quieter operation, and the cooling efficiency was still higher than most compared solutions. To be fair, we note that many of them are more compact in size, since they were originally designed for use in small PCs. But, for example, the tower cooler has a height of 143 mm, and at a similar rotation speed it is a couple of degrees inferior to the tested cooler. Therefore, we can conclude that AMD has turned out to be a good competitor to entry-level tower coolers with 3-4 heat pipes and a 92 mm propeller.

The heating stand succumbed to the new product at 9 V, but the very presence of its indicators on this graph indicates very good efficiency.

We also tested the AMD Wraith Cooler cooling system on its “native” AMD FX-8370 operating at the nominal frequency, using processor testing bench No. 2.

At full load, the CPU frequency was at 4 GHz (1.198 - 1.240 V), occasionally rising to 4.1 GHz and occasionally dropping to 3.3 GHz. We were unable to capture the 4.3 GHz turbo indicator. When idle, the operating frequency drops to 1.4 GHz (0.856 V).

When loading only the Stress FPU (floating point processing unit), drops to 3.3 GHz occurred much more often, apparently it is quite difficult to warm up the processor this way.

In maximum load mode using AIDA64, the AMD Wraith Cooler accelerated to a speed of about 2870 rpm, maintaining the temperature of the processor cores at 54°C. Similar temperature results were obtained using the previous box solution, but it ran at a very uncomfortable 5000 rpm.

With the processor at half load using the wPrime Benchmark application, the core temperature was 50°C, and after 2-3 minutes the cooler was already operating at a speed close to the maximum (about 2890 rpm).

At idle, the CPU temperature dropped to 37°C, and the fan was spinning quietly at about 1650 rpm.

Consequently, it will not be possible to significantly overclock the AMD FX-8370 using this cooler, since even in the nominal operating mode it was noticeably heated. When using a third-party cooling system, the overclocking potential of the CPU allowed it to reach about 4.7 GHz, which is similar to the copy.

Fan supply voltage, V

Blade rotation speed, rpm

Noise level

Almost silent

Almost silent

Very quiet

Quiet, with little background

Slightly below average

Below the average

Above average

Above average, loud

The supplied fan started at 3.4 V at 770 rpm. Up to 1100 rpm it operates almost silently; up to 1800 rpm - it’s still quiet, but beyond that the propeller begins to stand out from the rest of the components. At 2500 rpm there is an average noise level, and at maximum (almost 3000 rpm) it becomes completely loud.

conclusions

We are very pleased with the fact that Advanced Micro Devices finally decided to create their own proprietary cooler, which will allow you not to resort to purchasing a more powerful third-party solution. Thanks to the use of a larger radiator (although its design remains the same) and a 92 mm fan, the cooler is actually noticeably quieter than the previous box cooler. Thus, the maximum rotation speed of the turntable decreased from 5000 rpm to almost 3000 rpm. At the same time, the unpleasant buzzing noise disappeared from the frequency spectrum it created, and the tone of the fan itself became noticeably calmer. But the maximum efficiency of the cooler has remained almost unchanged. Therefore, you can’t count on additional noticeable overclocking, but there shouldn’t be any problems with overheating in games and regular applications.

Now about the fly in the ointment. The increase in the size of the cooler prevents the installation of RAM modules with high heatsinks in the first slot. It is also unfortunate to realize that the manufacturer has so far decided to supply the tested cooler only with a processor. Still, the new cooler turned out to be a worthy replacement for the previous boxed version, so many users are looking forward to its appearance in combination with more mainstream solutions (for example, AMD FX-8300 / 8320).

Advantages:

  • noticeable reduction in noise level compared to a standard box solution;
  • use of a PWM-controlled 92 mm fan based on a ball bearing;
  • additional airflow around the processor space;
  • good rigidity and heat transfer of the structure due to the use of solder;
  • Possibility of use in compact housings;
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Both AMD and Intel provide their microprocessors with their own cooling systems (CO). Such coolers are very inexpensive, quite reliable, and they do their job. No one expects that such coolers will be able to provide high stability during overclocking, or be very quiet, like premium solutions from “professional” cooling system manufacturers. However, both processor developers are consistently improving their software. AMD recently introduced Wraith, a cooling solution for its current and future chips.

Advanced Micro Devices is currently equipping its FX series boxed CPUs with the AMD D3 cooler. The latter is made of aluminum, equipped with four heat pipes, as well as a 70 mm fan. The AMD D3 cooling system is designed to dissipate up to 125 W of thermal energy, unfortunately at the expense of a high noise level (up to 51 dBA, according to AMD). The vast majority of enthusiasts who buy AMD FX processors tend to end up using cooling solutions from companies like Corsair, Noctua or Scythe. However, some PC manufacturers use coolers that come with the CPU, which is hardly the optimal solution, since such coolers emit excessive noise levels.

Notably, AMD's high-performance accelerated processing units (APUs) - which dissipate up to 95 watts of thermal energy - feature even simpler cooling solutions than the AMD FX. The small dimensions of the radiator in the case of such COs are compensated by high fan speeds, which increases the noise level of PCs based on AMD A-series chips.

Apparently, in the future AMD plans to offer cooling systems with better consumer characteristics. At CES 2016, the company showed off its new Wraith cooler, which will be used to cool current and future developer processors. AMD Wraith is designed for processors that dissipate up to 125 W of thermal energy, it has a fairly large aluminum heatsink with very thin fins, four heat pipes, and an 80 mm fan. The total fin surface area of ​​the AMD Wraith is 179,730.1 mm2, which is 24% more than its predecessor's 144,397.8 mm2. Modern 80mm fans can produce significant airflow without producing much noise. According to AMD, the 80mm Wraith fan is capable of pumping up to 55.78 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM), or 34% more than its predecessor (41.6 CFM). The maximum noise level generated by the AMD Wraith cooler is about 39 dBA (according to the manufacturer), which is significantly quieter than the AMD D3, but significantly louder than the noise levels generated by advanced coolers from Noctua or Scythe (20-32 dBA) . Overall, AMD's new cooling system seems to be quite effective for the coolant that comes in the box with the microprocessor, but only detailed research will show how good the Wraith is.

Unfortunately, AMD did not reveal detailed specifications of its new cooling system. However, the company demonstrated the new product in action. on your YouTube channel. As you can see from the video, the new cooler is noticeably larger than the AMD D3. The new product is also significantly quieter, but it is clearly not as silent as the low-speed 120mm fans that are used on giant coolers.

The AMD Wraith cooling solution will be included with select high-end microprocessors and will also be sold separately. The new cooling system should be compatible with all latest generations of AMD connectors (for example, FM2+ and AM3+), however, nothing is known for sure about compatibility with AM4 coming out this year. Since changing the cooler mounting mechanism for future APUs and CPUs is not that difficult, it looks like AMD's Wraith will keep the company's chips cool for quite some time.

While enthusiasts will continue to use third-party coolers with both existing and future AMD CPUs, the Wraith cooling system will be good news for many PC makers. The relatively quiet, very small-sized, but quite productive CO will allow you to build small PCs based on AMD hybrid processors. Quiet and inexpensive systems with a good graphics adapter will be interesting in many markets.

Advanced Micro Devices does not disclose exactly when the company plans to start equipping its processors with the AMD Wraith cooling system. Apparently, the appearance of a new cooler on the market should be expected in the coming months.

Whose “thermal power dissipation value” is 105 W. This cooler belongs to the new line of AMD coolers, which includes five representatives; we reviewed the previous line in the article “”. AMD Wraith Prism, and, apparently, differs from the similar Wraith Max in direct contact heat pipes, a modified shape of the radiator fins (improving the cooler’s compatibility with motherboards and memory modules), as well as a more advanced version of multi-color and multi-zone backlighting.

We received the AMD Wraith Prism processor cooler packaged in a nondescript corrugated cardboard box.


The radiator consists of a sole made of a thick copper plate, four heat copper pipes and fins made of nickel-plated aluminum connected into a single structure.


The tubes and sole do not have a protective/decorative coating. The fins are soldered to the tubes and the sole, as well as the tubes to the sole. The quality of soldering is low; in some places the fins do not have contact with the base and heat pipes.


This, of course, somewhat worsens the actual performance of the cooler. The diameter of the tubes is 6 mm, the length of the sole is 77 mm, the width is 58 mm, with a thickness of 3 mm at the edges and 5 mm closer to the center. The parts of the tubes running along the bottom of the sole are flattened. The bottom of the sole and the planes of the tubes are ground, but not polished. The sole is slightly, 0.1-0.2 mm, convex along the tubes and slightly concave across the tubes. The ground surfaces of the tubes have visible, but practically imperceptible, surface defects if you run your fingernail.


The thickness of the ribs is 0.4 mm. The height of the radiator from the bottom plane of the sole to the top of the ribs is 61 mm, and to the cutout for the memory strips - 29 mm.


The thermal interface of this cooler is applied in a thin layer to the base at the factory.


It is protected by a shaped cover made of hard transparent plastic. Let's look at the distribution of thermal paste after completing tests of this cooler (in this case, after the second test using thermal paste). On processor:


And on the base of the heat sink:


It can be seen that over most of the contact area between the sole and the processor, the layer of thermal paste is very thin, and its excess is squeezed out to the edges.

The fan is secured in a casing, which is secured with latches on top of the radiator. The fan used is from Cooler Master - apparently, the cooler itself is manufactured by the same company.



On the side of the casing there are two connectors, closed with rubber plugs, and an inconspicuous engine. About the connectors - below, and the engine switches the fan operating mode - reduced (L) or increased (H) rotation speed. The fan impeller is made of transparent plastic and is slightly matted on the outside. The fan stator contains four RGB LEDs that illuminate the impeller from the inside.

On the casing there is a strip of translucent plastic that goes around the fan, and in its gap there is a white AMD logo, also translucent. The stripe and logo are illuminated by several RGB LEDs. If the cooler is simply connected to the four (three) pin connector on the motherboard, then if the supply voltage is sufficient, the backlight will work in the default mode, as in the video below:

For those who are not satisfied with this, they can use the connectors mentioned above behind the plugs.


The use of not quite typical miniature connectors, instead of the accepted four-pin one for RGB backlighting and, for example, Mini-USB, should be considered as a disadvantage. The cooler comes with two cables with mating connectors.


The four-pin cable can be connected to a standard RGB header on the motherboard or to a third-party controller. In this case, you can only control the illumination of the impeller; the strip smoothly changes the color of the glow, and the logo glows statically in white. There's more variety when you plug the three-pin cable into the internal USB header on the motherboard and use Cooler Master's Wraith Prism software.


When you start the software, it will check the firmware version of the cooler controller and offer to update it if a new version is detected.


The tabs in the right half of the main window allow you to switch between the backlight settings for the strip, impeller and logo. The strip illumination has the most static and dynamic options, since it is illuminated by several independently controlled RGB LEDs.


There is even an option to transmit the entered phrase in Morse code.


In the case of illumination of the impeller and logo, you can choose between one static and two dynamic options.




The video below demonstrates several options for cooler lighting when controlled from the specified software:

Testing

Below in the summary table we present the results of measurements of a number of parameters.

The fan cable is enclosed in a slippery braid, the backlight cables have a round PVC sheath.

A full description of the testing methodology is given in the corresponding article. In this testing, we used the Stress FPU test from the AIDA64 package as a program that loads the processor. Fan operating modes—low (L) or high (H) rotation speed—were tested separately.

Stage 1. Determining the dependence of the cooler fan speed on the PWM duty cycle and/or supply voltage


The adjustment range is wide - from 10%-15% to 100% with a smooth and nonlinear increase in rotation speed, and when the fill factor (FC) decreases to 3%, the fan stops. This may be important if the user wants to create a hybrid cooling system that operates completely or partially in passive mode at low loads.


The adjustment range is also wide. The fan stops when the voltage drops to 2.1/2.7 V and starts from 2.2/2.9 V (H/L modes).

Stage 2. Determining the dependence of the processor temperature when it is fully loaded on the rotation speed of the cooler fan


In this test, the processor overheats at a short circuit of 30% in the case of mode H and at a short circuit of 40% when mode L is enabled.

Stage 3. Determining the noise level depending on the rotation speed of the cooler fan


It depends, of course, on individual characteristics and other factors, but in the case of coolers somewhere from 40 dBA and above, the noise, from our point of view, is very high for a desktop system, from 35 to 40 dBA the noise level is tolerable, below 35 dBA the noise from the cooling system will not stand out much from the background of typical low-noise PC components - case fans, on the power supply, on the video card, as well as hard drives, and somewhere below 25 dBA the cooler can be called conditionally silent. In this case, the entire range is covered, but overall the cooler is rather noisy.

Stage 4. Plotting the dependence of the noise level on the processor temperature at full load


Let's try to move away from test bench conditions to more realistic scenarios. Let’s assume that the air temperature inside the case can rise to 44°C, but you don’t want to raise the processor temperature under maximum load above 80°C. Limiting ourselves to these conditions, we will plot the dependence of the actual maximum power consumed by the processor on the noise level:


Taking 25 dBA as a criterion for conditional noiselessness, we find that the approximate maximum power of a processor corresponding to this level is about 85 W. Let us clarify once again that this is in harsh conditions of blowing air heated to 44 degrees onto the radiator; as the air temperature decreases, the specified power limits for silent operation and maximum power increase. Hypothetically, if you ignore the noise level, the power limit can be increased to somewhere around 110 W. This means that the cooler should cope with cooling the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X processor under any reasonable operating conditions, but you should not count on conditionally silent operation under heavy and constant load.

conclusions

Our testing has shown that the AMD Wraith Prism cooler can be used with processors with a real consumption of about 85 W, and even taking into account a possible increase in the temperature inside the case to 44 °C and subject to maximum load, it will still maintain a very low noise level - 25 dBA and below. By increasing the fan speed, the power limit can be increased to 110 W, but the noise level will exceed a comfortable value. The advantages of the cooler include a neat design, decorative cable braiding, dimensions that do not interfere with the installation of memory modules, and, of course, multi-color and multi-zone static or dynamic backlighting of the strip and logo on the casing and fan impeller.

It's good to see that AMD has taken the initiative to release some upgraded "stock" coolers with their processors. Enthusiasts probably have shelves full of "spare" coolers from AMD and Intel that, due to their lackluster performance, have never been used. Starting in February, AMD announced the Wraith cooler, which was bundled with the AMD FX 8370 and AMD A10-7890K. They have now expanded the availability of the Wraith CPU cooler to the AMD FX 8350 and AMD FX 6350.

AMD's new "nearby silent cooling solutions" are now included in 12 popular processors. Here's a quick jump:

Recent AMD Silent Cooling Solutions

Cooling Solution Processors
AMD Wraith Cooler AMD FX 8370

AMD FX 8350

AMD FX 6350

AMD A10-7870K

AMD AthlonX4 880K

AMD A10-7860K

AMD Athlon X4 870K

AMD Athlon X4 860K

AMD Athlon X4 845

package

The box is slightly larger than their previous packaging. I was sent the FX 8350 for review and the box is marked accordingly. There is also a tamper-proof sticker that seals the box, making it nearly impossible to open without breaking it. Overall the packaging is quite safe and protects the parts well. Once opened, you will see that the Wraith CPU and cooler are in their own separate boxes. The CPU package is the regular standalone retail style used with the FX 9XXX series processors. It has a side view showing the CPU and a nice FX sticker for your case. The bag is positioned in a cutout in the cardboard insert to prevent it from moving around. The Wraith cooler comes in a cardboard box that fits snugly into the same insert I just mentioned. Inside you will find two plastic inserts that protect the cooler.

Gaze

The first thing you notice when taking the Phantom out of the box is the size. It's much bigger than the previous cooler and also much better. What caught my attention was the neat looking shell around the new 92mm Delta fan which gives 36% more airflow at 3000 max speed compared to their original 5000 RPM scream. There's also a PWM plug connector to finish it off. Moving down we see a nice thick copper plate. Looking at it, it easily doubles the weight of the original and the top is shaped to allow more contact with the heat cakes. Four shiny copper heatpipes make their way through, though a tightly packed fin array that has 24% more surface area than before.

Then take some pictures to directly compare the Wraith cooler to the original AMD FX cooler.

Moving a little closer, I removed the shroud and fan to see what was under the hood. AMD has done a nice job here. The first thing I noticed was the four rubber washers added to the fan mount to isolate vibrations from the 92mm Delta Electronics QRF0912H fan. Which according to the linked PDF offers 60 CFM @ 3200 RPM with a good 37 dB. You'll also notice in the photo below that there are additional wires connected to the four-pin PWM input. This power is a small LED light that will illuminate the AMD logo on the side of the shroud when using the Ghost. This logo is invisible to the naked eye unless the cooler is powered on. I have to admit that I was scratching my head about my goal until I turned on the system.

Installation

From past experience with AMD coolers, I found them to be a bit difficult to install. The fastening mechanism always seemed too tight and I would struggle with it for what seemed like an eternity. Now with the Wraith cooler this is no longer a problem. Either they have more movement in the spring arm or the tab is just the correct length, but the installation was very easy and simple. A few things to note here. The cooler is a bit larger, so you'll want to check the ramp spread. I was using an ASUS 970 Pro Gaming/Aura and there was plenty of room for the first memory slot filled with my G.Skill RipjawsX, but I tried a set of G.Skill Flare 1800 MHz and they were too tight. I would suggest checking to see if the plunger has radiators wider than those in the slots. If they do, you won't be using the first slot with that cooler. The second point is orientation. The four way PWM fan cable was short enough that I could only mount it with the cable on the same side as the fan. I tried it differently, it was close, but not close enough. This may differ from one motherboard to another.

Setup and testing

For testing, I started all the coolers at standard settings and overclocked them. Ambient temperature was ~20°C. When running stock the only change is that the BIOS set the piston speed. When overclocking, I disabled all power savers in the BIOS, disabled the turbo add-on, and enabled the HPC setting, which helps prevent throttling. All tests were done with Windows 10 x64 Professional configured for high performance and using CPUID HWMonitor to display temperature and voltage. I think it's worth noting that when running at stock settings, all three coolers had some throttling, as evidenced by the minimum CPU frequency of 3411 MHz in the CPUID HWMonitor screenshots. This is a result of not enabling HPC in the BIOS. You may also notice a lack of idle temperatures. Anyone familiar with the AMD FX processor knows that idle temperatures on these processors are generally not accurate, and temperatures below ambient are often reported.

Original AMD FX Cooler

First we have the original AMD FX cooler. Thus, it does an adequate job of keeping the processor cool under load. Acceleration was a completely different story. I managed to get to 4.2 GHz on all eight cores with 1.404v, but according to AMD OverDrive I was at the 70°C temperature threshold, CPUID HWMonitor reported maximum temperatures of 70°C for the package (core) and 67°C for the CPU socket . This pushed the limits a bit, but the storage cooler was still able to push the CPU on all eight cores up to 4.2GHz, which is the boost speed. Keep in mind that the small fan on the cooler was set to almost 4500 RPM and was by no means quiet.

New AMD Wraith Cooler processor

Next up is the new and improved AMD Wraith CPU Cooler, and I have to say I'm impressed with the performance for a "stock" cooler. The Wraith held up to 4.5 GHz with 1.452v and came in at a cool 63°C for the package and 61°C at the CPU socket. I have no doubt that 4.6GHz would have been achieved, but I prefer to be a little more frugal with a 24/7 machine. What was even more noticeable was the noise. The AMD Wraith cooler was not only able to overclock, but at the same time it was pleasant and quiet, unlike its predecessor.

Cooler Master Hyper212 EVO

The latter shows the results from Cooler Master Hyper212 EVO. This is most likely one of the most popular coolers after the market. Not only is it affordable, but it also handles smooth overclocking quite well. Managed to make the Wraith cooler, but only at ~10°C. I applied the same 4.5GHz overclock to it and the same 1.452v. The CM 212 helped keep temperatures down to 51°C for packing and 53°C for nest reading. Sure, there's a little more space here, but you really need to buy this cooler separately for $35.00 over AMD's included Wraith cooler. Plus it was easy to install unlike the CM 212 EVO. According to their specifications, AMD Wraith and CM 212 have the same dB rating. Now it could be the open bench or just the orientation, but I could definitely hear the CM 212 over anything else in the system, as opposed to the AMD Wraith cooler.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was definitely impressed with the performance of the AMD Wraith processor. It was a nice change to be able to do a little soft overclocking right out of the box and not have to worry about crashing. The entire experience was enjoyable and installation was enhanced using on board mounting brackets that were up and running in less than 30 seconds. I'm also very impressed with the noise, or lack thereof I must say. AMD has done a fantastic job with their implementation of "near-silent cooling" without sacrificing the "cooling" end of things. I'm also impressed by the attention to detail on the new Wraith CPU cooler, with a sleek black shell, PWM header with grommet, rubber washers for noise reduction, and optional LED backlit logo. AMD has given cooling headroom a whole new meaning. From his performance to his looks!

AMD has announced full and immediate retail availability of its Wraith Max cooler through retail channels. The Wraith Max cooler for 140 Watt TDP was previously available only through the TOP AMD Ryzen 7 1700X and 1800X kit. However, due to its popularity, which has generated unprecedented demand, AMD has decided to make this cooler available in a solo version. It looks like the ease of installation via AMD's spring-screw mechanism, fun looks, LED lighting, relatively quiet operation (38dBA) and decent performance were enough to convince AMD users.


The Wraith Max cooler is compatible with AMD AM4, AM3+ and FM2 motherboards. The color of the ring lighting can be customized using a variety of RGB control applications from various manufacturers, such as Asus Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light, Biostar's Vivid LED D and ASRock's RGB LED tools. AMD also offers the AMD Wraith Max RGB lighting control software (powered by Cooler Master) as a free download. Wraith Max comes with a USB cable and RGB LED to control the lighting function. Copper baseplate with heat pipes, comes with pre-applied thermal paste and a 92mm Cooler Master fan. The blower fan also provides additional cooling for the socket area and VRM. The $59 price tag may put off some potential buyers, but nevertheless, this cooler remains the best choice on the market, and for those who want to maintain the same AMD cooling identity, it is the best option.

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