Cooling Thermolab ITX-30 vs ID Cooling IS-30 vs CNPS2X?

[Sean Crees]

I need a good CPU cooler at or under 30mm, and these 3 seem to be my best options.

Anyone have experience with all 3 that can recommend which would be the best?

 

[Thehack]

Josh from nfc tested a bunch and concluded that the thermolab did really well. So if that is available I'd get that.

 

[Sean Crees]

Josh from nfc tested a bunch and concluded that the thermolab did really well. So if that is available I'd get that.

Yea i remember seeing that video. I think the IS-30 is fairly new. I don't know if anyone has reviewed it yet or not. It looks pretty well built.

 

[Stevo_]

I think it really depends with the ITX30, I've seen Intoxicated Puma's test results and I donated my ITX30 for the testing originally not by him as I thought so little of it. The problem as I saw it was the footprint of the base was small(didn't completely cover the IHS), so depending on IHS etc I think results can vary significantly as heat transfer is not ideal. I had to shutdown stress tests immediately on my 3770K, while the L9I which he tested as worse cruised for awhile in the same test(multiple paste applications). To illustrate, pic below of AXP100 next to ITX30. It could be there's a better version out in the wild but I haven't seen evidence of it. The original AXP100 is still about the best LP I've tried just too tall for my cases now.

I have an early IS-30 but couldn't use on latest build as the original AMD brackets were too long(also fit AM3, they are sending me the AM4 only version) and interfered with a VRM and so couldn't mount it. Instead I ended up using the AMD Wraith Stealth with a Titan 95x15mm fan which has turned out to be pretty awesome, 37mm height. The IS-30 seemed real nice probably give it a try if I upgrade to 3x00G APU.

 

[Thehack]

I don't think the size of the base is important when we're talking about a 30mm height cooler.

But you can certainly get variability in the quality of the heatsink. Since you mentioned it, I couldn't find the old itx30 results.

 

[Sean Crees]

The problem as I saw it was the footprint of the base was small(didn't completely cover the IHS), so depending on IHS etc I think results can vary significantly as heat transfer is not ideal.

I have an early IS-30 but couldn't use on latest build as the original AMD brackets were too long(also fit AM3, they are sending me the AM4 only version) and interfered with a VRM and so couldn't mount it. Instead I ended up using the AMD Wraith Stealth with a Titan 95x15mm fan which has turned out to be pretty awesome, 37mm height. The IS-30 seemed real nice probably give it a try if I upgrade to 3x00G APU.

I've heard the CNPS2X has a similar issue, where the base plate is much smaller than modern IHS's.

Out of the 3, the IS-30 is the most modern, perhaps they've made their baseplate larger to accommodate the larger IHS's for modern cpu's?

 

[Stevo_]

I've heard the CNPS2X has a similar issue, where the base plate is much smaller than modern IHS's.

Out of the 3, the IS-30 is the most modern, perhaps they've made their baseplate larger to accommodate the larger IHS's for modern

It's bigger I'll measure when I get home, this was the itx30. Forum keeps inserting as code even though it shows as a pic for me

 

[Stevo_]

The Is-30 base is 1.5" or ~40mm square as you'd expect versus the ~25mm square on the ITX30. The only thing on the ebay ine is the solder job on the pipes is rough but the pipes seem solid in there. Think it was a pre-production as current delivery is different for AM4 bracket.