Enermax ETS-T40 Review

• Brand: Enermax
• Model: ETS-T40
• Website:  http://www.enermax.co.uk/ets-t40/
•  RRP: £27.98 (At time of the review)

Enermax have been one of the mainstays in the component industry for over 2 decades now and company HQ hails from Taoyuan, Taiwan.  They are one of the biggest brands in power supplies, cooling and peripherals in the world.  With an ethos of providing quality over quantity and with numerous design awards to their name, you can pretty much guarantee that what you see is what you get.

Cooling is one of the most important factors of building a system, especially cooling the processor.  Today I will be taking a look at the Enermax ETS-T4 CPU cooler, how will it perform and how will it cope with Haswell?

Let’s find out, starting with the specifications…

• World leading thermal resistance performance of 0.09°C/W
• Patented VGF (Vortex generator flow) technology to greatly increase air convection.
• Patented SEF (Stack Effect) design to enhance heat transfer.
• Unique air path creating high VEF (Vacuum Effect) to optimize the airflow.
• Patented HDT (Heat Pipe Direct Touch) Technology to ensure rapid thermal conduction and eliminate CPU hotspot.
• Side flow type with four Ø6mm high performance heat pipes.
• Patented circular type LED fan for the utmost eye-catching.
• Dual fan installed option and solid springs attached.

The ETS-T40 comes in white box, which has an illustration of the cooler on the front.  It has a colour guide in the bottom right corner.  The difference between the models is the colour of the LED’s in the fan.  This model is the non LED version.  On the top it has an introduction to the cooler which is displayed in many different languages.

On the rear of the box, we can see the specifications of the ETS-T40 cooler.  It also states which sockets it supports which ranges from LGA 775 all the way to AMDs FM1.  We have a nice subtle blue background which is complimented with white text.

The cooler comes bundled with all the mountings required to fit the cooler.  For more info on which mounts this cooler supports, check the specifications page of this review.  Included is a mounting guide which clearly illustrates how to mount the cooler and Enermax thermal paste which is basically Dow Corning TC52-21 TIM.

Upon first inspection of the ETS-T40, the cooler come pre mounted with the 12cm Enermax T.B Silence fan which has a speed range of 800-1800rpm.  This cooler features direct touch heat pipes which means the 4 x 6mm heat pipes are mounted directly onto the CPU itself.  Theoretically this should make the CPU cooler but we will see if this is the case.

On the top we have the Enermax logo in-printed onto the cooler.  We can also see the side of the fan which also has predominant Enermax branding.

The installation of the ETS-T40 is pretty simple considering.  The back plate attaches like any other back plate and is attached to the motherboard via 4 double ended screws.  As you can see here we have one side of the mounting system installed.  There are 2 bars which go across the 2 screws which I will explain what they do further down.

Once you have applied thermal paste, its time to put the main body of the cooler on.  To attach and fix the cooler down I took the fan off which made the overall experience a more pleasant one.  Now the main component of the cooler is on, I can move on.

To fix the ETS-T40 into place, there is a bar that goes across with 2 holes in it.  These holes are important as the bars installed previously have 2 screws mounted into the centre.

Once the bar is in place, there are 2 locking nuts which hold the cooler down into place.  Under the bar in the middle there are 2 little nibs which go into the cooler as you can see from the picture.  This keeps the cooler in place and avoids moving around.

After the cooler is in place, all that’s left to do is attach the fan.  The 2 clips which attach the fan to the main body, is possibly the easiest and hassle free experience I have had so far with this type of fan mounting system.  Got to give Enermax credit for this.

With the cooler installed, now it’s time to get down to testing….

CPU – Intel i7 4770k

Motherboard – ASRock Z87 Extreme3

Memory – G.Skill RipjawZ 8GB (2400MHz CAS10) 2x4GB

Graphics – MSI HD7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition @ 960/1250MHz

Cooler – Enermax ETS-T40 

Storage – Western Digital 320GB Caviar Blue (7200RPM 8MB Cache)

Whilst testing coolers, all tests will be done using Noctua’s NH-1 thermal paste.  In my opinion, it is one of the best thermal pastes on the market and it helps get fair and consistent results, as each cooler reviewed will use the same thermal material.

The voltages for testing are as follows

3.9GHz = 1.185v

4.5GHz = 1.3v

This helps in comparing coolers in a precise and fair manner.

Now onto the actual testing…

To test the capability of the coolers, our testing methodology is simple.  We measure the temp after 10 minutes on idle, both at 3.9GHz which our samples stock turbo boost speed and with an overclock of 4.5GHz.  To test the loaded temperatures I use prime95 and its torture test for 10 minutes and record the max temperature given.

Any time a cooler hits 100c on any test, it is automatically classed as a fail, simply due to the extreme temperatures which isn’t good for 24/7 systems.

Noise levels are tested with a decibel meter and the readings of the noise levels are taken when the coolers are in idle and loaded states.  The background noise during testing is very minimal and not enough to disrupt the readings given.

The 4.5GHz noise levels weren’t documented due to failing the temperature test.

Having had the chance to get to grips with Enermax’s ETS-T40 CPU cooler, especially on the latest Intel chipset (Z87) which has a reputation of running extremely hot.  How did it cope?  Did it crumble under the heat of Haswell, or did it manage to hold its own?

Well starting off with the aesthetics, the cooler is very good and subtle looking, the packaging is well presented and with the overall design of the cooler, it will accommodate any DRAM you wish to use.  I had no issues fitting the cooler while using my G.Skill RipjawZ, which aren’t extremely tall but I have had problems fitting the bigger size CPU coolers in the past.  Overall the cooler is a nice one and the Enermax T.B Silence fan, which is silver on the inside, perfectly complements the cooler.

Performance wise, Haswell just seemed to be too much for this cooler in my opinion.  Idle temps were a little higher than we would have hoped and the cooler hit over 100c overclocked at 4.5GHz at load, this cooler just doesn’t seem suitable for a Haswell rig.  Maybe on the locked versions of the chip it would happily chug along, overclocked this cooler will not suit Haswell.  The cooler isn’t exactly noise free but I have heard louder and as more coolers are reviewed, the results will speak for themselves.

The mounting system looked daunting to begin with but was very easy to get to grips with.  The bar across the middle ensures the cooler is 100% secure.  The cooler supports LGA 1150 also as I have showcased today.

Overall I am slightly disappointed with the ETS-T40’s performance on Haswell, but coming in at the very great price of £27.98 it isn’t one to be dismissed.  Haswell is like an untamed dragon heat wise and this cooler isn’t designed for overclocking in my opinion, but it isn’t far off and if you want a great looking cooler at a great price to match, then consider the Enermax ETS-T40 cooler.

Thanks to Enermax for the sample and thanks for taking the time to read my review.