Akasa Nero S CPU Cooler Review

Performance Analysis

The Nero S delivered some seriously impressive performance when fitted to our overclocked Core i7-965, with an idle delta T of just 14°C and a load delta T of 50°C. That's just 1°C hotter than the Thermalright Ultra eXtreme 120 1366 RT and the Titan Fenrir on its noisy high fan speed setting.

It’s clear that all four direct-contact heatpipes were doing a great job of channeling heat away from the CPU, especially as the S-blade 120mm fan, even at its highest setting, was much quieter than the Fenrir’s 120mm fan at full speed. With the fan throttled to everyday noise levels and speeds, the same CPU under the Fenrir was 3°C hotter than under the Nero S when idle and 1°C when working flat-out.

Cooling on our LGA1156 rig was also very good, with a delta T of 9°C at idle and of 37°C at load. This is 1-2°C cooler than the Fenrir managed on it low speed fan setting, and 3°C cooler than the Tranquillo delivered. We suspect the results would have been even better for the Nero S had the heatspreader of the CPU been larger - only the centre two heatpipes made full contact with the CPU, with the outside pair only making half contact.

This wasn’t a problem on the extra large heatspreader of our Socket AM2+ AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition CPU though, with the four heatpipes all making full contact, just as with the LGA1366 CPU. However, while the idle delta T of just 14°C is as good as we’ve seen, at load the Nero S was some 5°C off the cooling offered by the Titan Fenrir on low speed. This is only a slight improvement over the original Nero cooler.

The fan of the Nero S was pleasingly quiet throughout the testing, even when the fan span at its full 1,600rpm. We place the Nero S on a par with the near-silent Tranquillo in the noise stakes. What’s more, thanks to Akasa’s use of a PWM fan connector, it’s easy to achieve even quieter operation if you want to compromise a little on cooling.

Conclusion

With respectably low Delta Ts and a quiet fan, the Nero S certainly delivers when it comes to cooling, but things get a little stickier when it comes to pricing. At £35.83, the Nero S is £6.48 more expensive than the Titan Fenrir (which is currently at £29.35. Considering that the Nero S is a touch better at a cooling than the Fenrir in quiet fan mode, and a little quieter too, it's worth considering for an LGA1366 PC, even if it is more expensive.

The Nero S just about edges past the Fenrir on LGA1156 in terms of performance, being both quieter and a touch more effective. However, as LGA1156 is a more price-sensitive platform (spend too much on memory, motherboard or cooler and you might be better off opting for a basic LGA1366 system instead) the Gelid Tranquillo has to be considered too. While not as effective at cooling as the Nero S, the Tranquillo is just as quiet and costs £13 less (if it’s ever in stock). If not, the Fenrir would be our choice for LGA1156 too thanks to its lower price.

At least AMD owners have less of tricky decision when it comes to this cooler – it’s out-cooled by both the Fenrir and the Tranquillo, and so isn’t worth buying. A shift in price - either upwards for the Titan Fenrir, or downwards for the Nero S - will make the Nero S more attractive for an Intel LGA1156 PC. However, at the moment it's only worth considering for LGA1366 users looking for exemplary cooling and supreme quietness.

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Score Guide