NZXT Havik 120 Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Unboxing3. NZXT HAVIK 1204. Installation5. Testing methodology and performance6. Final Thoughts7. View All Pages

NZXT made a positive impression within the enthusiast sector after they released their first CPU cooler – the Havik 140. It immediately started scooping up awards, as it performed at a similar level to the best coolers on the market. 6 months later and we have their second cooler – the Havik 120 in our labs.

The Havik 120 offers a smaller footprint than the Havik 140, using dual 120mm fans and 4 x 8mm heatpipes, compared with the Havik 140 which had dual 140mm fans and 6 x 6mm heatpipes.

Features

• Revamped 120mm FZ Fans with 13 blades for intense silent cooling.
• Nickel-plated copper base material.
• Four 8mm pipes and aluminium fins for attaining maximum dissipation into fans.
• Fan speeds up to 1500 +/- 10% RPM and 22 dBA silent cooling with airflow of 75.8 CFM.
• Aero-dynamic fin design for improved airflow.
• Universal bracket compatible with Intel and AMD CPUs.
• Rubber mounting for noise absorption.

Specifications

MODEL	HAVIK 120
MATERIALS	Aluminum / Copper Nickel-Plated
DIMENSIONS	125(W) x 160(H) x 112(D) mm 125(W) x 160(H) x 58(D) mm (heatsink)
WEIGHT	680g (excluding fans and mounting kit) 980g (with dual 120mm fans)
MOUNTING PRESSURE	55-60 lbs
FAN SIZE	Dual 120(W) x 140(H) x 25(D) mm
FAN BEARING	Long Life (Oil-Leaking Prevention)
FAN SPEED	1200 +/- 10% RPM (low); 1500 +/- 10% RPM (high)
NOISE LEVEL	18-22 dBA
AIR FLOW	61.5-75.8 CFM
CONNECTOR	3-Pin
Y-SPLIT CABLE	White connector for low speed; black connector for high speed
INPUT POWER	3.6 W
LIFE	30,000 Hours
COMPATIBILITY	Intel Socket: 2011, 1366, 1155, 1156, 775 CPUs AMD Socket: AM3, AM2+, AM2 CPUs

The Havik 120 is packaged in a stiff cardboard outer shell that presents a picture of the new cooler on the front. The rear of the package has several tidbits of relevant information regarding features.

The two sides of the package contain a product computability list and the dimensions of the cooler.

Inside we have the main cooler wrapped in a plastic bag, the 2 x 13 blade, 120mm fans and the hardware required to install the Havik 120. As hoped, NZXT provide us with a comprehensive bundle.

NZXT have included 2 Y split cables that attach the dual fans to the motherboard.  The white coloured fan header is the low speed set which is supposed to limit the speed to 1,200 RPM while the cable with the black headers would allow the fans to spin at full speed.

The Havik 120 shares the tower type design that is common among most high end air coolers today.  They have modified the design slightly by increasing the size of the heatpipes from 6mm to 8mm while reducing the number from 6 to 4. We are curious to see if this change in design has any impact on the cooling prowess.

The base of the Havik 120 is is nickel plated copper which produces a smooth and reflective finish. The 4 x 8mm heatpipes all pass through the copper base before continuing up through the numerous rows of aluminium fins.

For our AMD install we need to ensure that the backplate is mounted in the right direction. This information is engraved in the backplate, so it isn't complicated.  Once the correct orientation is selected, the black plastic spacer should be placed on top of the backplate, then snapped into position. Finally we remove the protective layer and attach the 4 insulating pads to the backplate.

Now we place the backplate in the mounting spot and slide the 4 long screws through the holes in our motherboard. Once the screws are inserted the next step is to place the 4 black plastic pillars over the 4 screws, to hold it all in place.

After joining the Intel and AMD retaining brackets it is secured using 4 silver nuts. It is important to ensure the arrows that are engraved on the 2 Intel brackets are pointing inward towards the CPU.  After applying the thermal paste we can then place the cooler on the processor and secure it using the brace that rests on the base of the cooler. This attaches to the 2 threaded posts on the AMD retention bracket.

The fans on the Havik 120 use the same rubber mounting devices that were used on the Havik 140 and they make installation a breeze.  After attaching the desired number of fans all that is left is to attach the fans to a header on the motherboard.

NZXT have provided 2 Y split cables to make attaching the dual fans a simple process. The cable with the black headers provides the full fan speed, while the cable with the white headers limits fan speed to 1,500 RPM on our review sample..

We installed the Havik 120 in the new Tempest 410 Elite first and then we moved it into our test system.  There were no issues with either install but the larger roomy Phantom made the installation even easier.

Today we are going to test the NZXT Havik 120 with the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition CPU. The AMD PII X6 1090T Black Edition ships at 3.2ghz but can hit 4.0 GHz (and above) when paired with the right cooling system.

We like to try and mirror ‘realistic’ conditions when possible, so instead of the ‘open bench concept', we are mounting the build inside the NZXT Phantom Chassis.

Room ambient temperatures were maintained at a steady 22c throughout testing.

AMD System:

Processor: AMD PII X6 1090T Black Edition
Coolers: NZXT Havik 120, Evercool Transformer 4 Plus, NZXT Havik 140, Noctua NH-C12P SE 14
Motherboard: MSI 990FXA-GD80
Thermal Paste: NZXT Thermal paste
Power Supply: Corsair HX 850W
Chassis: NZXT Phantom
Memory: 16GB Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto DDR3 1333mhz Cas 9-9-9-24- 1T
Graphics Card: Sapphire 6950 2 GB (1536 unified shaders)

There are several different applications available that will load a processor to the limit while running through a series of complicated calculations. For today’s testing we are going to use the latest version of Prime 95.

Prime95 is a popular freeware application that can be used to stress test the CPU.

Validation Link

The NZXT Havik 120 performed admirably, maintaining the temperature of the Phenom II X6 1090T @ <48c at all times.  With the low speed fan adapter installed @ 3.2 GHz we peaked at 47c during Prime 95 testing. This is an excellent result and when using the high speed adapter this drops by a further 2C.

These numbers pleasantly surprised us, beating the Havik 140 in both situations. The Havik 120 also managed to outperform the Evercool Transformer 4, with the fans configured at full speed. This is worth pointing out as the Transformer 4 has dual fans operating @ 2200 RPM (or 400 RPM higher) than the maximum speed of the fans on the Havik 120. The thicker 8mm heatpipes clearly do improve overall performance.

After overclocking the processor to 4.0 GHz we record similar results. At idle, the Havik 140 slightly outperforms the Havik 120, but when loaded, the variable swings the other way as the 8mm pipes can transfer more heat efficiently.

NZXT have yet again released a high quality product to compete in the overcrowded air cooler market.  They have managed to reduce the size of the cooling tower and fans while improving the performance produced by their initial award winning Havik 140. The use of thicker heatpipes is an inspired decision.  We also appreciate the easy installation of the Havik 120, which earns some bonus points.

The noise emissions of the Havik 120 are reasonably low but not below the advertised 22dBA. The fans feature 13 blades, and with our review sample they spin at a maximum speed of 1,800 rpm. These fans are noticeably quieter at full speed when directly compared against the Transformer 4 Plus which we looked at last month. There is however, an outstanding issue regarding the fans.

The fans that shipped with some if not all of the review samples are running between 200 and 300 RPM above the specs that are listed on the box and on the NZXT website.  The higher fan speeds will increase performance so keep in mind our results may not be an accurate representation of the final retail product you will buy in a store. Just before publication NZXT said they are aware of the fan speed issues and have stated that the retail product will have this issue rectified. We also experienced noticeable fan turbulence the first time we installed the cooler in the Tempest 410 Elite.  This was quickly remedied by adjusting the position of the fans, but we feel it should be mentioned.

The rubber mounting devices make installing or removing one or both fans pretty much effortless, and they also do a good job of absorbing the vibrations that would otherwise increase noise. The use of 8mm heatpipes also proves to be a good design choice as the cooling performance is very impressive.

The Havik 120 carries a MSRP of 54.99 USD. We would expect a price around £40 inc vat in the United Kingdom when it reaches these shores. We received information that full retail stocks should arrive soon at retailers everywhere. The NZXT Havik 120 is easy to recommend as a product “Worth Buying”, due to the excellent installation and great cooling potential, especially for overclocked processors.

Pros:

• Looks great.
• 8mm heatpipes improve overall performance.
• Not excessively noisy.

Cons:

• Market is very competitive.

Kitguru says: Another winning product from the NZXT team and well worth a purchase.

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