KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Alpenfohn Atlas
The Alpenfohn Atlas is a curious beast with a street price of around £43. This split tower design is rated at 200W TDP with twin 92mm PWM fans, one in the middle and one on the outside. Mounting this cooler on an AMD motherboard is easy enough as Alpenfohn supplies a decent array of hardware, however the cooler points up or down and cannot be oriented front to back so you really need a case that is ventilated to exhaust hot air upwards. No matter what you do one of the fans will be very close to the rear of your graphics card.
For LGA115x you use the back plate, four studs, spacers and side rails in the usual way and then hold down the cooler with the cross bar. The mounts work well and the cooler can point in either direction.
The fundamental problem with the Atlas is that it is fairly wide and the two small fans run up to 1,800rpm and are relatively noisy. This wouldn't be the end of the world if the Atlas was an especially good cooler, however this is not the case.
Specification
| Intel LGA115x support | Yes |
| Intel LGA1366 support | Yes |
| Intel LGA2011 support | Yes |
| Intel LGA775 support | Yes |
| AMD AMx/FMx support | Yes |
| TDP rating | 200W |
| Base of cooler | Copper |
| Heat sink | Split mini aluminium tower |
| Heatpipes | 5 x 6mm heatpipes |
| Supplied fans | Two 92mm fans |
| PWM | Yes |
| Fan speed | 400rpm-1,800rpm |
| Fan bearings | Hydraulic |
| Air flow | 37cfm |
| Noise levels | 8dBA-24.3dBA |
| Dimensions | 125mm (H) x 105mm (W) x 140mm (D) |
| Weight | 650g |
| Warranty | Not given |
Product Shots
Testing
This cooler is rated at 200W TDP and while it did passably well with the FX-8370 and Core i7-4820K at stock clocks, it struggled with the FX-9590 at stock and the overclocked Core i7-4820K.
KitGuru Says: Alpenfohn Atlas uses a novel form factor but that doesn't seem to deliver any particular benefit.
Score: 5 out of 10
Award: Best Avoided
Buy from Overclockers UK for £42.95 inc vat HERE.
KG, how could you not include the Noctua D15 in this roundup? Commonly known to be the best performer of the moment….
This..
It wasnt missed, this isnt meant to be a roundup of every high end cooler, many of which we have already reviewed. This is a look at an unusual selection of coolers that most people have missed. Its a little ‘off beat’ intentionally.
Yes, but more to the point it could have been used as a baseline to compare others relative performance 🙂
I’m happy not to have the D15 in as it’s price is very much a barrier to using it (as well as the weight!) – it’s good to see focus on other makes such as Cryorig.
Not a valid test of anything without a Noctua NH D15 at least as a baseline.