I have to say that I have been thoroughly impressed by what Alpenföhn have offered with their Nordwand. It boasts clever and innovative features not found on most other coolers and if the stock fan isn\'t enough for you, it\'s built for expandability. From the small copper heatsink on the base to the closed fin design, Alpenföhn have put a lot of thought into their cooler and this comes from the years of experience building thermal solutions for the OEM market. I can see them making a breakthrough in the consumer market now as well with their other products, if the Nordwand is anything to go by. The best thing of all is the way the fans are mounted. Since they do not require wire clips, it is possible to install any 120mm fans and by that I mean the high R.P.M 38mm thick ones such as the Delta. The stock cooler is an excellent cooler on its own and it has a lot of untapped performance if better fans are to be used.

Looking at the performance, the Alpenföhn Nordwand easily beats the Noctua NH-U12P, which is priced almost £15 more! So the decision is clear in that respect. However, our favourite cooler here still cannot be outperformed and that\'s the Thermolab Baram. Its more efficient heat pipe design helps dissipate heat over a greater surface area and as such remains our leader. The Alpenföhn Nordwand does have one big advantage though and that\'s compatibility for all major CPUs and socket types. LGA1156 for the Core i5/i7 is not present in the current model but the kit can be acquired for free by simply contacting Alpenföhn and future versions will have compatibility by default. This is brilliant customer service on their behalf and deserves praise.

Pros:
•Excellent performance both with stock fan and dual fans
•Innovative features
•Brilliant looks
•Fairly priced
•Compatibility with all major CPUs and socket types
•Very easy to install
•Excellent service

Cons:
•Does not beat the Thermolab Baram



The Alpenföhn Nordwand has become one of my favourite coolers and as such earns itself a very respectable Vortez Hardware Gold Award!



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