Introduction

In just under two years of reviewing coolers for TweakTown, I have only personally reviewed one of the products from SilenX thus far. Just over two years ago, Chris Ram looked at the iXtrema IXC-120HA2, and it seems to have done very well, especially for its day and what was available at the time. Then there was the iXtrema Pro IXG-80HA2 graphics card cooler. This cooler was a success in both low noise production and good temperatures over the stock cooler when I tested it. However, the mounting was a bit "iffy" and it warped my card when tightened as directed. So with one good experience for Chris, and a not so bad experience with my GPU cooler, I'm hoping things this time go a little better.

I am pleased to say everything went well and I now have the pleasure of bringing you a near silent CPU cooling solution that delivers good performance and won't hit that hard in the wallet when you go to buy one. What you may notice along the way is that this cooler looks oddly familiar. It should; aside from a few minor tweaks it is very similar to the XtremeGear HP-1216. The major difference of course is the noise levels. The XG used a loud fan to get its results, where SilenX chose a more quiet solution, or in their words, "Extreme Silent".

Today we will be taking a close look at the SilenX iXtrema EFFIZIO EFZ-120HA4 Extreme Silent CPU cooler. I know that is a ton to remember when calling out this cooler by name, so from here on out I will refer to it as the EFZ-120HA4 to keep things short and simple. Hopefully, by strapping SilenX's latest submission to our T.E.C.C. test system, I can tell you whether or not you need to remember the rest. Signs are already pointing towards the fact you might want to practice saying it. You might just end up buying one after this is all said and done.