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Enermax has been known since 1990 as a manufacturer of good power supplies, as well as exotic backlit fans from the Vegas series. In recent years, they have been poorly represented on our market, and in some places they simply disappeared from sight. Nevertheless, it turned out that the brand still exists and is now engaged not only in power supplies, but also in cases, and cooling systems, and much more. We got a new processor cooler for testing – ETS-T50 AX, which exists in two versions: with a conventional high-performance fan (ETS-T50A-DFP) and with a backlit propeller (ETS-T50A-BVT). In this case, the first variant of the cooler will be considered.
Packing and scope of delivery
The packaging of the cooler is designed in glossy black and blue colors. Information of both technical and marketing nature is abundant on it. To protect against damage, cardboard dampers are inserted inside.
The scope of delivery positively impressed me with its conciseness. There is exactly everything you need for installation, and nothing more. In addition, all parts are painted black to match the cooler. In total, the kit includes:
- installation instructions;
- universal reinforcement plate for Intel and AMD sockets;
- mounting frame for AMD sockets;
- two mounting feet for Intel sockets;
- four screw studs;
- four plastic retainers-gaskets of the reinforcing plate;
- syringe with thermal paste;
- spatula for applying thermal paste;
- four screw racks for sockets of the Intel LGA2011 family;
- four plastic stands for mounting feet;
- four nuts.
Appearance
Enermax ETS-T50 AX looks impressive. First of all, because it is completely painted in black. Which is known to “greatly improve” cooling. In fact, of course not, but it still looks beautiful and stylish. In any case, better than boring gray aluminum plates over copper tubes. A certain aggressiveness of the design is also given by the shape of the fan frame, as well as its mounting panels.
At first glance, it may seem that there are two fans, but in fact there is only one, in front. And at the back there is a special guide frame for air flow. All this is fastened on plastic latches, which sit loosely enough so as not to break out during dismantling. Therefore, putting on and removing the plastic body kit from the radiator is quite simple.
The guide frame on the back is called the Air Guide. Usually such things are placed to cover the fan blades from foreign objects, but in this case its purpose is different.
The deflectors in the frame are tilted at a slight angle, thanks to which they collect and deflect the air flow in the right direction, away from the cooler. The angle of inclination of the deflector plates is not adjustable.
But the plates are in a ring that freely rotates 360 degrees, removal from the radiator is not required for this. Thus, the air flow can be directed up or down, on the motherboard or in any direction from it. Mounting plates are screwed to the frame with screws, rubber blotches are glued to their caps.
The fan is attached in the same way. This is a 120mm propeller marked UCDFP12P. Its frame also has rubber corners-gaskets on both sides. In addition, the fan has a large rotor with nine blades capable of generating a record static pressure of 4.81 mm H at maximum speed.2A. The bearing uses a proprietary hydrodynamic variant called Twister Bearing, reinforced with a magnet to stabilize the self-lubricating bushing’s axis of rotation. The manufacturer promises for this device as much as 160,000 hours of MTBF. The length of the four-pin nylon-braided power cord is 500 mm.
The impeller snaps off to facilitate its cleaning from dust. In addition, DFR (Dust Free Technology) is used here – self-cleaning technology from dust, the essence of which is that when starting, the propeller rotates in the opposite direction for some time (about 10 seconds), as if shaking off dust. We have already seen something similar on fans of MSI video cards.
Another innovation applied here is called APS (Adjustable Peak Speed), which is a small switch on the corner of the frame that allows you to set one of three options for limiting the maximum speed with PWM control. The available rpm thresholds are 1000, 1500 or 2000. The impeller start speed is 800 rpm at 40 dB(A). Unfortunately, this turntable cannot be called quiet; during operation, its electronics emit parasitic overtones that are clearly distinguishable near.
The radiator even without a plastic body kit looks impressive. It has five copper 6mm heat pipes arranged in a U-shape. Everything is painted black.
The number of fins is 54 pieces, the heat pipes are arranged in two rows, two and three in each, respectively. The gap between the radiator plates is 2.4 mm. The total scattering area reaches 9550 cm².
The radiator body is shifted back relative to the transverse axis of symmetry. Thanks to this, the fan will not conflict with high RAM bars on any processor socket.
If in front the ribs are made even, then in the back in the center they are curved like the wings of a seagull. Whether this has any effect in terms of cooling is difficult to say. In addition, a semicircular notch for a screwdriver is made in the center at the back.
The V-shaped protrusion looks decorative also because there is usually almost no air movement behind the fan bearing. However, the thermal channels are located according to the optimal scheme, in which heat is distributed evenly over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe plates, and the tubes themselves do not interfere with blowing through the radiator.
The tubes at the base are held together by a massive bar of a small aluminum radiator, an integral part of which are triangular mounting feet, with spring-loaded knurled screws attached to them.
The sole of the cooler is made according to the principle of direct contact of heat pipes and this is the only non-painted part of the radiator. The base workmanship and fit are very high quality and even, although there are still 1.8mm gaps between the thermal channels.
The main problem with the direct contact base is that it is only suitable for processors with a large heat-distributing cover. In other words, for all AMD except TR4 (this socket is not supported, and it is too large in size), and for large Intel from the LGA2011 family and its derivatives. At the same time, the most massive Intel LGA115x segment is not friendly with such a sole, since the size of their covers is only 22×22 mm. It is quite easy to calculate that a maximum of three tubes will fit on such an area, and both extreme ones will remain out of work.
Let’s move on to installing and testing the cooler.
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