It is a little counter intuitive plugging a PCIe power connector into a CPU cooler, but you get accustomed to it in the end. The four heatpipes bend quite tightly around and into the baseplate. This is where most of the magic happens, and later on you’ll see a wire screwed into the baseplate suggesting of something special under the hood.
The 92mm fan is not mounted in anyway, though the PWM connector keeps it more or less in place thanks to a short cable. There is also an airflow direction indicator inside the shroud base giving you guidance as to fan airflow direction.
The 92mm fan is a San Ace 92 by Sanyo Denki who make a lot of industry components. They have a wide range of fans which are solid but unassuming in visual design. The San Ace 92 is a high quality Sanyo fan and is part of Sanyo’s silent range. There are no rubber mounting points or fittings, as stated, it’s held in by the cabling and the fan shroud cover.
Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU Cooler Review
Package - 8.5
Performance - 7.5
Price - 6.5
Consumer Experience - 8.1
7.7
If you have a compact set up and you want cutting edge cooling technology, there isn't a better choice. If you are looking for a straight replacement for your Noctua NH-D15 on your X99 build, then it's probably not. Either way, the Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU cooler is the best implementation of a TEC we have ever seen, and if you are building a small form factor system, this needs consideration.
