Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU Cooler Review

Admin Cooling 2824

Installation

Installation is standard and it looks like typical CPU cooler mounting setup. There are no compatibility issues with the Asus Rampage Extreme V for example, and it doesn’t look like there should be any memory interference issues either. 

Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU Cooler Review

The HEX 2.0 is a little dwarfed by our X99 test setup, though it just about manages to get away with not looking too out of place.

Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU Cooler Review

The Hex 2.0 is compact enough to only really cover the CPU socket and doesn’t have any space or interference issues with either the motherboard or the memory. The cabling presents a slight issue, and we bet you’ve never needed to route a PCIe power connector to your CPU cooler before! We didn’t try to tidy any of the cabling, other than routing the USB cable under the graphics card.

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.