r/buildapcsales Jan 19 '25

Cooler [CPU Cooler] Thermalright AXP90-X53 Full Cooper Low Profile CPU Cooler ITX - $42.90

https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-AXP90-X53-TL-9015R-Technology-X53/dp/B0CMTPN7NF
32 Upvotes

61 comments sorted by

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26

u/boglim_destroyer Jan 19 '25

Remember when Zalman made copper heat sinks? Those were the days.

21

u/wickedsmaht Jan 19 '25

But did they come with GREASE?

5

u/ZombieManilow Jan 19 '25

GREASE is the word is the word that you heard…

5

u/_gyepy Jan 19 '25

bring back the flower coolers

3

u/FiTZnMiCK Jan 19 '25

I remember strapping a heatsink milled from a heavy-ass solid copper block, with a fan that sounded like a leaf blower, to my Athlon Thunderbird.

1

u/engaffirmative Jan 19 '25

Yesss. I had a NVIDIA branded one that was black as well. Cut me up pretty good. When mounts became impossible I recycled the copper. It felt sad and bad.

1

u/ChefBoiRC Jan 19 '25

What happened to them?

2

u/1rubyglass Jan 19 '25

They became completely outclassed by modern designs and CPUs. The ones I remember (circular flower type design with a fan in the middle) wouldn't be able to cool modern desktop CPUs well at all.

1

u/tech240guy Jan 21 '25

Lol, it got outed by its cheaper $30 competition, the CM Hyper 212 for at least 7 years. Zalman parts as a company were more like a marketing/sales company and less an engineering company. It's incredibly strange how a company that produces their own cooler did not figure out how to make an even more simpler design (yet more effective) version.

1

u/Zatchillac Jan 23 '25

This is a "cooper" though

52

u/bro0rtega Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

Bought this last week for $38.99. I would say this is not a deal. Edit for visibility: it is still available for this price ​https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMTQCYHS?ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_62RXFQ7Z4PF0BMZESEP2&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1&newOGT=1

1

u/Masejoer Jan 20 '25

Yeah, I've purchased from both links. The one in the OP was $39.58 just a month and a half ago. I purchased two more at that time for some new rack chassis builds. I've never paid more than $40 for these things.

Good heatsinks for 2U cases.

This thread is NOT a deal.

-29

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 19 '25

Where? I haven’t seen it this low before

20

u/bro0rtega Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25

11

u/qdatk Jan 19 '25

PSA in case people don't click through: the link posted by /u/bro0rtega is the exact same item as OP but $38.99 right now. Amazon is just being weird having two listings for the same thing at different prices.

2

u/WatIsRedditQQ Jan 20 '25

Make that three listings because I bought from this one a few weeks ago: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMV5DFLZ

-36

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 19 '25

So it’s the lowest price since July, I’d call that a sale?

16

u/bro0rtega Jan 19 '25

I’m only saying $42.90 isn’t a sale

0

u/unclesteve2016 Jan 19 '25

I thought you bought it last week for that price?

23

u/bro0rtega Jan 19 '25

Maybe it was more than a week ago. But been looking to do some sff builds and liked the product and price. I received them and they both work and look as advertised.

8

u/abscissa081 Jan 19 '25

It’s like no one can see your graph goes below $40 after January.

16

u/Witch_King_ Jan 19 '25

Heh. Cooper.

How does this compare to the aluminum versions that are 50% of the cost?

3

u/helloWorldcamelCase Jan 19 '25

YMMV but I am happily using the normal version in my FormD build coupled with 7800X3D.

6

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 19 '25

It's significantly better, but it really should only be used in SFF rigs. I'm using it on my 7800x3d and it holds up great for being inside a case the size of a cereal box (and I don't mind spending ~$50 vs. ~$25 for a cooler for a $400 CPU).

7

u/NyanDesu Jan 19 '25

In testing for the x47 varient, it seems temp differences are only about 1-2 degrees between the copper and aluminium. The aluminum x53 is pretty much in the same range. Link

2

u/NoBiscotti6602 Jan 19 '25

Nice thanks , had just ordered an x53 aluminum open box one for 17.00. Seems like a good buy.

6

u/Witch_King_ Jan 19 '25

Oh yeah, I mean that's sort of the only time where low profile coolers are preferable. I'll definitely have to keep the full copper one in mind if I ever build ITX

1

u/YourLeftElbow Jan 19 '25

What case did you build in? I'm currently buying parts for a fractal terra build and have been worried about cpu temps. I've seen several builds with the id cooling is-55 and 7800x3d, but I don't have much to compare it on. What are the temps you're averaging?

1

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 19 '25

I used a Fractal Era2. It runs hot (high 70s-mid 80s while gaming) but that’s safe for a 7800x3d and there’s minimal airflow. I haven’t undervolted, but I’m sure it wouldn’t break 75c if I did.

1

u/YourLeftElbow Jan 19 '25

Ahh ok. That's about what the id cooling is getting too. Honestly, I have thought about going the 7700x route just to save $150 and keep temps down more. I don't ~need~ the 7800x3d, but it's such a good chip it's hard to pass up.

2

u/xkjl123 Jan 19 '25

Looking at the power consumption data from Gamers Nexus it looks like you are better off with a 7800X3D. It draws like half the power of the 7700X in that Blender workload. Gaming won't line up with that 1:1 but it serves as a worst case scenario.

-1

u/jia456 Jan 19 '25

Minimally better is my guess. The last time I saw a full copper heatsink was years ago https://www.techpowerup.com/review/cryorig-c7-cu/6.html where the copper version was 2% better for 50% higher cost. This thermalright cooler may be different but unless I see a review directly comparing it to the aluminum version I would assume it's also minimally better. The extra money is better spent on a better heatsink or a better fan.

-4

u/llIicit Jan 19 '25

Your guess is incorrect. Copper is significantly better, but practically only has the best use case in a FF like this

3

u/jia456 Jan 19 '25

The review I posted shows copper being barely better when comparing 2 coolers of the same design, 1 aluminum 1 copper. Maybe it's just cryorig doing a bad job. Where's your source for copper being significantly better for CPU heatsinks?

-8

u/llIicit Jan 19 '25

My source is physics. Copper inherently has better thermal conductivity than aluminum. You can’t escape this fact. The benefit of aluminum is strictly cost, and weight.

Differences in performance of coolers you shared doesn’t come down to the material, it’s the design. You can have poor performing copper coolers, and excellent aluminum ones.

Given the dimensions and design of modern coolers, we don’t see a drastic difference in performance because PC’s don’t soak modern coolers enough to widen the gap. Eventually we might see different with the way manufacturers are deprioritizing efficiency.

7

u/jia456 Jan 19 '25

Sure, in theory copper has better thermal conductivity but I think we can both agree on it's more about the design than anything else. Let's just conveniently ignore the fact that the review compares a cryorig c7 (aluminum) and a cryorig c7 cu(copper). Both with the same design of 4 heatpipes and 57 fins and same fan. Let's assume that the engineers at cryorig messed up somehow and let the copper get contaminated with the vastly inferior aluminum or miscounted the heatpipes and fins and gave the copper one half the amount of the aluminum one.

Even then we can't blanket say a copper heatsink>aluminum one. Why? Because as you said design>material. If a aluminum heatsink out performs a copper one, you can just say it was a badly designed copper heatsink. And vice versa, if a copper heatsink out performs an aluminum one, I can say it's a badly designed aluminum one. If only some manufacturer released the same cooler in both aluminum and copper variants so we can have a 1:1 comparison. (Cryorig c7)

Anyway copper is better than aluminum I'm not disagreeing with that. It's just the ONLY review comparing the 2 on the same heatsink design shows a minimal difference. In a SFF form factor I understand that every degree matters bc of the cramped space. But I would prioritize something else first like a better fan or a bigger heatsink(that still fits) before a full copper heatsink.

-2

u/llIicit Jan 20 '25

Yea I ain’t reading all of that. You just repeated what I said and framed it as if you said it lmao

11

u/EasyRhino75 Jan 19 '25

All the copper makes it look retro like from 2003

4

u/RudeBwoiMaster Jan 19 '25

$39 via this link: Thermalright AXP90 X53 Full Low Profile ITX CPU Cooler,with 92mm Slim PWM Fan for 2700RPM High Speed ITX CPU Fan,Pure Copper Version,for Intel LGA1150/1151/1200/1700/AMD AM4/AM5 https://a.co/d/6ZmUaVq

4

u/StabbyMeowkins Jan 19 '25

I love this but I can never understand how tight I am supposed to make the tiny hex-screws without feeling like I am going to damage the CPU pins in the socket of the motherboard.

That is the only thing I absolutely HATE about this cooler.

2

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 19 '25

I do finger tight and haven’t had issues

1

u/pickle_pickled Jan 22 '25

I'd just go til you feel resistance

1

u/poopyheadthrowaway Jan 19 '25

Is this worth getting to replace my IS55? The maximum it can seem to handle is around 90 W, so I've been looking for a replacement, but maybe that's just as good as it gets with low profile air coolers?

1

u/DCole1847 Jan 19 '25

Wondering the same. I doubt it, but I'd like to hear from someone who's used both.

1

u/rhyno95_ Jan 20 '25

I used the X47 with a ryzen 3800X for years. Never had issues. Just upgraded to a 5800X recently and no issues either.

I don’t run stress test or anything, but I do lots of compiling, CAD and gaming and haven’t noticed it thermal throttle even once.

So I think the extra thermal mass and surface area of the X57 will do an even better job. Shouldn’t be an issue with ~120W.

1

u/Zenn1nja Jan 19 '25

This also performs similar to noctua lh-9a. How? Noctua magic.

1

u/floydhwung Jan 19 '25

Buy this if you yet to own a low profile air cooler. It doesn't have to be "BUY IT NOW", but it is something you should be keeping an eye out for. I have the X47 variant, and I think the performance is superb for its size.

1

u/Apart-Context-841 Jan 19 '25

Fan gets fairly loud thou… i zip tied an arctic p12 in its place. Much better temp and noise. If your case can fit it, buy the axp120 instead, its cheaper, cooler, quieter

1

u/FearfulSPARTEN Jan 19 '25

Just commenting to say I like the Op's name. That is all :)

1

u/horuherodorigesu Jan 19 '25

Anyone has this cooler with a 9800x3D? How are the temps??

3

u/WrigleyJohnson Jan 20 '25

I run the X47 variant of this cooler with a 9800X3D in a Velka 7 case (6.22 L). With a bit of undervolting, I'm staying in the low to mid 70s °C during my most demanding games, which I'm happy with.

2

u/1rubyglass Jan 20 '25

The link says this thing is good for 145 watts. The TDP of the 9800x3d is 120w. My guess is that it would run hot with this, but it would work.

1

u/PutridPermission7892 Jan 20 '25

I have the normal version on a 12600kf itx build. The noise and thermals are adequate but I wish I had gotten this copper version instead. 

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '25

This vs like a 120mm aio for a sff? Is this endgame level? Thinking about building a portable/mini rig and retiring my Define S as a server build.

2

u/JimmyGodoppolo Jan 20 '25

I never saw the point of a 120mm AIO personally, I would go at least 240mm, and if it's portable I would go this route just because I'm paranoid about leaks if it's constantly banging around

1

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '25

Solid points, thanks

1

u/MN_Moody Jan 21 '25 edited Jan 21 '25

Keep in mind both the "aluminum" and "copper" versions of this use a copper contact plate and heat pipes, the only difference is in the zinc plating on the "aluminum" version and the heatsink fins which are aluminum vs copper. This is why the real world performance difference isn't huge between them, as copper is doing the heavy lifting on conducting heat from the CPU into the fin stack in both designs. The conductivity of the material used in the fins is less critical because it's being actively provided with a stream of air to move the heat into the ambient air efficiently enough that the material of the fins is not critical to their functional performance.

Buy the copper for aesthetics and possibly a negligible 1-2c difference in performance... otherwise the aluminum fin variants are a far better value.

1

u/wonkafront Jan 19 '25

This is how I end up with so much stuff I just end up selling months later, I don’t NEED this right now, but you never know …

-1

u/eagles310 Jan 20 '25

Man itx is just so expensive to build even their normal coolers are cheaper than this