Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler Review

Since releasing the very popular Matterhorn earlier this year, Alpenföhn have been working extremely hard to build upon that success. Their CPU cooler line-up has widened tremendously while VGA coolers, HDD coolers and notebook coolers are just some of the other product markets Alpenföhn have expanded into. Today we will be taking a look at one of their low cost solutions which targets system builders on a budget. The Alpenföhn Civetta utilizes a triplet of 6mm copper heatpipes feeding into an aluminium fin array. The H.D.T. design should allow for fast heat extraction from the CPU, off-loading that heat to the aluminium fin array for it to be dissipated by the 92mm 2,800 RPM PWM fan. Available for just €17.90 Alpenföhn set the Civetta at a price point which everybody can afford. Weighing in at a mere 290g for the heatsink alone and with a maximum height of just 120mm, Alpenföhn's Civetta could be the perfect low cost CPU cooler for users with space constraints. Will the performance on offer allow the low profile crown to be passed on to the Civetta? The front of the box features an image of the Civetta itself. General specifications and a compatibility list comprise the right side of the box. An incredibly basic bundle consists of a sachet of thermal paste, AMD and Intel installation equipment, 5 screws and a small, black and white instruction manual. The Civetta itself feels very small and lightweight - perfect for HTPC users. The 92mm fan is capable of a speed range of 800-2,800 RPM and is controlled by a 4-pin PWM connector with multi-coloured fan lead. Alpenföhn claim 32.83 dbA to be the maximum noise output of the fan itself. The Alpenföhn logo as well as a pattern is embossed onto the pinnacle of the heatsink. Unique grooves in the fin array should enhance and optimise the fan's airflow allowing it to create a good compromise between noise and necessary airflow. The dense aluminium fin array is likely to require a significant amount of airflow from the 92mm fan as soon as the heat of a CPU load is applied. Alpenföhn use an interesting design on top of the base which is unlikely to alter performance, but does allow the necessary AMD kit to be easily attached. The 2 screw holes are the points at which you will securely attach your Intel installation apparatus. A well-finished H.D.T. base should allow optimal heat transfer from the CPU heatspreader to copper heatpipes and henceforth aluminium fin array. The large gaps between each heatpipe should ensure that the heat load of a CPU sporting a large heatspreader is distributed evenly. The first installation procedure is to attach the required mounting brackets to the cooler itself. In this instance, the Intel brackets were very simple to attach. As the cooler doesn't require the use of an additional backplate, installing it was as simple as attaching the required brackets before pushing them into their mounting holes. The cooler's small dimensions mean that it doesn't extend back far enough to cause any interference with VRM heatsinks or case fans. RAM interference is, thankfully, not an issue on our motherboard. The low mounted fan doesn't extend as far as our first DIMM slot. This is a good aspect of the installation because the fan is too low for RAM to be installed underneath it. When installed in our huge NZXT Phantom on our ATX motherboard, it is evident how unobtrusive and minimalistic the Alpenföhn Civetta really is. You should have few problems fitting this cooler in small mATX cases with only an 80mm exhaust fan. Installation was very simple and fast. The end result wasn't the most secure of installs due to the lack of additional backplate, but as long as you don't move your system frequently, it should be safe and secure. We decided to compare the Alpenföhn Civetta against the Xigmatek SD963 Loki and Intel LGA 1155 heatsink supplied with our Core i7 2600K CPU. Seeing as none of these coolers are built primarily for heavy overclocking, we decided to use an overclock of 4.0GHz with a BIOS set CPU voltage of 1.20V instead of our usual 4.4GHz, 1.240V overclock. We didn’t want to choke the coolers and test them above their realistic limits and targets after all. Testing method: Stable recorded CPU temperatures from a 15 minute idle test Stable recorded CPU temperatures from a 15 minute load test The cooler’s fans are set at 100% speed unless otherwise stated All tests are repeated to check the consistency and reliability of the results Delta temperatures are used in the charts to provide more accurate results Maximum recorded noise output at 100% fan speed The supplied thermal paste is always used to make the results a fair interpretation of the cooler’s stock performance The temperature threshold we set before calling the test a fail is 65oC above ambient but if the cooler manages to complete more than 75% of the test before rising above the 65oC delta mark, we allow it to complete the test, provided it is capable A +/- 1 degree Celsius margin of error is incorporated by our CPU/GPU temperature recording method A +/- 0.1 degree Celsius margin of error is incorporated by our ambient temperature recording method Test system: MSI P67A-GD65 Intel Core i7 2600K 4GB DDR3 1600MHz XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB 128GB Kingston SSDnow V100 (OS) Corsair TX650 NZXT Phantom Case Supplied Alpenföhn thermal paste Comparison used: Intel LGA 1155 stock CPU cooler Xigmatek Loki SD963 Software Used: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit HWMonitor Prime95 Measuring temperatures is all about being consistent; therefore we make sure that the test is kept completely fair so that none of the coolers are at a disadvantage. We measure the CPU temperature using HWMonitor after a 15 minute idle period. We then measure the CPU temperature using HWMonitor after a 15 minute load period using Prime95 with the small FFTs setting. The chart shows the delta CPU temperature (difference between ambient temperature and recorded CPU temperature). This way we can fairly compare each cooler without presenting any inaccuracies due to slight fluctuations in the ambient temperature or unfair results. Here is an example of how to understand delta temperatures. "If the ambient (room) temperature is 25C and the recorded CPU temperature is 65C, the delta temperature is the CPU's temperature rise above ambient temperature, therefore the delta temperature in this case would be 40C. If the ambient temperature is 23C and the recorded CPU Temperature is 80C, the delta temperature in this case would be 57C. Delta temperature = Recorded CPU temperature - Ambient temperature" At stock CPU frequency, the Civetta manages to punish the stock LGA 1155 cooler in terms of load performance. A whopping 22.2% cooling performance benefit is shown over the stock cooler. The Xigmatek Loki manages to beat the Civetta by a huge 5.1°c while also being similarly priced. We repeated the testing procedures with our Intel Core i7 2600K CPU overclocked to 4.0GHz using a BIOS voltage of 1.20V. We must remind you that this is a slightly lower overclock than our usual 4.4GHz @ 1.24V due to the realistic aims of the coolers we are comparing. Firstly, the LGA 1155 stock cooler is unable to complete the load test at 4.0GHz. Much of the same is viewable when the overclock is applied. Xigmatek's Loki SD963 still proves the far better performer with 11% cooler load operation than the Alpenföhn competitor. While situated in a room where background noise was kept to a minimum, we placed the sound level meter equal distances from our test system to measure the total noise output by the complete test system for each cooling configuration at 100% fan speed. Alpenföhn's Civetta proves the loudest of all 3 options with its 2800 RPM fan. It does feature the important 4-pin PWM connection meaning that you can easily allow your motherboard to dynamically control the fan speed and henceforth noise output. Nevertheless, both Xigmatek's and Intel's competitors are quieter than the Civetta. The Alpenföhn Civetta targets users looking for a cheap and efficient upgrade from their stock CPU cooler but limited by clearance in their case. Performance wise, the Civetta is nothing spectacular. It gets beaten comprehensively by the cheaper, €16.90 Xigmatek Loki SD963 in terms of cooling performance and acoustic output. It does manage to offer better cooling performance than Intel's bundled offering, but does so while performing louder at maximum fan speed and being €17.90 more expensive. Installation was very quick and easy. Unlike the Xigmatek Loki, the Civetta doesn't require the use of an additional backplate. This may be a big enough selling point for some users who want nothing more than ease of use and a cheap upgrade. The cooler's aesthetics aren't bad. They aren't the best we have ever seen, but they by no means destroy the looks of a stylish system provided you can hide that ugly multi-coloured fan cable. Considering the target audience, Alpenföhn designed their Civetta very intelligently. They made sure it was small enough to fit in a wide variety of cases without causing any interference. They didn't use an additional backplate which would usually force users to remove their motherboard for installation. A 4-pin PWM fan ensures noise will be kept to a minimum when cooling performance isn't required. The Alpenföhn Civetta isn't a great cooler. It performs worse than Xigmatek's Loki SD963 while also being louder and more expensive. The only positive it has in comparison to the Xigmatek Loki is that it is far quicker to install. It does manage to give a decent cooling performance boost over the supplied LGA 1155 stock cooler, but does so while operating louder at maximum fan speed and burning a €17.90 hole in your wallet. Anybody planning on buying the Alpenföhn Civetta should just save the extra €1 by purchasing the better performing and quieter Xigmatek Loki SD963.