FORTIS Technology CPU Cooler Round-up
Introduction
When you think of CPU cooling Fortis Technology isn’t the first company to come into your head. However due to the immense demand for high quality coolers these days, cooler manufactures are springing up all over the world. Fortis Technology was established in 1998 and they have quite a number of great coolers under their belt. What impressed me so much about this new company is that they take extreme care in the packaging of their products. All three coolers were so well packed; they were encased in a plastic shell and placed inside a box. What amuses me somewhat is that, not even the big boys in the cooler industry go into this much of care for their coolers. Of course in the real world to you and I, this hardly means anything useful, however this shows us the commitment of this company towards its products, and it no doubt shows a lot of promise. What we have in offer to you today is three of their high-end cooling solutions, the A 92, A102 and the recently released A102 Pro.
Let’s start off by looking at the specs of the A92.
FORTIS A92 CPU COOLER
| Fan dimension: | 60 x 60 x25mm |
| Rated Voltage: | 12 V |
| Rated Current: | 0.65 AMP |
| Speed: | 7000 RPM |
| Air Flow: | 36.27 CFM |
| Noise Level: | 43.26 dBA |
| Heat Sink Dimension: | 62 x 62 x 30mm |
| Total Weight: | 295g |
| Heat sink Material: | Aluminum alloy 1050 |
| Copper Base: | 5 mm thick Copper Base |
As the specs say the A92 has a 5mm copper base along with aluminum alloy fins. Taking a close look at the fins you realize that unlike most other coolers I have seen the fins are held in place by two aluminum rods which are attached to the outer cover of the cooler. The moment I saw this setup I realized that this wouldn’t have the optimum heat transfer capability. We shall see my theory in the tests.
The 60mm cooling fan produces 36.7CFM, spinning at 7000RPM and producing a thundering 43.26dBA of sound. Well this is a problem faced by every cooler manufacture, and personally I have got sick of the loud noise. That’s why I have shifted to water-cooling, but that’s another review coming up shortly. The edges of the fan’s fins are quite sharp to most other Delta fans out their, so be careful during installation or you could end up with a bad bruise. I wish Fortis Technology included a fan grill like most other manufactures do.
Another cool feature that needs to be pointed out is that Fortis Technology includes their own Silver thermal paste along with all these coolers.
It’s included in a 1.5g syringe. Of course it isn’t as effective as Arctic Silver, nevertheless is sure beats the crap out of the conventional thermal grease you get with other coolers. So if you can’t fish out some extra dough for Arctic Silver, I guess this is one of the best choices out there.
FORTIS A102 CPU Cooler
This cooler also has the same 5mm copper base and aluminum alloy fins. The same fin retention mechanism is used here as well. The A102 is the largest cooler out of all three we’re looking at today, measuring at 62x62x57mm. It also uses the same 7000RPM cooling fan producing 36CFM. The only solution for the noise is that you get some noise reducing foam and place it inside you casing. I have never tried any of these out, however I’m sure it’ll do some good. The height of the A102 is about twice that of the A92, and I’m assuming longer fins would mean better cooling.
All three coolers come with a detailed installation manual as well. You wouldn’t really need it, however if you’re a new user it might be wise to read through it once at least. Installation was quite smooth, thanks to the big spring clips used in these coolers; they fit in place without much hassle at all.
FORTIS A102 Pro CPU Cooler
The A102 Pro is the big brother of the A102. It was released only recently by Fortis Technology. Lets hope it performs even better than the A102. The cooler is about half the size of the A102 in height; however it’s around 1 ½ times its width. The A102 Pro is offered with 2 types of cooling fans, one with a 5000RPM one and the other with a 7000RPM fan. The other characteristics of the cooler are exactly the same as the A102. the packaging the A102 Pro came in was yet another step up from what it used to be. Lets hope the effort Fortis Technology puts into their packaging is fully justified by the performance of their coolers.
Testing
For testing purposes we’ll be using a Athlon XP 1600 Processor in a IWILL K266-R mainboard. For temperature measurements, we’ll be using a CompuNurse thermal probe. Arctic Silver II was used as the thermal paste between the CPU and cooler. No case fans were used; only the CPU cooler fan was enabled.
Conclusion
Even though the A92 does not perform to our satisfaction, the A102 and the A102 Pro are sure winners indeed. I’m absolutely impressed by the results, and considering the fact that Fortis Technology is considerably new to this industry we can expect exceptionally good coolers in the months to come. Note that the room temperature when testing the coolers was around 26C. Anyway if a cooler performs below 45C under full load, I consider that cooler to be really good. And the Fortis A102 and A102 Pro perform exactly to my specification. I would recommend the A102 and the A102 Pro for most overclockers out there. I could not find the price for the A102 Pro, however I’ll post it as soon as I get that information. The last I checked the Fortis A92 was retailing at $17.95 and the A102 was retailing for $20, which is truly the best deal I have come across so far for a cooler of this caliber. Go to Crazy PC.com or http://www.utahpc.com/ if you’re interested in buying these coolers.
A102 Pro A102 A92
