Years ago, just about every CPU cooler on the market was made the same way. Start with a solid, square block of aluminum and then mill or skiv some fins out of the top and voilà! you've got a heatsink. Clip it to the CPU socket, throw a fan on top and you're done. Performance was largely dictated by how loud a fan you chose. A few costlier units may have used a copper base insert, and only the most expensive ones were made entirely of copper.

Nowadays CPU coolers come in every imaginable size and shape. While some still retain the same basic format, many now sport heatpipes and exotic coatings, even the processor OEM coolers. And some are just downright strange looking, like the Thermaltake SpinQ. The SpinQ looked like a jet engine or maybe some kind of grinding machine, like you'd use to shred paper or food or even appendages. Rather than more traditional cooler designs, which keep airflow moving in one direction, the SpinQ is omnidirectional; cool air is drawn in at either end and blown out the circumference of the cylinder.


The SpinQ VT is slightly different from the original SpinQ in that it tilts the cylinder vertical. The number and dimensions of the fins remain the same, as does the 80mm centrifugal fan, other than LED color. Whereas the SpinQ used six individual copper heatpipes however, all coming out one side of the base, the SpinQ VT has just three U-shaped ones that extend from both sides. Rather than being spread out over a large area they are concentrated in the center contact of the processor core. And despite Thermaltake's advertised spec that the fins are now copper as well, the SpinQ VT weighs in at almost 175g less than the SpinQ.

Join me as I take a closer look at the Thermaltake SpinQ VT.