Have had the SI-120 for a long while and on many cpus
Have been using the SI-128 for a couple weeks now. Here are my thoughs for what its worth.
1. Its Big. Bigger than even the SI-120. Now there is no Fan overhang at all. There is a much larger surface area due to longer and deeper fins, as well as more fins more closely packed.
2. Usual superior TR build quality all the way around including the packaging.
3. I like the new clip mechanism. Its a bit strange at first, but its easier to work with in the case if you have room. The SI-120 was harder to take on and off without removing the mother board. I have a big case (antec P-180) so in a smaller case the motherboard will still have to be removed.
4. The base and mounting surface seems superior to the SI-120. It is a larger hunk of metal and with the new mounting system it is not prone to "popping" up and grinding on the corner of the heat spreader. The finnish on the surface is superior as well, which is really saying something.
5. The SI-128 I thought was supposed to have a copper base, but it sure sems like aluminum to me, as opposed to the 'silvered' copper in the SI-120.
6. The increased density of cooling fins necessarily comes at a cost of increased wind resistence and therefore increased noise. While not 'loud' it is noticeably louder the the SI-120
7. Performance - while I did not expect any performance difference, I am surprised to find that this cooler actually has dropped both my idle temps and max load temps on the cpu. While not by much it is definately measureable. 1 or 2 C. Cool!
8. Because the SI-128 uses the AMD mounting bracket there is an unfortunate side affect. While this is more convenient for peeps with K8 MBs the SI-120 could be mounted in any orientation assuming mother board layout permitted. Not so with the new SI-128. The bracket will allow for only ONE orientation. At least that was my experience. The new thicker Heat Pipes seem to jut out a bit more and therefore must be orriented over the "hump" of the CPU socket. Any other orientation causes the heatpipes to be blocked by the bracket. This completely sucks for me. On My DFI board I had the fan hanging directly over both my RAM sticks. This is now not possible. For many motherboards this won't matter much as the RAM slots are usually on the other side of the socket where the SI-128 must 'face' On the otherhand my PWMIC is now getting tons of air blown over it and has dropped 5C as a result. I only wish this mattered.
Well thats pretty much it. The SI-128 performs at least as good as the SI-120 and perhaps a bit better. The mounting for K8 is more convenient at a cost of less flexibility. I have not tried AM2 or Intel mounting. The drawbacks are minor but not insignificant. For me the loss of the direct air did not affect my RAM performance. My max settings stayed the same under prolonged stress and the sticks don't really feel any warmer but I have to say its really hard for me to tell without some kind of instrument to measure.
Bottom line is its a great cooler and a worthy option for High End air IMO. It is certainly not worth 'upgrading' from an SI-120. But if you want the flexibility of fan options it is a great alternative to the absurdly huge Sunbeam Tuniq Tower.
In most cases if in the market for a HSF for high end air, then its a great choice, but think about your MB layout there is a chance that you may want to go with the SI-120 instead, even though it seems to be a slightly less effective cooler. Peeps with DFI Experts might want to stick with the SI-120 to keep the air hanging over the RAM.
Have been using the SI-128 for a couple weeks now. Here are my thoughs for what its worth.
1. Its Big. Bigger than even the SI-120. Now there is no Fan overhang at all. There is a much larger surface area due to longer and deeper fins, as well as more fins more closely packed.
2. Usual superior TR build quality all the way around including the packaging.
3. I like the new clip mechanism. Its a bit strange at first, but its easier to work with in the case if you have room. The SI-120 was harder to take on and off without removing the mother board. I have a big case (antec P-180) so in a smaller case the motherboard will still have to be removed.
4. The base and mounting surface seems superior to the SI-120. It is a larger hunk of metal and with the new mounting system it is not prone to "popping" up and grinding on the corner of the heat spreader. The finnish on the surface is superior as well, which is really saying something.
5. The SI-128 I thought was supposed to have a copper base, but it sure sems like aluminum to me, as opposed to the 'silvered' copper in the SI-120.
6. The increased density of cooling fins necessarily comes at a cost of increased wind resistence and therefore increased noise. While not 'loud' it is noticeably louder the the SI-120
7. Performance - while I did not expect any performance difference, I am surprised to find that this cooler actually has dropped both my idle temps and max load temps on the cpu. While not by much it is definately measureable. 1 or 2 C. Cool!
8. Because the SI-128 uses the AMD mounting bracket there is an unfortunate side affect. While this is more convenient for peeps with K8 MBs the SI-120 could be mounted in any orientation assuming mother board layout permitted. Not so with the new SI-128. The bracket will allow for only ONE orientation. At least that was my experience. The new thicker Heat Pipes seem to jut out a bit more and therefore must be orriented over the "hump" of the CPU socket. Any other orientation causes the heatpipes to be blocked by the bracket. This completely sucks for me. On My DFI board I had the fan hanging directly over both my RAM sticks. This is now not possible. For many motherboards this won't matter much as the RAM slots are usually on the other side of the socket where the SI-128 must 'face' On the otherhand my PWMIC is now getting tons of air blown over it and has dropped 5C as a result. I only wish this mattered.
Well thats pretty much it. The SI-128 performs at least as good as the SI-120 and perhaps a bit better. The mounting for K8 is more convenient at a cost of less flexibility. I have not tried AM2 or Intel mounting. The drawbacks are minor but not insignificant. For me the loss of the direct air did not affect my RAM performance. My max settings stayed the same under prolonged stress and the sticks don't really feel any warmer but I have to say its really hard for me to tell without some kind of instrument to measure.
Bottom line is its a great cooler and a worthy option for High End air IMO. It is certainly not worth 'upgrading' from an SI-120. But if you want the flexibility of fan options it is a great alternative to the absurdly huge Sunbeam Tuniq Tower.
In most cases if in the market for a HSF for high end air, then its a great choice, but think about your MB layout there is a chance that you may want to go with the SI-120 instead, even though it seems to be a slightly less effective cooler. Peeps with DFI Experts might want to stick with the SI-120 to keep the air hanging over the RAM.
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