CoolJag Falcon 92-CU CPU Cooler Review

[AkG]

CoolJag Falcon 92-CU CPU Cooler Review​

Manufacturer Product Page: CoolJag :: Skiving technology :: THERMAL SOLUTIONS
Product Number: JYC8A02C
Availability: Not yet available in Canada
Price: Approx. $45
Warranty Length: 1 year



Gone are the days where having a big solid chunk of metal topped by a loud little fan can be considered “enough” let alone “good enough” for CPU cooling. It is a fact of modern computers that the more cores you squeeze into a little package the more heat they are going to produce. Yes, modern day CPU’s are amazingly efficient compared to those from the days of yore, but their thermal loads are such that old fashioned heatsinks just can’t cut it anymore. Where most people see this as a problem a certain few see opportunities and these individuals we either call trail blazers or flops depending on whether their unique and creative solutions work or not.

Today we will be looking at one such creative attempt to not only handle the heat but look good while doing it. The Falcon 92-cu is designed and marketed by CoolJag as “The Best Air Cooler in the Market” with “easy installation” (these quotes are taken directly from Cooljag's site). These are pretty lofty claims considering up until this review I had never even heard of a “Cool Jag”…except for the Jaguar XJ6 that is. Yet, this company is trying to blaze a new trail in the cooling industry and some of their designs have been picked up by companies such as Nexus with their XiR 2500 and 3500 coolers.

CoolJag is certainly a newcomer to the CPU cooling arena and as one of the new kids on the block they are looking to make a name for themselves ASAP. To this end their management motto’s are literally “Can Do”, “High Quality” & “Low Cost”. With these ideals in mind they have designed a very interesting cooler. The name Falcon 92-cu, while as colorful as the cooler, is also very descriptive; the “92” in the name is because the cooler comes with a 92mm fan and the “-CU” is because it is made from copper. There is also a Falcon 92-AL which is as the name suggests is made for made from Aluminum. While it is not exactly imaginative, it is refreshing to not need a flow chart to figure out the meaning of its name, and with a quick glance you can easily tell which CoolJag product will meet your needs. Hopefully, the name “Falcon” is not also descriptive and it won’t be a noisy, screeching fan; rather it will mean that this is one cooler that “soars” above the rest. Marketing hyperbole aside, we will find out whether this cooler has what it takes to compete with the big boys like it claims it does.

 

[AkG]

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging and Accessories

On first inspection of the box one is left with very positive feelings. While the box is designed for retail store shelf sales CoolJag has optimized its protective qualities while still making it competitive in this market niche. Like most store shelf boxes there is the standard cut away that allows you to see the cooler without removing it from its packaging. However, unlike most boxes, the majority of the cut away is protected by a cardboard flap that one has to bend down to get the full view. This ingeniously simple, yet effective design means that while you can see the cooler, it is almost as well protected as a full cardboard box container. The “peak-a-boo” design not only protects the unit but seemingly draws you in and makes you want to see what it is hidden behind the curtain. The designers really knew their psychology and it is very effective marketing!

At first glance one might mistake it for a Thermaltake box as it is done is a very striking all black design with high contrast white and orange/red text that really stands out and gets your attention. Its simplicity makes it stand out and draws the eye towards it even when placed amongst other more flashy design schemes. The box is still crammed full of information, in fact it even has descriptive pictures on the side. Overall it is a marketing approach that screams of aggressive machismo with phrases like “Best Air Cooler in the Market” and “lowest noise possible” sprinkled liberally over the box. While the information provided does convey everything you need to know to make an informed decision it does at times seem like the PR people took it one step to far. If you claim to be the best and quietest you better be able to back those claims up! While it does not come out and say it, it is almost as if it the box comes with an invisible sign that says “no n00bs allowed” hung around its leather jacketed, muscle bound and tattooed “biker bar bouncer’s” neck.

This cooler is not the equivalent of a mini-van, and CoolJag does everything it can to convey this message to perspective buyers. This cooler is marketed for the “LAN party” and “overclocking” community and it doesn’t waste anyt ime on selling itself to anyone else. As a nice touch, and yet seemingly out of place on this “tough guy” design is the inclusion of an integrated carry handle. I guess even tough guy computer gamers need a security blanket too.

The interior of the box really is in stark contrast to its exterior. One almost expects to see the cooler in a leather clad pouch bound to the back of the box with little stainless steel chains. Instead, you are greeted to the fairly common, yet always welcome, two piece plastic container. Like other coolers that use this design, the container is not heat sealed together, rather it has molded in snaps to keep the two pieces together via friction. In this instance the two pieces are also held together via a small round safety sticker that you usually see on software boxes to prove that a customer returning the item has indeed NOT opened it. Unlike other companies that simply make the 2 piece container the size of the box, CoolJag has taken a different track and made the plastic container more form fitting. To make sure this smaller container does not roll around in the box, two small cardboard stabilizers are inserted. All in all, it is a design that makes it very easy to remove from its packaging yet keeps the cooler relatively safe in transit.

The list of accessories that come with the Falcon 92-cu is very complete. Along with a tube of Shin-Etsu X23-7762 TIM, a plastic spatula to spread the TIM and an installation pamphlet, you get not only the mounting brackets for Intel 775 systems but also the mounting brackets for both AM2 and 939 systems. As expected for a cooler of this size, a metal 775 mounting backplate is also included even though and AMD one was not included. This means you are supposed to use the standard backplate that comes with AMD systems; so while it may be faster to install on AMD systems it will be more secure on Intel 775 motherboards.

Overall, the box is a blend of marketing spin and protection that does leave one with a cautiously optimistic impression. While there is no such thing as too much protection, this box is a functional packaging scheme that is more than acceptable for long distance shipping. My only concern is whether the cooler can live up to all its’ self inflicted marketing hype.

 

[AkG]

First Impressions

First Impressions

With its copper wing tips one could on first inspection mistakenly think that it really is ZEROtherm butterfly BTF90. Of course, this notion is fleeting at best, as the ZEROtherm is a tower cooler and this is a down draft cooler; but that was the first thing that came to mind when it was first taken out of its packaging. Once you get over a quick case of déjà-vu one is left with the feeling that this cooler was originally an old fashioned AMD 939 heatpiped CPU cooler that was fed too many steroids and had received a really good tan. It is only on closer inspection that one realizes that the copper radiators fins are not attached to the copper & aluminum base. Regardless of how it looks this really is a down draft cooler, just a rather larger example of one. Hopefully it outperforms all its potential doppelgangers and can justify that self appointed moniker of “Best Air Cooler in the Market”.

The recent trend in down-draft coolers is to have only the heatpipes supporting all the weight of the radiator fin assembly. In this case however there is support coming from one side via the heatpipes and from the center via the aluminum “skeeved” fins on the base’s heatsink (in case you are wondering Skeeved means that the aluminum part of the base was cut from one big solid chunk of aluminum and the fins were cut into it rather than soldered on). Unlike many that leave the base plate either smooth or with just small fins, the Falcon 92-cu’s base fins go all the way up to and touch the bottom of the copper fins. This does provide much needed support and takes a lot of stress off the heatpipes. It is doubtful if this touching causes much in the way of heat transfer as the main copper fins are extremely long and the heatpipes terminate at the top of them.

There are pros and cons to down draft coolers, and the biggest of those are: (con) hot air is funneled down and over the cpu itself, but (pro) there is a lot of air movement to cool off the MOSFET and hot chipsets on the motherboard. Another relatively minor “pro” is that most down draft coolers are of a lower profile than tower designs. However, this last point is moot since this cooler is just as tall as some of the towers on the market. In fact, this cooler has a very large footprint in all 3 dimensions.

As noted, since the hot air is being blown down and across the CPU base this cooler’s biggest weakness is its own design. As thermal loads increase more and more of the coolers thermal potential will be used in cooling the cooler’s base plate rather than the CPU. Of course, on could argue that it if properly implemented this “hot” air can be recycled and actually help cool the base plate. After all, the more air movement the more time for heat to be radiated / moved away from the CPU. To a certain extent this is true, but it is true only as long as the air moving over cooler base is cooler than the CPU. In a nutshell down draft CPU coolers can be very good solutions just as long as the thermal load is low enough, the design is efficient enough, or even if the cooler’s fan(s) can physically move enough air. This is a known issue with this style of cooler and there are a 3 main partial solutions to it, many of which CoolJag have availed themselves of.

The first and easiest solution to this known issue is that base of the cooler acts like a small heatsink in of itself. CoolJag engineers not only didn’t make the base of the cooler flat, they designed some of the biggest base fins that we have seen. This helps trap and recycle the air current created by its 92mm fan. These large fins significantly increase the base’s cooling surface area and all this extra space goes a long way to keeping the cooler from becoming its own enemy. However, there is a point where they can become too long and not only trap the air but keep it from being effectively moved away from the base of the cooler. Did CoolJag make them so large that they really need a second fan to push the hot air away from them? Only time and testing will tell.

The second partial fix to keep the cooler from thermally overloading itself is by adding more heatpipes. The more heatpipes, the more efficient the cooler and the more likely it is to perform well at higher thermal loads. Unfortunately, and unlike some other down draft coolers, the Falcon 92-CU only has four 6mm diameter heatpipes coming from only one side of the base plate. However, these heatpipes are very long and they do terminate in amongst a massive amount of copper fins.

The last but not least solution to the down draft design issue is to give the down draft cooler a big enough fan, thus enabling enough air movement to make the issue a moot point. After all, when finesse fails brute force usually doesn’t and in the real world there really is no such thing as “overkill” when it comes to cooling today’s CPU’s. In the case of the Falcon 92-cu, the fan used is a truly case-less 92x92x25 mm fan. However, even though 92mm is a not small it is literally dwarfed by the sheer size of the copper fins. While it would have cost the Falcon 92-CU some of its looks, if CoolJag had left off the upswept “tips” of the copper fins a more practical 120mm fans would have more than likely fit. As it stands, one has to wonder if this fan can handle the static air pressure that all those large, closely mounted copper fins must surely create.

As noted the fan itself does not have a case per say. Rather the motor and fan are mounted to a thin metal strip that runs behind the fan and the length of the copper radiator assembly while it is actually screwed into the assembly at both ends. While it does not look overly secure it does do the job and helps not only to eliminate static pressure caused by the case of the fan but also to an unknown extent makes the upswept copper wings somewhat practical. This is because air can be sucked into the fan from all directions causing air movement over and through these wing tips.

As you can see the copper radiator fins are very large and very densely packed. Similar designs in the past have shown that this requires a powerful fan with good static pressure to be truly efficient. If the fan is not up to the task, all that extra copper is not only wasted but can actually be considered a detriment to the efficiency of the unit. On the positive side all those copper fins with their old fashioned “wing tips” does give this cooler a very unique “bling” factor that cries out for a windowed side case…preferably with lots of lights to show it off to its fullest extent.

Here you can see that the base is very well polished showing only minor polishing marks, and was flat. Overall, the level of quality at this price point, while not the best we have seen, it is certainly above average.

One thing worth mentioning is that while some downdraft coolers are relatively short, this is NOT one of them. This cooler is BIG and I would not seriously consider placing it in a HTPC. While its height was by no means an issue it was a tight fit when installed in a CM690 with both door fans still in place. As per the manual these door fans were removed so as to keep the required space between the coolers fan and the side door.

 

[AkG]

Features and Specifications

This 92mm, Evercool fan is rated to spin at between 1200RPM ~ 2500RPM. At these speeds it is rated between 18 and 28 decibels. While these are low numbers the fan certainly can not be considered an “Extremely Low noise” fan. After all, it is a dual ball bearing fan, and while 2B bearing fans are known for many things “Extremely Low noise” is not one of them.

What is interesting is the fact that this fan is labeled as a PWM compliant fan but it also has a built in thermistor. Having multiple silencing techniques working together may sound like a good idea on paper, and while on would think that “if one is good, two must be better!” in the real world this is rarely the case. In the real world what happens is that the motherboard senses temperatures are fluctuating and tries to compensate for it via PWM, while the thermistor also registers the changes and also tries to compensate. In the end you usually end up with a sluggish fan that cannot adjust quickly or accurately to increased thermal loads. The only exception that I could imagine where one would want this is if one is willing to sacrifice cooling efficiency for noise (e.g. “silent” PC market niche).

The combination of a “smart” fan that is also PWM compliant can be considered quirky yet not overly worrisome except for the fact that the thermistor has been improperly placed. It is not touching the heatsink and is in fact in the wake of its own fan's cool air down draft. This means it will always think that the heatsink is cooler than it is and throttle the fan speed accordingly. In testing it was found that even when the CPU was registering sustained thermal loads of 65c (with peaks above 70c) the fan was only spinning at less than 1300 rpm! I am at a loss to explain why CoolJag would design and market the Falcon 92 as “The Best Air Cooler in the Market” and then purposely hobble it with a fan that can’t reach speeds above the ultra low range. The easiest solution is to simply short out this thermistor with a bit of solder or cut it off and twist the two cables together. This of course will void your warranty and quiet honestly if you have to modify your brand new cooler to get it to work properly….maybe it is not the right cooler for your needs; or at the very least it can not be considered as the marketing hype claims an “Easy Installation…. No Hassles…” cooler.

The fan CoolJag opted for on the Falcon is an Evercool 92mm case-less fan. This fan is made from clear plastic and has green leds embedded in it to give off a green glow while spinning. In a nut shell; take a regular LED fan and remove it from its case, mount it on thin metal strip and you have a good idea what this fan looks like. Since this is a proprietary fan, replacing a dead fan or simply swapping it out for fan that can reach higher rpms will be difficult and you are in for some major modding.

Rather that rely on MTBF numbers, an easier and better way to get a “feel” for what the manufacturer thinks is the real length of time a product should last is too simply look at the length of warranty provided. The length of warranty has been calculated to be long enough so that customers feel secure in purchasing it BUT still short enough that it will be “out of warranty” when most fail. Taken for what its worth, CoolJag’s Falcon 92-CU comes with a 1 year warranty.

 

[AkG]

Subjective Tests

Subjective Tests

These are the main tests I do on any aftermarket part that I am planning on using in a build. If they don’t sound or feel "right" I bin them and use alternatives. Whether that means a completely different brand or just another one from a different batch greatly depends on the priorities of the build (i.e. noise vs. performance vs. longevity vs. style vs. cost).

Finger Spin Test:

Just as the name suggests I give the unplugged fan a quick spin with my right hand index finger while holding it vertically in my left. This is done to see how much friction a fan produces (via the length of time it takes to stop and perceived speed at which it rotates); but mainly it is done to feel how well balanced the fan is. If the fan feels unstable then it is most likely unbalanced. This fan may have a drastically reduced life expectancy and may catastrophically fail taking other computer parts with it.

The Falcon 92-CU fan produces a fairly muted whirring/clicking sound that is common for a ball bearing fan. This noise is not very pronounced but it was certainly present. However, it did not have any wobble or make any loud obvious noises that signify an unbalanced or poorly made fan. While this EverCool sounded better than a lot of EverCool’s I have heard in the past it was not anywhere near as good as their “enter bearing” (AKA Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan either. Overall it felt well balanced, and fairly smooth.

Noise and Vibration:

While holding the heatsink and fan in my left hand, I plug in the fan into a 3 to 4 pin molex adapter (in this case letting the 4 pin “hang over”) and then turn on the computer. This way the fan is running at full speed and I can easily feel for any vibration it creates and listen for any noise. I do this while holding the heatsink in the orientation that it will be when installed. In this instance, I held it horizontally (both “up” and then “down”).

Considering that I was unable to increase its speed, even by plugging it in to a molex adapter the speed at which this fan runs does make it quiet. However even at 1400rpm (via the help of a bic lighter) it did create vibrations that can be felt all the way to the very base of the unit.

This fan is not loud, but it does make a lot more ball bearing whirring/humming noise than their claimed rating suggests. Even in its pristine “factory” state this Evercool’s whirring sound can still be heard over Scythe E fans. This makes the “…lowest noise possible” quote nothing more than PR spin and should be taken with a big grain of salt.

Please note: After shorting out the thermistor I did go back and check its vibration and noise levels. At full speed it this fan sounds a lot like a buzz saw and produces a large amount of vibration. One does have to wonder what accumulative effect these vibrations will have on integrity of the unit in the long term. On the positive side at least there is some truth in advertising, and it is called a “falcon” for a reason.

Tap Test:

While holding the heatsink and fan in my left had I gently “tap” both the heatsink and then the fan. In the case of the heatsink it allows you to hear and feel how well made it is.

In this instance the unit felt like a big copper brick. The Falcon 92-CU felt like if it was dropped on the floor, the floor would be the worse for it. Of course this is misleading as like any heatsink its copper fins are actually fairly fragile, but it does feel reassuringly solid in ones hand.

The fan had a lot of shaft “slop” or forwards and backwards motion to the fan blade assembly and this does help explain the amount of vibrations felt. However, the fan was very tight when pushed off center and displayed very little angular slop. This combination makes for a fan that while putting out a fair amount of vibrations will rarely become off balance to the point of damaging itself (i.e. it can “bounce” up and down but not off balance).

Overall it felt and acted like most Everflow double ball bearing fans I have examined and used in the past. As long as loose, “hanging down” wires are not an issue I am sure that the fan is durable enough for its intended purpose. The blades of the fan did however exhibit a lot of flex when tapped and overall felt and looked cheap. This too was expected as they need to be designed in such a way as to maximize light transmission from the embedded LEDS. Durability and “bling-ability” usually work at cross-purposes and this was the case here.

There was a surprisingly small amount of flex when the copper fins were tapped. This lack of flexing was of course the result of their bottoms resting on the top of the aluminum fins. However, when tapped on the bottom in an upwards motion there was a lot of flexing. So while I truly doubt that it would break from being lifted into place, or used to rotate the TIM in place, I wouldn’t completely trust it to not break either.

Overall, there were a few minor issues with the Falcon 92-CU but the positives certainly outweighed the negatives. Or to put it bluntly it appears the CoolJag engineers got it more right than wrong and made one seemingly durable product.

Weight and Construction:

This test consists mainly on how it "feels" in your hands.

The Falcon 92-CU has a nearly unique and striking to look to it. With its green LEDs it is flashy and is a unique enough design that it will look very good in a windowed case. The base of the unit has some of the best and largest fins I have seen on a down draft cooler and the copper fins themselves are also done on a massive scale. The only concerns I have with its construction is the placement of the two center heatpipes. These two heatpipes are positioned in such a way that a good portion of them are directly under the fan engine housing. Basically, portions of both heatpipes are in the fans dead spot or “shadow” and can not be cooled by the fan directly above them. This means that these heatpipes will not be as efficient as the other two and will contribute to a lowered maximum thermal load. By simply moving these two heatpipes apart by a centimeter or two this problem could have been eliminated.

Overall it felt and looked like a CPU cooler that the engineers spent a lot of time making it good and solid, but a few of the basics got “lost in the shuffle”.

 

[AkG]

Installation

With the quote “Easy Installation for All Sockets” ringing loudly in our heads we unpacked the TIM and the manual and started in. The very first thing that one notices is the thermal compound; it does not come preinstalled on the Falcon 92, rather it is in a tube waiting for you to manually install it. Balancing this extra hassle is the fact that the TIM included is not any ordinary compound, it is Shin-Etsu X32 7762. If the name Shin-Etsu doesn't ring a bell, it should since it is one of the better compounds on the market today. Some people may disagree with that statement but no one can disagree with the fact that this is a premium high quality TIM. Seeing this included was a great little bonus and really does show that CoolJag spared no expense in the design of the Falcon 92-cu.

On the negative side, if you have heard of Shin-Etsu but never worked with it, you are in for a tough install. At room temperature (especially if yours is like our computer room which is kept at a constant 15*c) Shin-Etsu can be very hard to spread, in fact it is fair to say that it has to consistency of sh… err….um…lets just say it has the consistency of “tar” and leave at that. However, (after first sealing it in a ziplock bag) a quick 5minute dip in a cup of very hot water makes it smooth and spreadable. The inclusion of the plastic spreader does make this an easy task but to you can’t beat the razor blade method or putting a drop the size of a grain of rice in the center of the CPU.

(Please note the screws were purposely loosened to help show the motherboard tracings)

If you have a AMD system the rest of the installation truly IS an “easy installation” as you simply install the AMD mounting hardware and use the standard AMD plastic mount to hold the 736 gram CPU cooler up. However, if you have an Intel system this is where the wheels fall off the whole PR “Easy Installation for All Sockets” machine. The included hardware includes a good sturdy backplane and this was not the problem. The first major problem is the brass standoffs one is expected to use for installation. These four small brass standoffs when screwed into place can scratch your motherboard. This wouldn’t be a problem but on many motherboards (including our Gigabyte DS4 and Asus Maximus) but there are many motherboard tracings that can be scratched (read CUT) by the brass when installed. Brass + motherboard tracings = high potential for a dead motherboard.

(Please note the screws were still loose when this picture was taken, this is not how it was when tested)

The solution to this problem is as easy as the solution to tar-like TIM. Some people recommend small plastic washers that you can get at your local hardware store but I personally use the “IT-man’s helper” which is more commonly refered to as black electrical tape. Cut off a small piece and then cut a hole in the center for the screw and VOILA, problem solved. The upside to this is that you now know that no shorts are going to come from those brass standoffs. The downside is the obvious fact that you shouldn’t have to do this! Would 4 rubber or even paper washers added much to the cost of the unit?

With the “easy installation” PR statement still banging away in the backs of our heads like an Iron Drum (pardon the pun) we trudged forward with the install only to run smack into another setback. The instructions call for installing the brass standoffs on the 775 mounting hardware which itself is mounted to the Falcon 92-CU. This is no big deal even though there are some small screws with very fine threads. What is a big deal is that you somehow have to balance the motherboard on its side with one hand, hold the 26 ounce cooler in the other hand and place it directly over the four mounting bracket holes while in your other hand screw in from the bottom the four base screws.

In case you missed it….you need three frickin’ hands to properly install this cooler the “official” CoolJag way. Who has three hands and why did CoolJag see the need to write the instructions for THEM? The more realistic explanation is that CoolJag let the engineers’ write the manual and they saw no problems in requiring two people to install a CPU cooler. However, needing two people to install a CPU cooler is down right wrong and smacks of needing to ask for help. CoolJag, most of your customers are going to be men, and as a man I bought a $300 GPS unit just so I wouldn’t need “help” and have to ask for directions.

Instead of asking for help you can install the Falcon 92-cu by balancing the motherboard on its side with your chin while you maneuver the Falcon into place and screw it down with your two hands…. or at least that was the theory. After a 20 minutes I gave up and came up with a much more practical way. By putting the screws in the backplate and putting them all through the motherboard holes on the backside you can leave motherboard's left right side up with the four screws sticking up (i.e. install it just like you would any other backplate needing CPU cooler). You then simply have to gently screw in the brass standoffs. It was found that one full turn on the screws was enough to get started. Then by positioning the Falcon 92-CU and letting gravity take over it was then simply a matter of screwing in the four small screws and then tightening the bottom 4. Overall, not exactly easy but it was a lot easier than the instructions included.

One thing worth mentioning is that CoolJag recommends you install this cooler in one particular way only. While not exactly user customizable, this really is only a minor annoyance. After all, you can only use a heatsink in one direction at a time, but if your case is quirky you may want to take note that it has to be pointed with the heatpipes towards the memory and the open end towards the back of the case (and this pointed at the back rear exhaust fan).

With the help of another person the official CoolJag installation way took 20 minutes to install the Falcon 92-cu from start to finish. By doing it our way, it took about 15 minutes. Anyway you slice it this is NOT an “Easy Installation for All Sockets”.

Overall, this can be considered a quirky CPU cooler to install for Intel 775 systems. Depending on your level of experience this can be a very big deciding factor. After all, not everyone has the time, inclination or even the comfort level to remove a motherboard and then re-install it. If you are planning on using it on a AMD system expect the installation time to very easy and less than half of what it was for Intel systems. For Intel 775 system this is not a user friendly heatsink to work with and you should really plan out in advance how you are going to install it.

 

[AkG]

Testing Methodology / Notes on Overclocking

Testing Methodology:

All comparison testing was done on a closed case system with an ambient temperature of 15c. Recorded temps were as reported CoreTemp's "Temp Log". Average load temps were taken after 15 minutes of running Prime95 v25.3 “small fft” and are taken directly from CoreTemp's temperature text file. Excel was used to average the results of all cores. Idle temps were taken 15 minutes after Load testing ceased. Motherboard temperatures were recorded using SpeedFan.

Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal paste was used for all other coolers during these tests. For the Falcon 92-CU Shin-Etsu X32 was used unless otherwise noted. Application of Shin-Etsu thermal paste was applied according to CoolJag’s instructions, and allowed to cure for 3 days under moderate to high loads (with periods of low loads) prior to testing. All tests were run 4 times and only best results are represented.

Notes on Overclocking:

For q6600’s that use 1.31volts I consider 1.45 volts to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock. Yes you can go much higher but the longevity of the cpu is then called into question. Just as importantly the CPU should max out at LESS than 60c as this is also what I consider the safest, maximum long term overclocking temp. For the purposes of these tests I was willing to overlook temperatures as long as they averaged below 65c and did not peak over 70c. If 70c was displayed for more than 10seconds in CoreTemp all testing was stopped and that test run was considered a fail.

With these two general guidelines I overclocked both systems until either one (or both) of these "rules" was needed to be broken to continue.

Overclocking was accomplished by increasing FSB speed and then Vcore (only if necessary).

Before testing for idle and max temperatures Orthos was run for 1 hour to make sure that it was stable at a given overclock and voltage. If both finished with no errors SuperPi set to 32m was run twice. After the stability testing was accomplished the given system was allowed to sit idle for 30minutes before starting the official tests. IF both of the above stated guidelines were not broken then testing continued with an increased overclock. These steps were then repeated until 1 or both of the general guidelines were broken.

As they have no bearing on these tests the RAM’s voltage and timings are not recorded, the RAM was set to run at or as close to as possible PC-6400 speeds by running various cpu : memory dividers. Please do not consider this a full “how to” review on overclocking or “safe guidelines” for overclocking nor even an indicator on how well a given CPU will overclock. IF you are interested in OC’ing your system, and use these guidelines we at HWC take no responsibility for the results. Bad Things can happen if you are not careful.

Complete Test System:

Processor: Q6600
Motherboard: Gigabyte p35 DS4
Memory: 4GB G.Skill PC2-6400
Graphics card: XFX 7200gt 128mb
Hard Drives: 1x Western Digital Se16 500GB
Power Supply: Seasonic S12 600W
Case: CM 690 w/ 5 Scythe E fans installed

 

[AkG]

Stock Performance Testing

Stock Performance Testing


Q6600 Idle

Here we can see that the Falcon 92-CU was able to easily handle the thermal load and meanwhile it was very quiet while doing it. Of course, the Ultima 90’s more efficient design already did start show how hollow CoolJag’s boast about “The Best Air Cooler in the Market” really is.


Q6600 Average Load

This test really shows the limitations of the Falcon 92-CU’s fan and they seem to be quite profound limitations. All that copper and all that great TIM all means nothing when the fan is only spinning at a constant 1300RPM.

Please note: the Ultima 90 was not at its thermal limits; rather this is how far this particular q6600 will OC with 1.45volts. If we had been willing to increase the vCore to 1.5 volts 3.6GHz is possible but it is outside our comfort zone.

At this point the first thing we thought that could be the problem is the TIM was either “bad” or improperly applied. A quick cleaning and application of MX-2 compound showed similar (yet slightly worse) results and quickly disabused us of that notion. The next thing we checked was the seating of the cooler. It was seated properly and was tightened down properly. This left only the fan and its “smart” thermistor.

 

[AkG]

Modifying the Fan / Additional Tests

Modifying the fan

Even though we here at HWC do not like modifying a unit in any way to improve it and in fact think that doing so “cheats” our readers out of a fair, unbiased opinion; we consider this to be a special case so we did modify the fan to see what this CPU cooler’s true potential really is.

Upon seeing that the thermistor did not make proper contact (actually, it made NO contact) with the Falcon's copper fins we, we went about removing it to see if there was any large improvement in performance.

In general this is a relatively easy modification to do. One simply has to remove the 4 small screws that attach the fan and mounting bracket to the copper fins. This allows you easier access to the thermistor (the green "nipple" you see near the upper right-hand portion of the fan).

When you have fan removed all you have to do is flip it over on its back (so that you can read the EverFlow tag and motto on the fans motor) and twist the two pins of the thermistor together. After a few twists, making sure not to break the wire, you can then remove the thermistor. We used a pair of pliers but even nail clippers will do in a pinch. If you want to make double sure that that there is a good connection between the two remaining pins, you can further remove the fan body from the metal bracket by removing three more screws, cut a small piece of the plastic body out with a Dremel Tool and then solder the two pins together. This last step can be considered “overkill” but it will ensure good current flow. Either way, the Everflow fan will now run at full speed unless PWM control is used.

After this is completed one simply has to reinstall the fan and reap all the benefits and rewards that voiding your warranty and risk turning the fan into a brick entail. In this case you will see marked improvement in the efficiency of the Falcon 92-cu. The increase is so drastic that while the CoolJag marketing still crosses the line, at least they don’t seem like such hollow boasts anymore.


Additional Test Results


Q6600 Idle

Here we can see that the Falcon 92-CU was once again able to easily handle the thermal load and was still quiet while doing it. Yes the fan was rotating a lot faster than before, but at least the increased noise can be justified with increased cooling. Of course, the Ultima 90’s more efficient design still beats it.


Q6600 Average Load

These numbers are MUCH better. They still are not great but that sure are heck of a lot better then they were! Just remember that when "overclocked" the Falcon92-CU’s fan is MUCH louder than the stock fan. To me this really does show the potential this cooler has. To bad CoolJag got “fancy” and paired the wrong fan with it in the first place. I am sure that most people will agree when we say that adding additional green lights to a case is easy, but adding an extra fan to this unit would be HARD.

Please note that in these tests neither the Falcon 92-cu nor the Ultima 90 were at their thermal limits; rather this is how far this particular q6600 will OC with 1.45volts. If we had been willing to increase the vCore to 1.5 volts 3.6GHz is possible but it is outside our comfort zone.


Editor's Note:

To tell you the truth, with a modded fan the differences we have seen here are like night and day. This goes to show how the inclusion of a properly-installed fan could have benefited this cooler in more ways than one. In the end, we decided to show you how to modify this heatsink even though this slip-up could have been prevented with proper QA on CoolJag's part.

In our communications with CoolJag, we have been made aware that they know of the issue concerning the improperly installed thermistor and are taking steps to fix it on future productions of this heatsink. However, we have been unable to reach Nexus (whose new XiR-series of coolers use this same design) in order to confirm that they have taken care of this problem as well.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

Conclusion

If we had to sum the cooler up in two words those words would be: “Unfulfilled Potential”. The Falcon 92 has LOTS of potential considering it has nearly everything going for it; it has an almost all-copper construction, four large heatpipes and quite a bit of surface area to disperse the heat your processor kicks out. Unfortunately CoolJag made some serious errors with their fan selection and especially with their quality assurance checks that left the now-infamous thermistor sucking in cool air. As we saw when you take that fans brains out of the equation the Falcon 92 is a fairly impressive, if quirky, CPU cooler. Like we said before: unfulfilled potential.

In a perfect world for CoolJag's marketing team, the Falcon 92 would have had a normal PWM compliant fan so maybe their claims would be seen as “over enthusiasm” and not so hollow when everything was said and done. In the overclocking enthusiast community people are willing to live with boastful claims, less than optimal mounting instructions and even having to use washers to protect their board just as long as the performance is there. If CoolJag does not tweak the fan design before too many people buy it, they will certainly make a name for themselves but it won’t necessarily be the one they want.

So with all of this to consider can we really recommend this cooler? If you are willing to take the time and effort to modify it then the CoolJag Falcon provides quite good performance but it is still thumped by some of its priced competitors like the Thermalright Ultima 90. Only time will tell if CoolJag can overcome the teething problems this cooler seems to have but it looks like they are on the right track.

Sure, the CoolJag Falcon 92 looks badass but its stock performance was anything but impressive. To put it another way (and to beat a metaphor to death in the process), it is like finally meeting the big bad biker dude that everyone has been talking about and realizing that he is: A) an accountant from PEI, B) his leathers came directly from an LL Bean Catalogue, C) his “boss hog” is nothing more than a Honda with a fancy paintjob and D) his tattoos are nothing but Geeky variations of “I Love Mom” in Huttese, Klingon, Ferengi, Vorlon, Sindarin and even Esperanto.


Pros:

- Good looks
- Green LEDS
- Shin-Etsu TIM
- Low noise fan
- Easy installation for AMD
- Cross platform compatible
- Good performance once modified

Cons:

- “Smart” fan isn’t that smart
- Proprietary fan
- Short warranty
- Not everyone likes Green LEDS
- Mounting issues
- Not an “EASY” installation for 775 systems
- Potential Motherboard damage issues
- Little Better than Stock temperatures at stock
- Needs to be modified to produce good results

Special Thanks To CoolJag for providing us with this review item.​

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/cooling/4678-comment-thread-cooljag-falcon-92-cu.html#post41876​