Thermaltake MiniTyphoon

The Fan

Unlike most fans, the fan that came with the MiniTyphoon has a very short side wall around the fan blades. This apparently improves airflow to the heatsink. However, the open blades are a real danger to clumsy fingers and nearby wires.

This fan spins at 2200 rpm, producing noise rated at 18 dBA. At least, that's what Thermaltake claims. However, the noise level rating is really questionable. It is quite noisy at full speed, which we seriously doubt is 18 dBA as claimed.

This fan uses a 3-pin connector, so you can easily connect it to any 3-pin fan connector on your mainboard. However, it spells trouble for those who have all the 3-pin connectors on the motherboard occupied, or if the fan connector is out of reach.

The wire is quite short, so the latter is real possibility. We wish Thermaltake would include a Molex converter for the 3-pin connector. It isn't too hard to find this connector at your local computer store though.

Base

You can hardly call the MiniTyphoon's base finish a mirror finish. The machine marks are clearly visible.

As you can see from the picture on the right, the reflection of the Molex connector on the base is not too clear.

The base is flat though, which is the most important thing.

The Mounting Clips

We won't be going into the full installation details. Although sparse, the user manual is good enough to guide you all the way.

The mounting clip for Socket AM2, Socket 939 and Socket 754 is very similar to the mounting clips for the stock coolers. The mounting clip for LGA775-based motherboards are also very similar to the stock cooler's mounting clip. The only difference is the middle part, which is Z-shaped.

If you have experience installing your processor's stock cooler, then you will have no problem mounting this cooler.