INTRODUCTION
One of the best things the PC industry has to offer is that no matter how many manufacturers there are around at any given time new ones always rise to strengthen the competition and make more options available for consumers. Such events are especially good whenever people who have spent several years working for some of the leading manufacturers come together to share their massive experience in order to create something they can call their own. Raijintek is one such brand formed by people who used to work for CoolerMaster and Xigmatek and it was officially revealed to the public just a few days ago along with the introduction of their first 5 products 4 of which are CPU Air Coolers (Aidos, Themis, Themis Evo and Ereboss) and one is an 130mm case fan (Aeolus α). Today we will be taking a look at the two smaller models of the line that arrived here roughly a week ago the Aidos and Themis CPU Coolers.
With the aim of designing high-end products for Lifestyle , Computer and Day-to-Day usage, RAIJINTEK was established in 2013 to accomplishes the future of IT and Lifestyle products. This task and aim lead us grow and toward a global brand. Not only highly recommended IT products but we also provide Gaming Gear such as Chassis, PSU’s and Lifestyle products for Smartphones and all your tablet PC’s. Fully dedicated to develope best Products for global users, RAIJINTEK’s R&D team never forget the aim to provide a friendly and performing product. Decades experience in industry, RAIJINTEK management would never give up service and product quality to value customers. Alliances with strong partners and global suppliers, RAIDEN is able to achieve its aim - the future of IT and Lifestyle products for all valuable customers.
Both the Aidos and the Themis are tower design CPU Air Coolers so the good news from the get go is that you can use a 2nd fan in push and pull configuration if you want increased cooling efficiency. Both models also feature Raijinteks CPU Direct Contact base (basically the same as Xigmateks H.D.T technology) which transfers heat to the fins faster by having the copper heatpipes contact the CPU cover directly. However this is where their similarities end and so although the 136mm tall Aidos with its 92mm fan is targeted towards low-end systems the 158mm tall Themis and its 120mm fan is mostly designed with mid-end systems in mind. However size is not always the decisive factor when it comes to CPU Air Coolers so without further delay let’s see exactly what the brand new products by the also brand new Raijintek are capable of.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
AIDOS
THEMIS
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
Both units arrived inside (too thin) cardboard boxes something which i really hope they will improve in the near future.
The specifications table is placed on the right side of the box.
At the left side we see the main features list of both units.
Three product pictures are placed at the rear of each box.
Both bundles are identical and so aside the heatsink/fan combo you are also getting a small pouch with thermal conductive material, 5 fan rubber mounts, user’s manual, a back plate and all the necessary bits and pieces to mount the units on Intel LGA 775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2/FM2+ compatible mainboards.
THE AIDOS AND THEMIS
From just this picture it's very easy to see just how different these two coolers are. More specifically the heatsink of the Aidos features a total of 42 aluminum fins and measures 136mm in height, 95mm in width and 55mm in depth while weighing a total of 325g. On the other hand the heatsink of the Themis features a total of 54 fins and measures 158mm in height, 122mm in width and 50mm in depth while weighing a total of 433g (according to our electronic scale).
Both heatsinks have part of the fins bend on the sides to keep the air flowing through the fins longer instead of letting it leave left and right thus improving their cooling efficiency.
Now although the smaller Aidos comes with a total of four 6mm all-copper heatpipes the Themis features a total of three 8mm all-copper ones.
The CPU Direct Contact base used in both coolers is not something we've seen for the first time, however the implementation is better than i had originally expected.
Here we can see both the 92mm sleeve-bearing fan used with the Aidos (2400RPM/53,02CFM/29,8dBA) and the 120mm one used with the Themis (1800RPM/78,82CFM/27.86dBA).
With the fans attached the Aidos now measures 80mm in depth with a weight of 425g while the Themis measures 75mm in depth and weighs 578g.
TEST BED
TESTING METHODOLOGY
We always take things quite seriously when it comes to work so just like with the previous LGA1366 database we will not be testing each CPU Cooler on its own and with different ambient temperature levels and thus we can actually have yet another valid CPU Cooler database. Testing a CPU Cooler automatically means that you need to know where it stands against the immediate competition and to accomplish that we have spent both money and time through the years, something that we plan to continue to do so in order to get the most accurate results for the end consumers who read these lines. Every CPU cooler in this database is tested with the bundled 140mm/120mm/92mm/80mm fans while working at both idle speed and 100% of their speeds for all the temperature tests. CPU Coolers that do not come bundled with a fan/s are measured using a Noctua fan (size dependent on the model) to test for the temperature tests but due to the lack of a stock fan dBA level tests are obviously skipped. For the dBA tests every cooler in the database was measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. The Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste is used with every CPU Cooler in our latest LGA2011 database (although initially this was not the plan we had to change things to get the most accurate results). Finally it's very important to point out that just because a CPU Cooler is better than another when tested with our Intel Core i7-3930k test rig that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).
To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the CPU Cooler. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).
TEST RESULTS
CONCLUSION
I've said it many times in the past and i will say again, it's Not hard to build a CPU Air Cooler so whenever a new manufacturer comes out and offers a new solution i don't really get excited over that. This is however were Raijintek differs and so they didn't just appear out of nowhere just to launch a single CPU Air Cooler but instead they launched a total of 4 and on top of that they even launched a 130mm case fan. Now this may not seem as something impressive to most people but having 5 available products at the day of launch is not something we've seen many times in the past if at all. Of course that has nothing to do with the quality and performance of their products and so although in terms of quality Raijintek does pretty well (nowhere close to Noctua and/or Thermalright but that was expected) our charts make it somewhat clear that both the Aidos and the Themis are not aimed towards serious users. However to be fair our charts are mostly populated with mid/high-end CPU Coolers so unfortunately in order to come to a valid conclusion regarding the cooling efficiency of their products we will need to finish testing the Ereboss and perhaps also the Themis Evo CPU Air Coolers which are currently their top ones.
It's no secret that the proper way to launch a brand new company is to make certain that your products are very appealing to consumers, price-wise that is (at least primarily) and Raijintek is doing a great job there since currently the Aidos retails for just 16.90Euros inside the EU (Caseking.de) while the Themis retails for 23.90Euros inside the EU (Caseking.de). Now i don't know about all of you but it has been a while since I’ve seen such prices for tower CPU Air Coolers with adequate performance levels (cooling our 6-core overclocked power hungry beast is not a small feat) and because of that both the Aidos and the Themis come highly recommended by us for casual users and gamers who don't want to spend much and are looking for the optimal price/performance ratio.
PROS
- Good Build Quality
- Size (No Clearance Issues)
- C.D.C Base (CPU Direct Contact)
- CPU Compatibility
- Price
CONS
- Adequate Cooling Efficiency (Not Ideal for More Than Just Slight Overclocking)