Review on Dynatron K17 💨 Cooling Fan with Heatsink by Aaron Shaw

With the bigger is better race still on, finding a compact tower heatsink has become a challenge. Here is a short list: Dynatron K17 (this cooler) Arctic Cooling i11 -- fresh, very cheap cooler Master Hyper 103 -- not yet available in NAThermalRight True Spirit 90M -- fresh, improved version of True Spirit 90 Xigmatek SD963 -- old but gold, looks like reissued. Dynatron is a very well established company and while they don't seem to be chasing enthusiasts, they do offer some of the best OEM heatsinks out there. K17 stands out from the list above. in several respects: - The only one with 4 heatpipes (Direct Touch) - One of the two with offset design (the other is True Spirit 90M). It fully fits within the confines of the 1155/1150 socket inaccessibility zone (however, the fan rests on the memory on the boards where it sits next to the socket, for example Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI - more on that below). The shortest is 115mm from the motherboard, so it's really suitable for 3U cases or where space is limited. The heatsink is printed with high-quality thermal compound Shin-Etsu G751 with a checkerboard pattern. as picture (very thin layer). Revain's description is incorrect: the heatsink comes with a backplate (unlike the True Spirit 90M, which is no longer available). The screws are properly spring loaded and M3 threaded so any standard 1155/1156/1150 backplate will do. Installation is not difficult. Complete Top Motor brand fan, model number DF129225BM, PWM controlled, double ball bearings, current rating 0.25A, maximum RPM about 2500-2600 and airflow about 46cfm. The fan has an inverted hub. It has a standard fan spacing of 92mm and is held in place by rubber mounts that are attached to the fin stack with two metal springs. The fan has a wide RPM range, but as other reviewers have noted, it's loud and makes an objectionable noise. Standard and the rubber mounts fit other fan cases, in principle you can reuse them and just replace the fan with a 92mm fan of your choice, but I've found that it's even better to completely remove the metal springs and just the replacement to install. Fans directly to the fin assembly - due to the fact that it is almost flat on three sides and fits perfectly into the 92mm fan frame. I used a Noctua NF-B9 PWM fan and three strips of aluminum tape (the stuff used for the duct repair is sold at Home Depot and other places - it has a good acrylic based adhesive that is both very strong and can withstand high temperatures) for a very clean facility. The added benefit of eliminating the metal springs and rubber mounts is that the fan is no longer in contact with the memory cards and there is actually a few millimeters of clearance between the fan frame and the heatsinks (Crucial Ballistix Sport in my case). .Please note that the maximum rotation speed of the NF-B9 is up to 1000 slower than the standard fan. Paired with the K17, however, it easily cools the i7-4770. The temperatures of the Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI are specified as follows: Idle: 28°C, fan speed 580 rpm Prime95: 65°C, fan speed 1400 rpm. sitting on a desk next to a monitor, this combination is hard to beat: it's nearly silent and doesn't vibrate, doesn't restrict memory modules or PCIe expansion cards, is relatively light (doesn't pull the socket out of the motherboard when the computer is moved), offers you a good selection of small suitcases at the right price.