In the second part of the results we present the measurements of higher priced cpu coolers aimed at power/overclockers and promise to offer the best possible cooling performance. In each chart we have also added the results of Intel's stock cooling solution.

The new competitors here are the Scythe Orochi, the Nexus HOC-9000, the Scythe Zipang and the Nexus XiR-3500.

At full fan speed without any overclocking, the Scythe Orochi showed very good performance with 53 degrees Celsius. The Nexus HOC-9000 follows closely with 54 degrees Celsius, while the Scythe Zipang kept the temperature down to 56 degrees Celsius A rather unexpected result came from the Nexus XiR-3500.

Below you can find the results with the fan speed set to low RPM. Note that not all products support this feature.

Overclocking is for sure the most interesting comparison among the high-priced cpu coolers. As it was expected, the Scythe Orochi performs really well provided that it is equipped with a single fan. It gave a result of 69 degrees Celsius under full load at 3.60Ghz. The Nexus HOC-9000 was less efficient with 74 degrees Celsius, while Scythe Zipang followed with 78 degrees Celsius The Nexus XiR-3500 followed with 80 degrees Celsius

We proceed to the noise level tests under full and low fan speeds. It is rather hard for most products to compete with Intel's stock option. The Nexus XiR-3500 performed very well while the Scythe Zipang and Orochi were also quiet. The Nexus HOC-9000 got an average rank on this test with a noise level of was at the 55dB.

The Scythe Orochi is "normally" priced at $59, while the Nexus XiR-3500 would cost you $6 more.