The Nexus VCT-9000 has an innovative design with 3 different shape aluminium fins and a 12mm PWM fan positioned on the cooler under an angle. Nexus claims that this design is offering high performance and low operation noise. We cannot fully agree with the latter only. It seems that removing surface area from the fins made the cooler less efficient, despite Nexus' efforts to maintain enough air stream throughout the complete area of the heat sink (angled fan). According to our tests, the VCT-9000 will keep the temperature of your CPU down but its cooling efficiency would be comparable to Intel's stock cooler, especially under overclocking. Under less demanding conditions and with our Intel Core i7-920 running at stock speeds, the VCT-9000 positioned itself somewhere in the middle of our performance lists.

On the other hand, the cooler is the quietest one among all the cooling solutions we have ever tested in-house. We measured just 37dB of noise and this is as low as you may have already been experiencing from your Intel's stock cooler.

We also encountered some problems when we tried to install the cooler on our Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard. The mosfets around the CPU area resulted to a struggle fitting. In addition, the cooler was large enough to extend above the memory area. This means that if you are using any kind of extra cooling for your memory, make sure to check its height before installing the Nexus VCT-9000.

On top of its mediocre standings on the performance list, the Nexus VCT-9000 retails for about $50. As you realize, there are plenty of coolers on the market that will offer better cooling at a lesser price. If you look it as a stock replacement, you may consider buying the product, but not expect much if you are planning to overclock your CPU. If you insist on overclocking, you'd better choose something else since there is no need to pay $50 and get a marginal better cooler than your current stock solution.

To sum up, the Nexus VCT-9000 offers medium to low performance, it is extremely quiet and needs your attention during installation. We would like to see an improved version of the product in the future.

Retail package
Design
Motherboard compatibility
Installation time
Copper Base quality

Pros:

+ Good retail package
+ Good volume for fitting most PC cases
+ Includes 120mm fan
+ Very low noise levels, even at full speed
+ Works with both AMD/Intel platforms

Cons:

- Performance is low compared with other products
- Highly priced for what it offers
- Be careful with the installation if you are having an Asus P6T Deluxe