Review Nfortec Vela KX

[rul3s]

Nfortec, a new hardware enthusiast material company made in Spain, has sent us one of their heatsink models to review.

First of all, I will expose the test environment.

i7 4790k overclocked to 4.4GHz on all cores and undervolted to 1.185v. DELIDEADO.
Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5
HOF GTX 980ti
Gskill Ripjaws 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
Noctua NHU12 with 7 years already behind it.
Raijintek Asterion, open side to avoid the ambient temperature of the case affecting it.

And a photo of the set:

The tests I am going to perform are to read the MAXIMUM temperature in each of the following situations, using Open Hardware Monitor as the reading software.

• IDLE on the desktop
• 3DMark Time Spy
• RealBench v2.44
• 10 min Prime95 v28.40

Product analysis:

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As we can see, the heatsink comes very well labeled, something uncommon for heatsinks in this price range, remember that it is marked at 24.95€ on the NFortec website.

I will tell you now that I wish they had put the same care into the product in general, as I have found some details that I think are unforgivable knowing the audience it is aimed at, but we will see more about this later.

Here we can see the contents of the box, now some photos with more detail of the product.

As you can observe, what at first glance seem to be 8 heatpipes, are actually 4 shared between both sides, with a curious shape that I think must affect its performance.

The fan seems to be of quality, 14cm and fluid bearing, it is indeed quite silent as long as it does not go to maximum rpm.

As a curiosity, it does not include an instruction manual other than what is on the side of the box, for an experienced user there will be no problem, but for the more novice ones, indications could be missing.

Finally here we see it next to the NHU12

Assembly
Well, here I encounter the first problem, although my case has a hole behind the plate to be able to change the backplate without needing to disassemble, the anchoring system that the Vela KX has prevents us from doing it correctly since the heatsink is directly anchored to the backplate, without any intermediate support, so when we lay the case down the backplate falls off making the correct anchoring impossible.
In my case, I glued it with a little bit of insulating tape and with a lot of care I aligned the screws to be able to fix it, a detail that is not very nice.
As a curiosity, in the assembly video on their website they have exactly the same problem, only they cut the video and then it already appears assembled... that is to say, it is not a mistake, it is something they already know. So my question is, why not use the standard Intel system? I have seen heavier heatsinks use that system without any problem...

And finally, assembled!

Results
First of all, we must be clear that we are comparing a heatsink whose price is 25€ against one of market price 59€, so it was to be expected that the performance would be inferior, without more ado, the results of the tests.

Given the tests and taking into account that my CPU is delided and that it has -15 degrees on average compared to a normal 4790K, I can say that the results, despite not expecting it to compete against the Noctua, have been a bit weaker than expected.
If we look at the Prime95 test, although it is not a good indicator today, the CPU reaches its maximum temperature so it applies thermal throttling by lowering the performance to not burn itself.

Conclusions
With all this, I can conclude that it is a heatsink that with an i3 can be very quiet and effective, with an i5 perhaps a bit tight, and finally not recommended with an i7, in my view it would be as senseless as running it with the stock heatsink.

I like:

• Very large and quiet fan
• Light
• Relatively small size

I don't like:

• Performance below expected.
• Anchoring system denotes "negligence" on the part of the brand.

[whoololon]

[Namiga]

@rul3s come on, a real disappointment.

[whoololon]

Last night was the limit, but wouldn't it have been possible to mount the backplate and the brackets, and then the heatsink block?
As you say, it's a very normal heatsink; for processors in tray, those that don't come with the heatsink, or for HTPCs in places where summers are very hot. Don't ask for more.
Again, a great review. :thumbsup_tone3:

[Bm4n]

In the end, it all comes down to surface area, the nfortec is like half the size of the noctua and the price is less than half, so I don't think the results are bad either, and the build and design seem to be of good quality.

[kynes]

Totally agree with Bm4n, physics has its limits.

[rul3s]

@Bm4n said in Review Nfortec Vela KX:

In the end, it all comes down to surface area. The Nfortec is about half the size of the Noctua, and the price is less than half, so I don't think the results are bad at all. The build and design seem to be of good quality.

Indeed, there was this option, but since it didn't have spacers to keep the brackets at the right height, it also complicated things a bit. When you do that maneuver, the paste ends up in the middle, and if possible, it's better not to peel it off once it's "stuck" because then you get air pockets.

Now, what I can't understand is that in their promotional video they noticed this problem and didn't fix it... In my opinion, it gives a feeling of "negligence" rather than "they hadn't realized."

@kynes said in Review Nfortec Vela KX:

I totally agree with Bm4n, physics has its limits.

Indeed, it wasn't going to perform the same as the Noctua, that's clear, but maybe I expected a little more from it.

I think a good comparison would be against the Artic Freezer 7, a reference cooler for i3/i5 that's easy to assemble and has more than good performance for its price. I've installed many of these and am generally very happy with them.

[Fassou]

@rul3s said in Review Nfortec Vela KX:

I think a good comparison would be against the Artic Freezer 7, a reference cooler for i3/i5 that is easy to install and has more than good performance for its price. I have installed many of these and am generally very happy with them.

There are details that could be improved in the finish, but as @rul3s comments, it would be fairer to compare it with a cooler in its league, so it doesn't seem like a poor dog

Good review :thumbsup_tone1:

[Nemo]

Good review. I think a heatsink that is not at least easy to disassemble in the long run is a setback for maintenance of paste and cleaning.

[cobito]

Between one thing and another, I finally forgot to mention it: good review. My experience with "cheap" heatsinks has always been regular with the issue of anchors, but okay. A shame that it does not reach the expected results.