Very seldom ,the cpu cooler market for the enthusiasts and Overclockers is given massive and high performance coolers, that not only keep the processors cool under extreme over clocking conditions, but also are a treat to look at. While there is an abundance of cpu coolers out in the market, there are however, a few that stand out, not only because of their performance, but also their aesthetic designs. Our today's cooler, the Corator DS from Coolink, seems to fall in this category from the first impressions, and only time will tell how it fares up among the rest. So let's get the show on the road!

Packaging & Accessories

The cooler comes in a decently sized white and lemon-green themed attractive packaging. The front shows the cooler as a massive 8-pipe finned cooler with Dual Radiators. Grunge patterns can be found all round the box in the companies colour theme which is Black and Lemon-green, giving it a modern look.

The left side focuses on the salient features of the cooler such as the 8-pipe technology, the 11-blade included fan etc, while the right side shows off its dimensions. All round, the box builds up high expectations from the cooler even before opening the box.

Unboxing the cooler reveals is sturdy and neat cardboard packaging, with the contents neatly stacked in a separate box. The contents include:

The CoratorDS CoolerAn attractive looking Green Coolink SWiF2-120P fanSecuFirm 2 mounting system for AMD (AM2(+) & AM3) and Intel (LGA775, LGA1156 & LGA1366)Two Wire holders for strapping the fan to the coolerCoolink high-end Chillaramic thermal compoundMounting instructions for AMD and Intel motherboardsA Cooling Sticker piece and a Coolink Neckband for diehard fans

The Coolink SWiF2-120P fan included is part of Coolink 11-Blade High Performance cooler fans with hydro-dynamic bearing for outstanding durability as well as an innovative 11-blade impeller design for excellent airflow through the cooler.

Technical Specifications of the CoratorDS

As is quite evident, the cooler means business and demands respect as it belongs to one of the Heavier coolers that one comes across. It feels Solid, and is massive in dimensions and should be a treat to work with!

Structure and Impressions

First impressions of the CPU cooler tell what is to be expected from an offering, and the Corator DS comes up with a No Nonsense approach. Featuring two massive Asymmetrical Twin Stack radiators, the Corator DS stands tall and heavy, with one stack of fins thicker than the other. According the supplied manual, the thicker side is supposed to be the side to which the air from the attached fan flows.

The surface finish of the base of the cooler shows the quality of the cooler even before it is given a real life test, and the Corator DS is no exception. The surface quality is very smooth and shiny, meaning there will be even contact of the surface with the processor, for optimum heat transfer. Coolink's exclusive GDT-technology gives the Corator DS a gapless all copper contact area to ensure proper heat exchange and even spreading of the thermal compound for excellent cooling performance with high-end processors or in overclocked environments

The supplied 120mm Fan is attached to the Thicker Fin Stack of the two, but two easy to install wire clamps.

Installation of the CoratorDS

Since the cooler is massive and weights around 1Kg, it is appropriately supplied with a back plate that goes behind the motherboard to keep the cooler in place. This however, means that the motherboard has to be removed from the casing to install the fan. Not a very user friendly point, but then again, how often does one expect to remove and install cpu fans!

Installing the cooler was fairly simple, with detailed and to-the-point instructions given in the manual. For the review however, we shall be looking at the Intel assembly as our main test system. Since the cooler is compatible for all three Intel sockets (LGA 775, LGA1156 and LGA 1366), It is supplied with an all-in-one backplate which has special markings for each socket installation. Installation consists of four major steps, the first being Installation of the backplate.

4 modified Hex-bolt are to be inserted at the correct marking according to the target socket. A for 1366 Socket, B for LGA1156 and C for LGA775 (shown below).

Once inserted into the motherboard, the bolts are fixed to the motherboard with supplied screws with plastic Spacers in between the screw and the motherboard.The bent brackets come over the capacitors surrounding the cpu with ample space to spare.

The cooler sits on top of the processor and is held onto it with the help of spring attached bolts, keeping the cooler sturdy.

The fins are high enough form the RAM slots to allow for high profile ram sticks, like the Corsair Dominator series.

One interesting thing to note, as show in the picture above, was that our particular test casing was the Coolermaster Gladiator 600, with a bottom positioned power supply and a 140mm fan attached to the top of the casing. In order to install the cpu, that fan had to be removed. Also, the cooler, once installed is high enough, making a wide casing design a requirement. Otherwise, it sticks out of the side, for smaller less-wide casings.

Lastly, the fan is clamped on with the two wire clips, with the special care to attach the fan to the thicker Radiator Stack. The fan is positioned so that it throws the air into the thicker radiator.

Testing Setup and Methods

The Test System is as follows:

Intel Core2Quad Q9400 2.66GHz (Socket LGA775) Overclocked to 3.30GHzMSI P43 Neo-FEVGA GTX-285 1GB (Stock Clocks)2x2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 RAMCoolermaster Gladiator 600 Casing

Coolers Tested for this review are

Coolink CoratorDSCooler Master V8

The testing method consists of two parts. The processor will be run in two modes. At stock clocks and voltages (2.66GHz at 333Mhz FSB, voltage setting Auto), and at Overclocked settings (3.03Ghz at 413MHz FSB, Vcore at 1.272V) Temperatures for both coolers will be measured at Idle conditions and under 100% CPU Load (all 4 cores).

Software’s used for Stress testing and stability will be OCCT, version 3.1.0 for duration of 1hr. Temperature monitoring is done using RealTemp.

Comparison with the Coolermaster V8

The CoratorDS is against one of the Hot Favorites among the Massive and awesome looking CPU Coolers, the Coolermaster V8. It is a similarly sized 8-Pipe and single 120mm Fan cooler, that weights around 850 grams. So we can see that the coolers are evenly matched in terms of physical specifications, let’s see how they do it out in the field!

The Showdown

OCCT 1-Hour Test Temperatures at 2.66GHz at 333Mhz FSB, voltage setting Auto

At stock clocks, the Corator DS equals the Coolermaster V8, and keeps the temperature stable and at a very low range, as compared to stock fan of the processor.

OCCT 1-Hour Test Temperatures at 3.03Ghz at 413MHz FSB, Vcore at 1.272V

The Corator DS starts to show its efficiency when we go towards higher FSB, clearly gaining the advantage and running the processor cooler. Since the Review at the moment was limited to 3.33GHz, due to the maximum supported FSB of 417 by the P43 Chipset based MSI Motherboard, the temperatures are still well within acceptable level. However the trend clearly shows that if the cooler is to satisfy extreme over clocking, and is tested on clocks of around 4GHz, it shall shine out quite evidently!

Idle Temperatures at 3.03Ghz at 413MHz FSB, Vcore at 1.272V

Idle temperatures are a close call, with the Corator DS edging out by a very small fraction of 0.25 degrees.

Note that the Fan RPM for both the coolers was kept at 1800RPM, ensuring maximum possible heat dissipation.

Conclusion

As the results clearly indicate, the CoratorDS beats the Coolermaster V8 with a decent margin in both idle and overclocked conditions. It is expected to outperform even more, if tested on clocks of around 4GHz. It has clearly come upto the expectations and shows that Coolink’s Design and R&D team have done a great job and given us pure performance, as expected. Looking at this pattern, it clearly shows that the CoratorDS has potential for serious oveclockers and enthusiasts who want to get the maximum out of their systems while maintaining safe limits for their processors!