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OCZ has traditionally been a company known for its memory products. Recently they've been expanding their product lineup and this includes a foray into the world of cooling, specifically for processors. They've had success with their previous products, the Vanquisher and Vendetta, and have now released the Gladiator. I'm noticing a theme here, aren't you? Doesn't it remind of you of a certain movie.....Russell Crowe, a gladiator on a vendetta to vanquish oppressors? Ya, I thought so. I guess certain words just thematically fit well together.
In any event, on the test bench today is the OCZ Gladiator Max, which offers Heatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) technology, a newer trend in tower-style heatsinks, and promises some efficient cooling numbers. It does look eerily similar to a few other products; namely OCZ's own Vendetta 2, as well as the Xigmatek S1283 and Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer coolers we've also reviewed. Well, let's see if the Gladiator Max is victor or victim.
Packaging:
 
A Closer Look:
 
 
Installation:
 
 
Performance Test:
To test the heatsink, we boot into Windows and let the system sit idle for 10 minutes, then measure temperatures. We then load the CPU cores to 100% using Prime95 for 20 minutes and then again measure the temperatures. This entire process is done twice and then averaged to avoid any minor discrepancies that might occur. Ambient temperatures are kept at 25°C, and Arctic Cooling MX-2 is used for the thermal interface material. CoreTemp was used to record all temperatures. All thottling features in BIOS are disabled.
What we're going to do today is pit the Gladiator Max against two other models that are very similar and are both top performers, each featuring push pin mountings and HDT technlogy. We're fortunate here because one of the competitors is a 4-heatpipe (Sunbeam) model and the other is a 3-heatpipe (Xigmatek) model. This should help us observe a few things here: does an extra heatpipe matter? Does the concave face make a difference when compared to a flush face model?
So how does the Gladiator Max perform? Let's take a look below.
As we can see, the Gladiator Max is running very evenly with the other HDT models and considerably ahead of the stock cooler. This heatsink is doing well at idle and load, with an almost identical temperature delta as the other two. Let's turn up the juice and overclock this chip and see what happens.
Again, extremely similar results. The Gladiator managed to stay under 60 Celcius and is within a hair of the two competitors. Given their extremely similar designs and techology, it's not entirely suprising that the results are almost equal across the board. It appears that the Sunbeam model ekes ahead perhaps because of what appears to be larger fin surface area. But the temperatures tolerances are so close that 1 degree Celcius could even be attributed to minor testing variances.
There are a few things to glean and conclude here, however. It would seem that the concave face against the fan doesn't make terribly much difference, certainly nothing more than a degree Celcius. More interesting perhaps is that there is very little performance difference between the 3 and 4 heatpipe designs. All things being equal, a 3 heatpipe configuration is preferred since it's less bulky, is easier to install since it's slimmer, and is less restrictive to the airflow inside your case.
The fan noise generated by the Gladiator Max is very low overall, though there is a very mild hum if you put your ear close, but it will be inaudible inside your case. It's not "silent" (being a rather relative term for computers anyways) nor as quiet as some other fans I've used, but it certainly is quiet. Your RAM fan, GPU fan, or hard drive will make more noise than this fan, so no worries here.
Conclusion:
The Gladiator Max is a very good looking cooler and seems to be the natural evolution of its brethren, the Gladiator and the Vendetta 2. OCZ has done a fine job designing and engineering this cooler to handle even today's hot Quad Core CPUs.
While the HDT base was somewhat of a concern with the gaps apparent along the CPU contact points, it appears that this is not a serious issue since the Gladiator Max posts some impressive cooling numbers. I'm curious what the numbers could be if those gaps were reduced, maybe crazy-impressive? The other initial concern about the concave face against the fan appears to be either part myth or simply just a neglible influence when the overall performance numbers are examined.
What's interesting here is that the large HDT contact surface should prove useful with the new Intel Core i7 CPUs that feature almost 40% greater surface area. Theoretically this heatsink should do very well to keep the new monsters cool, likely allowing some very high overclocks. OCZ will soon have a 1366 bracket available, but unfortunately due to time constraints, we were unable to wait for the bracket to test on our new Core i7 rig here. Rest assured though, the Gladiator Max will be included in our heatsinks we'll be testing on the new socket.
The Gladiator Max is a rather interesting product. On one hand it is a good looking, efficient cooler that produces some great results and can serve you into your next build or upgrade with a simple bracket attachment. On the other hand, the installation of the whole ensemble is an absolute pain. The price tag isn't as cheap as some of its OCZ siblings, but it's also not as expensive as some other popular coolers that come at a very pricey premium. It sits somewhere in the mix, performing as a top tier air cooler. Is that minor performance bump worth the price premium over, say, the Vendetta 2? We're not convinced it is, but there are certainly consumers that would disagree, and that's the beauty of having many options to choose from in the air cooler market.
The Max is a cooler with a split personality, equal parts awe and frustration at points. But in the end, however, cooling is king and the performance results speak for themselves, with the Gladiator Max shining. With a price tag of approximately $50 CDN, the performance doesn't cost a fortune and you get a quality product for your hard-earned dollar. If you're in the market for a new heatsink, take at look at the Gladiator Max, we think it's definitely worth considering. Just make sure you get the 1366 bracket when it's available for your new dream system, we definitely will be.
source: http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=690&page=6
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