Thermolab LP53 Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 21.03.14
After we've had a look at Thermolab's ITX30 cooler, we're now reviewing the LP53. Both coolers are compact and mainly suitable for HTPC builds. Thermolab is known for producing high quality products, and at the first glance, this full-copper cooler perfectly fits into the company's line-up. So far we're rather curious to see what this little thing can do.
Article in English |
Artikel in Deutsch |
Article en français |
Articolo in italiano |
Thermolab is one of the companies in the cooler market which is making nice looking small form factor coolers for HTPC or Steam Box systems for living rooms as well as standard Mini ITX PCs. Currently, there are two low-profile coolers which Thermolab released this year and in this review we are testing the bigger one, named the LP53. With dimension of just 100(L) x 94(W) x 53(H)mm which make it 23mm higher than the smaller ITX30, the LP53 is made out of pure copper, which is very rare these days considering that the copper is the best material for heat dissipation and also quite expensive.
|   
|
As noted earlier, both the base and the heatpipes on the Thermolab LP53 are made of pure copper. It features two 6mm heatpipes which are not in direct contact with the CPU but have been routed through a copper base. In case of the Thermolab LP53 you get a low-profile cooler that perfectly suits small-form-factor builds. The heatsink fins are made of copper as well. The manufacturing quality is definitely high, which is a pleasant surprise considering that this is more of a mainstream cooler. A quick look at the quality build confirms that. The bundled 4-pin 92mm PWM fan is quite simple and will not stand out from a pile of standard OEM fans. The height of the entire cooler is 53mm including the 92mm fan which in total the same as Intel's stock cooler so we can be 100 percent sure it will fit in any, if not every case.
Specifications |
|
| Model | LP53 |
| Type | Low-profile 80mm |
| Provided Fan(s) | 1x 92x92x25mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 1x 92mm |
| Base Material | Pure copper |
| Fins Material | Copper |
| Socket Support | Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156 |
| Thermal compound | Pre-Applied |
| Product Page | Thermolab LP53 |
The bundle and the box are also quite simple and it almost feels like Thermolab was trying too hard to make a mid-range cooler. The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic wrap, our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is pre-mounted to the heatsink while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate plastic bag. The bundle includes an installation manual, four screws, two fan clips. The LP53 also comes with thermal compound pre-applied so it is basically ready to mount. A 4-pin round 92mm PWM fan and the bracket are already mounted on the cooler and there is no backlplate for this cooler and it actually does not need it because of the small dimension and low weight which will not damage or bend the socket of the motherboard or the heatsink itself.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
|   
|
Installation of the Thermolab LP53 is simple and easy since the bracket is pre-mounted so you just need to fix the bracket on top of the motherboard and secure it from the back with the four included screws. The entire process takes less than two minutes. The thermal compound is pre-applied so there is no extra of it in case you decide to clean the cooler at some point in time. The overall pressure on the CPU is quite good for a low-profile cooler. The cooler only supports Intel LGA 1150/1155/1156 sockets which is quite a shame since we would really like to see compatiblity with at least some AMD sockets.
Since the Thermolab LP53 is an overall rather small cooler there will no compatibility issues with large heatspreader memory. We mounted and tested the cooler with standard ATX and ITX motherboards.
Test Setup |
|
| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound | Pre-applied |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 39 °C | 65 °C |
| Thermolab LP53 | 38 °C | 69 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 38 °C | 75 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
To measure cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 31°C | 44 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 36 °C | 59 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 37 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab LP53 | 37 °C | 65 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 36 °C | 69 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 840 rpm | 1'180 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 600 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 1'260 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 1'270 rpm | 2'050 rpm |
| Thermolab LP53 | 300 rpm | 2'180 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1620 rpm | 2'580 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34.6 dBA | 38.0 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 33.4 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Thermolab LP53 | 31.2 dBA | 39.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33.9 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 32.8 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 32.3 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 33.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 33.3 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 41.0 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 62 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 42 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP53 | 39 °C | 67 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 39 °C | 70 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Scythe Ashura | 436 rpm | 550 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 424 rpm | 880 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 580 rpm | 970 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 990 rpm | 1'115 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 920 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'190 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'250 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
| Thermolab LP53 | 1'475 rpm | 1'672 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'475 rpm | 2'253 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32.1 dBA | 32.8 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Thermolab LP53 | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 33.4 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 33.5 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 33.8 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 33.2 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34.8 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 34.1 dBA | 37.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall, the Thermolab LP53 is a very pleasant surprise. It is an affordable cooler aimed at mid-range market and comes with an impressive level of manufacturing quality and performance. While some coolers might be cheaper, they are also much "cheaper" in terms of design, simplicity and manufacturing quality. The overall performance is good and noise levels are decent as well. They could be a little bit lower but as we said, for a mainstream cooler, the LP53 has a great cooling performance. The cooler is bundled with a 4-pin round 92mm PWM fan, which is a little noisy at 12 Volt. Apart from that we did not like the lack of AMD socket compatibility. |
- Low Profile Cooler Performance
- Quality - PWM |
- Socket compatibility | |
| Installation | + | - | |
| Mounting is quite easy and practical. The fan is already pre-mounted using four rubber grommets and it fits nicely and also prevents any vibration noise. The mounting mechanism parts are solid, thermal paste comes in pre-applied and ready to mount and the installation of the whole cooler took less than 2 minutes. |
- Basic mounting easy and practical
|
- Not compatible to AMD sockets | |
| Performance | + | - | |
| Cooling performance of the Thermolab LP53 is definitely very good for its size. It does a way better job than most, if not all low-profile coolers, at least when it comes to coolers that we had a chance to test. It even does a better job than some more expensive and bigger coolers. The dimensions are a little bigger when compared to the Thermolab ITX30 and tests showed us that these acutally helps a lot in terms of performance and tempratures. So far, Thermolab's LP53 is one of the best performing low-profile-cooler we had in our lab. | - Cooling performances | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The overall noise levels are good and the Thermolab LP53 is silent, except at 12V. It is still one of the best low-profile coolers we have seen so far but, as always, there is still some room for improvement. Luckily, this cooler is powerful enough to even keep a quad-core CPU at adequate temperatures, even when the fan is driven at 7V, meaning noise levels will not be an issue. | - Silent | ||
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| We can definitely recommend this cooler as it is a very good alternative to box- and other mainstream and low-end coolers. The Thermolab LP53 is a high quality cooler. Unfortunately, we could not find any price for the LP53 cooler in Europe but a quick look at Ebay shows it priced at 53 USD witch is a little bit on the high side. |
- HTPC -Stream Box - Mini-ITX Gaming |
- Price | |
| Rating | |||
| We gave the LP53 from Thermolab 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |