Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 25.04.14
With their ETS-T40, Enermax have a new tower-cooler in their portfolio, which catches our attention with its matte black color. Other than that this good looking cooler comes with four heatpipes, as well as a fan from Enermax too. Since we've already had the whit version of this cooler for testing, which is bundled with another fan, we're expecting rather similar results, but still we're curious to see what this black beauty can do.



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Today we are going to take a look at the new Enermax cooler, the ETS-T40. Enermax made two differently colored versions: one is white and the other one is black. We recieved the the Black Twister version which is technically the same as the white version apart from the different color and the different fan. The main feature of the ETS-T40 cooler are its four direct touch copper heatpipes.

 


The Enermax ETS-T40 is made from copper and the heatsink fins are made out of aluminium. The cooler features four heatpipes with six millimeter diameter which are in direct contact with the CPU. There is no baseplate through which the heatpipes are routed. In case of the Enermax ETS-T40 you get a full-tower cooler. Overall this cooler is very well made and it looks nice and clean. Definitely the most unique feature about this cooler is its color. The matte black is something we have not seen with a cooler before. Other than the actual color finish, the build quality is also on a really high level, although for example the base could have been lapped.

The bundle includes a 120mm PWM fan with a rotation speed of 800 to 1800 RPM.


Specifications

Model ETS-T40-BK
Type Classic 120mm tower
Provided Fan(s) 1x 120x25mm PWM
Supported Fan(s) 2x 120mm
Base Material Copper
Fins Material Aluminum
Socket Support AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2
Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 2011
Thermal compound Dow Corning TC-5121(Tube)
Product Page ETS-T40-WBK


   


The bundle and the box are quite simple. The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is not attached to the tower while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate plastic bag. The bundle includes an installation manual, mounting components, four fan clips, Dow Corning thermal compound n.5121 in a small syringe as well as a 120 millimeter fan and 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
[pagebreak]

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
[pagebreak]

Installation


 


The installation of the ETS-T40 Black Twister is simple and easy and exactly the same as the other version we have already reviewed. As we said before, the thermal compound is not pre-applied. The installation process does not take too much time as the mounting process is self-explanatory. The pressure on the CPU is good and there are no compatiblity issues with this cooler. As far as the support goes, the ETS-T40 can be mounted on Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156 and LGA 2011 sockets as well as on AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1 and FM2 sockets. Since the Enermax ETS-T40 is a medium sized tower cooler there will not be any compatibility issues with memory that features large heatspreaders. Installing this cooler on an ATX as well as a mini ITX motherboard did not cause any issues.

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 Enermax Tube




Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications
Page 2 - Photo Gallery
Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup
Page 4 - Absolute Performance
Page 5 - PWM Performance
Page 6 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

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 Black Twister 34 °C 56 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 While 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
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 36 °C 61 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 35 °C 63 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °C
Thermolab LP53 38 °C 69 °C
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 39 °C 65 °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
Raijintek Themis EVO 33 °C 54 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33 °C 54 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 While Cluster 34 °C 54 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 35 °C 55 °C
Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan 34 °C 55 °C
Prolimatech Lynx 34 °C 55 °C
Scythe Ashura 34 °C 55 °C
Raijintek Pallas 36 °C 56 °C
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 34 °C 57 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 58 °C
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 37 °C 60 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °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
Scythe Ashura 600 rpm 1'440 rpm
Raijintek Pallas 960 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
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 660 rpm 1'530 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 600 rpm 1'740 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 1'020 rpm 1'860 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 While Cluster 1'260 rpm 1'860 rpm
Thermolab Bada 2010 1'140 rpm 1'980 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
Cooler Master Hyper 103 1'580 rpm 2'400 rpm
Thermolab ITX30 1'620 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
Alpenfohn 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
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 32.8 dBA 40.3 dBA
Prolimatech Lynx 33.0 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 Black Twister 33.1 dBA 40.7 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 While 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
[pagebreak]

PWM Performance

Temperatures

  Idle Load
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33 °C 54 °C
Enermax Liqtech 120X 34 °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 While Cluster 35 °C 57 °C
Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan 36 °C 57 °C
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 35 °C 58 °C
Scythe Ashura 36 °C 58 °C
Raijintek Pallas 37 °C 58 °C
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 35 °C 59 °C
Cooler Master Hyper 103 36 °C 60 °C
Thermolab Bada 2010 39 °C 64 °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
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 471 rpm 770 rpm
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 424  rpm 880 rpm
Corsair H75 Single Fan 800 rpm 969 rpm
Enermax Liqtech 120X 580 rpm 970 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 820 rpm 1'110 rpm
Raijintek Themis EVO 990 rpm 1'115 rpm
Prolimatech Lynx 765 rpm 1'077 rpm
Enermax ETS-T40 While 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
Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure 32.0 dBA 32.7 dBA
Enermax Liqtech 120X 32.1 dBA 32.8 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister 32.3 dBA 33.0 dBA
Corsair H75 Single Fan 32.2 dBA 33.2 dBA
Enermax ETS-T40 While Cluster 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
Scythe IORI Scior-1000 33.2 dBA 34.6 dBA
Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan 33.7 dBA 34.6 dBA
Raijintek Themis EVO 34.8 dBA 35.3 dBA
Thermolab LP53 34.0 dBA 36.8 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
[pagebreak]

Conclusion

General + -
Overall, the Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister is a very decent cooler. It is an affordable model aimed at mid-range market but comes with an impressive level of manufacturing quality as well as a good performance. While some coolers might be cheaper, they are also much cheaper in terms of design, simplicity and build quality. What we really loved was the black matte coating, as it makes this cooler stand out from the crowd and looks really special. We are quite sure that there are a bunch of modders out there waiting exactly for such a cooler. The overall performance is good and noise levels are decent as well although they could be a little bit lower. The cooler comes bundled with a 120mm PWM fan and Enermax used their famous Twister Bearing technology fan. The fan is a little noisy at 12Volt. We also liked the compatibility with a vast variety of sockets.   - Socket compatibility - Cooling capacity
- Build quality
- PWM
- Design
-Bearing noise at 12V
 
Installation   + -
Mounting is quite simple as well as practical and there is a backplate, which means that cooler mounting is quite a breeze. Basically, the installation is self-explanatory and really isn't hard to do. When it comes to thermal compound there is a tube of Dow Corning thermal paste which is even enough for one more mounting.   - Basic mounting easy and practical - compatible to AMD sockets  
 
Performance   + -
The cooling performance of the Enermax ETS-40 Black Twister is definitely good for its size as, after all, we are not talking about a big, high-end, tower cooler. It does an overall good job and closer look at our test results reveals that at 7V,  it scores sixth in our comparison tables and at 12V it reaches eight spot. When PWM is enabled it comes in tenth, which is basically an average score. Overall, Enermax also did a good job in terms of cooling performance with the ETS-40, where we have to underline, that performance at 7V is rather convincing.   - Cooling performance at 7V -Bearing noise at 12V
 
Noise Levels   + -
The overall noise levels are not bad but the Enermax ETS-40 was not the most silent cooler we tested in our lab. Since the fan is different from the White version of the cooler and there is no switch to select the rotation speed, it is better to use this fan with PWM controller from the motherboard. It seems that Enermax has been working hard on tuning the bearings lately. If you are wondering about the overclocking capabilites, bear in mind that we did not have any issues running our test CPU at 4.4 GHz while the fan was set to 7V.   - Silent PWM

 

 
 
Recommendation / Price   + -
Should you be looking for a cooler with a good price/performance ratio, then the ETS-T40 Black Twister from Enermax is a safe bet. Other than that it features great design and we are sure there are a lot of modders out there that have been waiting for a completely matte black cooler. When it comes to pricing, we believe that the 32 Euro price is definitely fair in this case.   - Price - Mini-ITX Gaming  
 
Rating
We gave the ETS-T40 from Enermax 4.5 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