Valkyrie Vind SL125 – Interesting synergy of two fans

Last time we took a look at an interesting all-in-one cooler from Valkyrie and today we’ll loosely follow up on that theme with a review of the Vind SL125 air cooler, which is the only air cooler model Valkyrie has in its lineup so far. The Vind SL125 air cooler combines a single dense fin bundle with a pair of mirrored fans. So I’m curious to see how this interesting combination performs in our stress tests.

Key features of the cooler

The packaging of the Valkyrie Vind SL125 cooler alone will surely catch your eye. Similar to the Dragonfang water cooler, the packaging uses a combination of futuristic military graphic design with a touch of mecha. Inside the package is a single tower heatsink that is made up of a dense bundle of aluminum fins. These fins are intersected by six six-millimeter copper heatpipes. The top of the cooler is fitted with a plastic cover with the manufacturer’s logo, and the overall design of the heatsink is slightly asymmetrical to avoid physical conflict between the cooler and RAM modules on a motherboard.

   

   

Paired with the heatsink is a pair of fans from the X12 series recently tested by my colleague Samák, and this is where it gets really interesting. This pair of fans is mirrored to each other and both fans are mounted on the heatsink so that their hub is directed to the centre of the cooler. It is therefore really important to make sure that both fans are oriented correctly to ensure optimal airflow through the heatsink of the cooler, so that both fans work together and not against each other. The fans are fitted with rubber corners to suppress any vibrations and all four corners are fitted with translucent strips that house the 5V RGB LEDs. The cables for these LEDs can be connected in series with the top cover of the cooler, which also features several RGB LEDs.

   

Similarly to the Dragonfang 360 cooler, the product presentation is top-notch. When you open the box, the entire cooler slides up neatly for easy removal. Thermal paste is pre-applied in a matrix pattern on the full-size (38 × 42 mm) copper coldplate, so there’s no need to worry about applying it when you first install the cooler. However, if you do need to relocate the Vind SL125 to another build, the accessories fortunately include a small tube of additional paste for about two to three applications.

   

The mounting system of the cooler is very clearly stored in a plastic moulding, there is also a tool for tightening screws, the aforementioned tube with thermal paste and a cable splitter for the supplied fans. Somewhat strange and anachronistic, however, is the presence of an interchangeable top cover with a somewhat… waifu motif, which reminds me a bit of the design of graphics card covers from the turn of the millennium – those who lived through the era of Voodoo from 3dfx know what I’m talking about. I leave the presence of this element to everyone’s subjective assessment. As standard, the cooler is fitted with an inconspicuous black cover with a golden manufacturer’s logo, so everyone can choose what they prefer.

   

The cooler installation itself is easy, the mounting system is pleasantly robust thanks to the all-metal build and the presence of a tightening tool makes installing the cooler a very easy task.

Cooler and fan parameters

If we compare the Vind SL125 with similar types of coolers from competitors, we can easily see that it is very similar in size and weight. With a height of under 160mm, it should also not be a problem in most current cases on the market, and you don’t have to worry about the compatibility of RAM modules either, as the Vind SL125 does not interfere with the space for DIMM slots on the motherboard.

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The Vind SL125 uses the same fan as the Dragonfang series of coolers, the X12. The X12R version is mirrored, so the fan hub points towards the heatsink and is not visible, otherwise it is the same type of fan with the same blade and frame geometry.

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