Thermalright AXP 100H Muscle

Introduction

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Thermalright is a company specialized in manufacturing of cooling system such as: coolers for CPUs and Graphics cards, heatsinks for RAM modules and motherboards. The products are oriented towards gamers and overclocking enthusiasts.

Official product link:

http://thermalright.com/product/axp-100h-muscle/

Packaging and accessories

The cooler is packaged in a dark cardboard box with red & white accents.
The front side features a CGI generated image of the cooler, while on the top there are the name & logo of the manufacturer with the name of the product and the company website written on the bottom.

On the sides there are a few features of the product next to the slogan of Thermalright.

Each component of the package is individually packaged in sealed plastic bags.

Accessories

The product comes with the following accessories:
–    1x Manual
–    1x Anchoring Mount
–    1x Metal back plate
–    1x Mounting plate
–    4x Screw Nut
–    5x M3 L10 Screws
–    7x M3 L6 Screws
–    4x Intel Washers (small)
–    4x AMD Washers (big)
–    1x Backplate cap
–    1x Chill Factor thermal compound
–    5x M3 L17 Screws
–    5x M3 L28 Screws
–    1x Mylar Film

Specifications

Model: AXP-100H Muscle
Colors Available: Black – White
TDP: 180W
Supported sockets:
Intel: Socket LGA 775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366
AMD: Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/AM4/FM1/FM2/FM2+
Heatsink:
Materials:
– Fins: Nickel-plated Aluminum
– Heatpipes & Base: Nickel-plated Copper
Dimensions (L x W x H): 119 mm x 105 mm x 51 mm
Heatpipes: Ø6 mm – 6pcs
Weight: 310g
Fan(s):
Model: TY-100BW
Dimensions(mm): 108 x 101 x 14 (L x W x H)
Fan Speed: 900~2500RPM (PWM controlled)
Fan Airflow: 16.0~44.5CFM
Fan Noise: 22~30 dBA
Voltage Range: 5 – 13 V
Connector: 4-Pin PWM
Weight: 40g

Features:

Designed for ITX and HTPC systems.
Total height is only 65mm (2.55 inches) including the TY-100BW fan.
Easy mounting with metal back-plate.
Full nickel plating of the six heatpipes and heatsink body ensures optimal anti-oxidization.
Supports all modern CPU sockets and platforms (not including LGA2011/2011-3）

Visual inspection

Like previous coolers from the AXP line, the AXP 100H Muscle model is made for small form factor systems such as ITX or HTPC. The cooler has a weight of 310g and the dimensions: 119 mm x 105 mm x 51 mm. It uses aluminum and nickel-plated copper in its construction.

The heatsink uses 39 aluminum fins, these are perforated on the edges to facilitate the mounting of the 100mm fan.

The AXP 100H Muscle model features 6 nickel-plated copper heatpipes each with a diameter of 6mm, these are arranged in a U shape to improve heat dissipation and help reduce the size of the cooler.

The base of the cooler is made out of nickel-plated copper just like the heatpipes. In addition, the base is polished to a reflective texture.

The cooler is accompanied by a Thermalright proprietary fan, model number: TY-100BW, it has the following dimensions: 108 x 101 x 14 mm. The fan has a minimum speed of 900 RPM and a maximum speed of 2500RPM, it also features PWM. The cable of the fan is covered by high quality black sleeving and the fan uses a 4-Pin Molex connector.

Testing

The following system was used to test the cooler:
–    Processor: Intel i5 4690K @ 3.9 GHz and overclocked to 4.5 GHz
–    Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 9 ACK
–    RAM: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GB DDR3 @ 2133MHz
–    GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970 Armor 2X 4G
–    SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
–    HDD: WD Blue 1TB
–    PSU: Antec Edge 550W Gold
–    Display: AOC i2769VM
–    Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe White
–    Thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-4

Software used for testing the cooler:
– AIDA64 Extreme Version: 5.90.4200 (3/27/2017)
– Intel Burn Test v2.54
– Prime95 28.5

The cooler was tested with the CPU at the default turbo frequency of 3.9 GHz and overclocked to 4.5 GHz with a core voltage of 1.187 V.
Also, the included fans have been used at their maximum speed.
The room temperature was approximately 26°C (78°F), with 2°C margin of error.
The idle test consists of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 30 minutes, the temperature was measured at the end of the test.
The settings of the software used are the following:

Intel Burn Test v2.54 – Stress level: Maximum
Prime95 28.5 – small FFT
AIDA64 Extreme Version – Temperature monitoring.
Each test was conducted for 40 minutes.

The test results are as follows:

Idle

Full Load

The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 5 db.

Due to its shape, the cooler does not interfere the RAM slots.

Final thoughts

The Thermalright AXP 100H Muscle cooler is ideal for small HTPC and ITX systems, thanks to its shape and height of just 53mm. The construction of the cooler is very good, starting from accessories to the fan and heatsink, the main materials used are aluminum and nickel plated copper.
The AXP 100H Muscle model provides a good performance to silentce ratio, with the 100mm fan reaching just 34db at its maximum speed of 2500RPM. The Cooling is ensured by six heatpipes made of nickel plated copper, each with a diameter of 6mm, while making direct contact with the copper base and aluminum fins.
The mounting process is done with ease, the mounting system uses only metallic components, which adds value to a cooler that is already available at a competitive price.
In conclusion, the AXP 100H Muscle model offers a good performance, despite its reduced size and the 100mm fan used, while also being silent. The accessory package is rich and the included manual is easy to read.