ARCTIC Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 CPU Cooler - Intel & AMD, Twin-Tower Heatsink, 120mm PWM Fan

Pros: Installation was fairly easy with no back plate required. Dropped my cpu temps 10C from my previous high performance heatsink. Comes with real thermal paste applied instead of a crummy thermal pad. Quiet. The long-life continuous operation fan is a nice touch and seems to work just fine, and is pretty quiet even in a case with mesh sides. 4 pin fan is nice since I can let my mobo control fan speeds and not worry about it, or use an adaptor plug if I want to control the fan speed myself.

Cons: The 2 mounting screws are tricky to reach, so using a magnetic screwdriver would have helped. The high quality thermal transfer paste was a nice touch but it makes trial fitting the cooler a problem since that disturbs the thermal paste.

Overall Review: All things considered I think it would have been better if no thermal paste were pre-applied and if a small tube of paste was included instead. While installing the cooler, I dropped one of the screws and had to remove the cooler, which kind of messed up the paste application. I would have preferred to use a different paste and removing/cleaning the paste would be a hassle.

Pros: Cooling via heat pipes, a large variable fan to provide maximum cooling of the heat pipes.

Cons: My fan stopped working after two years. I understand that fans fail, but after looking at the manufacturer's website I am sadden to learn that the stated "6 year limited warranty" (as listed on the details page of this product) isn't really accurate.

Quoting from Artic's website (the RMA page specifically):

"ARCTIC COOLING grants a limited warranty to its direct customers. The granted period of warranty ARCTIC COOLING offers to its direct customers exceeds mostly the local regulations. The warranty a dealer grants to its customer is not depending on ARCTIC COOLING. ARCTIC COOLING doesn't offer a manufacturer warranty."

So basically put, there is no warranty beyond the 30 day warranty that Newegg offers.

Overall Review: I am not asking for miracles here... I know it is just a fan/cpu cooler. However, if they state they have a manufacturers warranty, and then later in the same paragraph say they don't offer one... Well... That just sounds a bit odd.

To be asked to pay a premium for a cooler that replaces a part that already comes with the CPU anyways... and then not to offer any sort of warranty on it seems strange.