In the SFF build community, Alpenföhn is famous for their Black Ridge, a bespoke low profile cooler made primarily for the DAN A4-SFX case. They are back at it, with this second iteration of the Panorama series, of a top down minimal footprint CPU cooler called Panorama 2. At just 47mm tall, you guessed it, this is the exact height limit for the Dan A4 case. Of course, this is intended for any compact build and it will be an exciting battle against the golden standard in this sector, the Noctua L9 series.
Alpenföhn is a company which manufacturers cooling components for IT systems, which started its activity in 2008. The Alpenföhn line includes CPU coolers, fans and accessories which include: thermal compound, storage cooling systems and fan mounting systems.
The Alpenföhn brand was created by the company EKL AG, founded in 1995, it is a company specialized in manufacturing industrial cooling solutions.
Prices and Availability
At just Є39.99, this is going to be a very interesting proposition, since it’s Є10 cheaper than the Noctua L9a.
Presentation and Specifications
*Courtesy of their website.
Ultra-compact 95W TDP Top Blow CPU Cooler – Panorama 2 – A low-profile heatsink, the award-winning JetStream fan in the new smaller version, 4x 6mm heatpipes and a black surface coating: The Panorama 2 offers maximised cooling performance in minimal space. With the option of a 90° rotated installation, best possible airflow is guaranteed in all SFF cases.
Main features:
* Powerful and quiet thanks to the new Jetstream fan
* Top blower with 4x 6mm heatpipes and 95W TDP
* Matt black surface coating
* JetStream fan with decoupling elements
* Installation can be rotated by 90° for optimal airflow
* Nickel-plated solid copper base plate
* Rock Mount 3 mounting system for easy installation
* German development and quality standards
We have 3 main highlights here: small footprint (47mm tall), powerful slim 16mm fan (3000 RPM) and the ability to choose your own exhaust path!
Visual Inspection
We have the all dark theme and livery with a visual depiction of the actual CPU cooler.
We get the full heat sink and fan specs along side the supported sockets.
At just 47mm tall including the fan, it’s easy to tell that it has a small footprint.
All the accessories are in this box and one interesting option is the fact that on the AMD sockets you can choose your orientation since you get two sets of brackets.
It features the same sturdy and easy to install Rock Mount 3 system which is present across of their newer models.
The Panorama 2 coolers is well protected and the slim 92mm fan is pre-installed.
The slim 11-blade 92mm fan will spin between 500 to 3,000 rpm, will push up to 80,3 m³/h of airflow, with a static pressure of 3,75 H2O and shouldn’t be louder than 37.6 dB(A). These are highly impressive numbers for such a small fan.
It takes power via a non-sleeved 4-pin PWM plug and all of the corners of the fan have anti-vibration pads on both sides.
Regarding the heatsink, it uses 52 aluminium fins which are held into place by these 4x 6mm nickel plated heatpipes that regroup in this slightly convex nickel plated copper base plate.
Both ends of the heatsink feature metal plates that will help channel the exhausted air.
At just 350g including the fan, this makes it even lighter than the Noctua L9a by 115 grams!
Installation
The process is the same so far on every newer generation CPU cooler from Alpenföhn and even easier on the AMD sockets.
Thus, the first step is to remove the stock front plastic brackets from the motherboard while retaining the included backplate. Now attach the black plastic spacers.
Then secure down the metal plates as seen. Don’t forget that you get the option to rotate the whole assembly thanks to the extra metal brackets (one longer, one shorter) which let’s you choose the exhaust path.
Apply the thermal paste with your own method of dispersion.
Then bolt down the heatsink via the two securing bolts. No need to remove the fan since you have plenty of access in-between the blades.
The Panorama 2 is perfect for a stealth build and realistically any SFF build that accepts up to 47mm in height.
We don’t even need to mention the word “clearance” with this cooler since it doesn’t get less worry-free than this.
Testing methodology
- The CPU cooler will be tested in 2 different scenarios with the help of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700 CPU, first at stock settings and then overclocked at 3.8 GHz for 1.30v
- The Alpenföhn will be tested against the AMD Wraith Spire and the Noctua L9a primarily.
- As the main torture test, we will employ a 2 minute run in AIDA64
- Room temperature was recorded at ~23°C
- For the noise testing, we used our Pyle PSPL01 placed 30 cm away from the setup – all other fans will will be off or set at minimum RPM and a lav mic was places at the same distance for the audio sample
- Thermal paste used Noctua NH-H2
- All of the side panels will be attached, then the case’s fans are set to their lowest setting and finally the Alpenföhn’s fans will be left on auto % RPM to simulate real life usage or manually adjusted and pointed out accordingly
- Any results over 90°C in any condition are considered a fail
Hardware used:
– CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700
– RAM: 16GB DDR4 Crucial LPX Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16
– Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II ATX @ BIOS 5102
– Boot SSD: Samung 870 EVO 1TB SATA III SSD
– Video card: MSI GTX 970 4G OC
– PSU: EVGA 600W W1 80+ ATX
– Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500 FX RGX ATX
Software:
– OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 Version 22H2
– NVIDIA Drivers – 546.17
– CPU-Z v1.95 – To verify the CPU’s and RAM’s statistics
– Core Temp v1.18 & HW Monitor v1.51 – To see the temperatures in real time
– AIDA64 Extreme v6.60 – Memory analysis and Benchmark suite
– MSI Afterburner v4.64 – To record the FPS and load/temperatures
– Cinebench R23 – Great overall CPU benchmark tool
– 3D/Game(s) – Rise of the Tomb Raider, set at 1080p, high quality settings, no V-Sync
Testing, Results and Analysis
The first series of tests come from Cinebench R23 which will put a serious load on the CPU while it renders a specific frame. Thus from left to right we have the stock and OC (3.8 GHz @ 1.30v) scenarios.
Although tested in an ATX case with minimal airflow, there is still plenty of heat coming from the GPU and VRMs. Thus the tests will be very close to a SFF build. With this out of the way, if we consider the fact that the Alpenföhn’s fan is way more powerful than the Noctua one, the result are quite expected, as in excellent even in an overclocked scenario!
The 2 minute long AIDA64 stress test should impose the maximum workload just for the CPU, therefore we should get the highest stress scenario.
Even here with the overclock, it didn’t reach the thermal throttle limit. This is a clear win for the Panorama 2!
If a CPU cooler manages to survive the torture tests, then a benchmark run in a gaming scenario, should be a walk in the park. Games are not as stressful as a synthetic torture tests but are a great indicator of real life usage.
The noise output test is an important challenge for any CPU cooler. Here we see that high RPM speed advantage comes with a price, which again, is expected considering the fan’s power to size ratio. You can finely tune it since you have such a large RPM threshold.
Conclusion
Alpenföhn wanted to make sure that this new Panorama 2 low profile CPU cooler will perform in the cooling department and it did just that, considering its small footprint. Despite its official 95W TDP rating, it even managed to tame the overclocked Ryzen 7 at 1.3v. Thus, it did managed to beat the Noctua L9a, at the price of more noise output, which is expected. Furthermore, it’s an undisputed upgrade over the stock AMD Spire one, in both performance and footprint. The ability to channel the exhausted air is a welcomed feature thanks to its clever design while the fan ranks as one of the most powerful slim 92mm fans out there. This becomes a must have in the SFF community especially at this price point!
The good:
+ Brilliant cooling results
+ Minimal footprint at just 47mm tall (perfect for the DAN A4-SFX)
+ One of the most powerful slim 92mm fans out there (3000 RPM)
+ Clever heatsink design that channels the exhausted air
+ Supports all the main Intel & AMD sockets
+ Very easy to install thanks to its Rock Mount 3 system
+ No need to worry about any clearance in the socket area
The bad:
– The fan gets loud in a high RPM threshold
– Maybe offer a future RGB variant
Glob3trotters “Performance” Award – 5 out of 5
Many thanks to Alpenföhn for supplying us with these packs!
