Small and quiet Almost every CPU cooler we receive nowadays is some massive tower that loves consuming every square-inch of chassis space. Because we’ve been inundated with these hulking behemoths, it’s refreshing to see a low-profile cooler such as the Phanteks PH-TC90LS. At 3.75x3.75x1.77 inches, this cooler makes the Intel stock cooler look tall and should fit the snuggest of HTPC builds. The PH-TC90LS features a single 9.2cm fan and nickel-plated aluminum fins on top of a square copper base. Aesthetically, it’s a no-frills design. Two rubber strips between the heatsink and fan do a good job of taming the acoustics. Installing the cooler is, for the most part, pretty straightforward. The four corners of the PH-TC90LS have screw holes that let you easily mount the cooler onto the mobo. The fan uses four rubber pins that allow two mounting clips to attach the fan to the heatsink. Also included are two adhesive-backed rubber strips to stick between the fan and heatsink to dampen noise. We initially had some issues getting enough mounting tension for the PH-TC90LS when we tried to install it on our LGA2011 mobo. It took us three attempts and some major cranking before the Phanteks cooler would perform as it should. When we tried mounting the PH-TC90LS on our LGA1155 test bed to see if it was any easier there, the cooler installed without a hitch using the included backplate. Other than this headache, installation was relatively painless. Phanteks could have made the
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