Style over substance, or form follows function? An age old question that is purely subjective. It’s all a matter of taste and opinion, and it creeps further into the world of technology every day. The term ‘Motorola Chic’ was even coined for the phenomena at the onset of the pager and cellular boom. Now it extends to all portable electronics. Are you going to buy a cell phone/mp3 player/tablet PC for it’s looks/brand/newest and hottest, or for what it is actually capable of doing? It’s obviously been proven that there is a large market segment out there to whom functionality is secondary or, perhaps, nonexistent.
Somehow that mentality has crept inside the computer case, as well. For many years, no one gave a second thought as to what the inside of their case looked like. You opened it to change components or fix a problem. That was it. No one saw it, and likely neither did you. Then manufacturers began making the components more attractive in order to gain market share and the inside of the case became fair game for aesthetics and design. Side windows followed and many wanted the inside of their case to look just as good as the outside. Then came the quandary – do you buy the motherboard/graphics card/heatsink/etc. that performs better……or looks better? Some items look impressive, and a strong argument can be made that the form is actually for functionality. Such is the case of the Thermaltake SpinQ VT.
The Thermaltake SpinQ VT takes everything you know about conventional CPU cooling and flies in the face of it. The Thermaltake SpinQ VT even looks good doing it. The SpinQ VT is a tower cooler, that is the only label it adheres to without a ‘but’ attached. Unlike the standard square or rectangle, the SpinQ VT is a 120 mm diameter x 159mm high cylinder, made up of 50 copper fins and six 6mm heatpipes. The base is copper and aluminum, and smooth, rather than using direct contact for the heat pipes. The fan, again, is a bit different. It is an 80mm diameter x 85mm tall cylindrical blow fan that sits inside of the heatsink cylinder. It is capable of 86.5 cfm at 1600 rpm. Speed is adjustable through a mechanical knob included with the SpinQ VT. Oh…and blue LEDs bright enough to read by? You won’t find them on the Thermaltake SpinQ VT. Instead, the SpinQ VT features ruby red LEDs that glow from the center of the unit, through the fins and illuminating the fan.
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