Verdict: Fails to eclipse its competitors.

In astronomy, an eclipse occurs when, from the perspective of an observer, one celestial object obscures another. Considering this definition, the Cooler Master Eclipse is appropriately named, since you won't be able to see much of your motherboard once it's installed.

Like all recent Cooler Master HSFs, the Eclipse is compatible with modern AMD and Intel CPUs, but we were only able to test it in our LGA775 rig. This is because the mounting mechanism for Socket AM2 motherboards apparently requires you to have X-ray vision and three hands, something that this particular reviewer, despite multiple letters of request to the NHS, is sadly lacking. That aside, mounting the Eclipse to an LGA775 motherboard is fairly straightforward. However, as it screws through the motherboard, you'll have to dismantle your PC to install it.

The Eclipse spurns the traditional HSF design of an axial fan mounted on top of a heatsink in favour of a centrifugal fan that blows air around a giant, whelk-shaped aluminium heatsink. Additional cooling for the VRMs is provided by a plastic shield that can be positioned to direct airflow down towards the motherboard.

In PWM fan-control mode, the fan makes little noise, but the CPU ran 2ûC hotter than it did with the reference Intel HSF fitted. At maximum fan speed, the centrifugal fan emitted a loud whooshing noise and made little difference to the temperature of the CPU, only managing to match the temperature achieved by the quieter reference Intel HSF.

Despite its vast size, centrifugal fan and hefty price tag, the Eclipse is no better than the reference Intel HSF, which means that we can't recommend it.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

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