Verdict: Better than the reference Intel HSF, but only just.

The Titan TTC-NK34TZ is almost exactly the same product as the TTC-NK32TZ, and the only difference is that it's compatible with different CPUs. So while the TTC-NK32TZ is designed to fit all the main types of AMD64 processor, the TTC-NK34TZ only supports LGA775 CPUs.

Rather than using the standard Intel push-pin system, the TTC-NK34TZ has a proprietary mounting mechanism. This involves dismantling your PC, as the TTC-NK34TZ screws through the motherboard into a backplate on the underside. This makes it hard to fit the HSF to motherboards with lots of heatpipes or large Northbridge HSFs.

The overall design is very similar to that of the Arctic Cooling Freezer series, with a small copper base conducting heat into six heatpipes, which in turn pass the heat into an aluminium heatsink. Titan has tried to keep down the cost of the TTC-NK34TZ by opting for a non-PWM 92mm fan that spins at 2,200rpm. The fan isn't too noisy, although it was easily audible over the noise generated by the rest of our test PC.

The TTC-NK34TZ is slightly more powerful and quieter than the reference Intel HSF, as it managed to cool our Core 2 Quad CPU to 1ûC below the Intel HSF.

This is a respectable result but, considering that the almost identically-priced Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro cooled the CPU to 7ûC below the TTC-NK34TZ and is quieter, it makes little sense to buy the TTC-NK34TZ.

• 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

• OCZ Core Series 30GB - Hard disks / storage
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260² - Graphics cards
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 - Graphics cards