Cooler Master Aero 7+ Plus Heatsink Review

Former staff writer - November 2, 2003

Aero 7+ Features

·	Blower's newest design let the cooler able to blow towards the center of the heat sink.
·	More powerful blowers produce larger air pressure than traditional axial fans.
·	External fan speed adjustment on PCI and 3 1/2" bracket allows user to set the desire fan rpm (1900~3500) without opening up the chassis.
·	Aero 7 is for Socket A, 370, 462, 7 and It uses copper stacked fin design.
·	Multilingual Installation Guide included.
·	Aero 7+ is an improved version of Aero 7
·	Improved thumb-clip to avoid blocking with PSU or RAM modules
·	Available in 70 mm and 80 mm Aero fan versions

A Closer Look

The Aero 7+ Package

The package that the Aero 7+ arrived in was larger than I had expected. I had expected it to come in a package similar to the X-Dream, and X-Dream SE heat sinks did.

The Goodies

Included in the Aero 7+'s package was:

·	Aero 7+ Heat sink
·	Instructions (Multi-Language)
·	1x 3.5" Bracket
·	1x PCI Bracket
·	1x Packet of Thermal Compound
·	1x Controller Knob
·	4x Screws
·	1x CoolerMaster Case Badge

The base of the heat sink included a safety sticker to keep the base clean and unscratched. Some manufacturers don't do this, however every heat sink I have ever seen from Cooler Master has had this..

Safety Sticker

The base of the heat sink is very similar (if not identical) to that of the X-Dream SE heat sink, and as with the various models of the X-Dream, the Aero 7+ includes a much shorter mounting clip. Cooler Master doesn't have the best lapping process that I've ever seen, however they still do a good job. As you can see, it doesn't have the mirror effect most people go after when they lap a heat sink, but that doesn't mean it's not good. We'll see the base again and compare it to the base of a Swiftech MCX-462 in a moment.

Not a mirror shine, but still a good lapping.

Like I said, the base is much similar to the base of the X-Dream SE, with the exception of the clip, which has been dramatically shortened. The heat sink base is made of all copper to help with the heat transfer off of the CPU.

Side View Top View

As I've already made mention, the clip of the Aero 7+ is dramatically shorter than the clip Cooler Master used in other heat sinks, this is important because the old clip, what I call the version one, could cause problems when mounting the heat sink inside a case, such as my Lian Li. As you see in the image, the version one clip pressed up against the PSU box, this made it almost impossible to install.

Version One Clip Version Two Clip

So far we've just looked at the base of the Aero 7+, and now we'll look at the main part of the Aero 7+, the fan. Usually when we take a look at a heat sink, not to much time is spent on the fan, however the Aero 7+ is a different beast. The fan, known as a blower, is the most unique fan used on heat sinks.

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