Thermaltake Contac 29 Direct Touch CPU Cooler Review

Contac 29 Conclusion

Of the two heatsinks compared today the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus was the cheaper of the two priced at $37.55 versus $43.97 for the Thermaltake Contac 29. This isn’t a surprise though considering how the Hyper 212 Plus weighs 626g versus 558g for the Contac 29. The two fans were similarly matched up with regards to RPM and noise but since I haven’t got airflow measurements for the Contac 29’s fan I cannot declare if one fan was better than the other. Between the two heatsinks the only major performance difference was the usage of 4 6mm heatpipes on the Hyper 212 Plus versus 3 8mm heatpipes on the Contac 29. Perhaps in this instance more is better?

Thermaltake Contac 29 on the left, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus on the right.

One thoroughly frustrating feature of the Contac 29 was the mounting system for Intel motherboards. Just because Intel uses push-pins doesn’t make them a satisfactory mounting solution. I understand normal users will not frequently change out their heatsinks but even on the first attempt I thought I was going to have to snap my board in half in order for the pushpin to fully deploy. I really wish Thermaltake had spent the time to deploy an easier mounting solution. Requiring a screw driver to mount a heatsink is perfectly fine. If you are applying a 3rd party heatsink to your build surely you have a screwdriver kicking around somewhere.

Not that it matters much but Thermaltake offers a three year warranty for their CPU heatsinks. Besides the fan there are no moving parts so outside of a manufacturing defect I see no reason why the warranty would need to be called into service. While heatsinks are incredibly simple I must say the machining and assembly of the Contac 29 was superb. The extruded copper fins were also quite aesthetically pleasing with their jagged edges. Pile that on top of the signature orange Thermaltake fan and you have a heatsink that tries to standout from the sea of heatpipe towers on the market. I imagine the margins are already brutally thin in this price range but seeing how the Hyper 212 Plus was both cheaper and performed ever so slightly better it would be nice to see the Contac 29 drop a tad bit in price to reflect this. In the end it is still leaps and bounds ahead of the stock Intel heatsink and shouldn’t immediately be overlooked if you are shopping for a 3rd party heatsink.

Legit Bottom Line: The Thermaltake Contac 29 provides a compromise of performance and noise at a price that won’t break the bank.