Conclusion
There have been accusations directed at OCZ from various review sites and enthusiast forums regarding the design of the Vindicator. If you have ever looked at products from a company called Scythe, you know where their arguments are founded, as the Vindicator looks exactly like the Scythe NINJA PLUS Rev. B with a modified aluminum fin design. However, the truth is that neither company actually manufacturers their coolers. Both companies use the same OEM to produce their coolers and there is no direct relationship between OCZ and Scythe. Judging from these results, we would say their decision to use this OEM was pretty darn good.

Not only does the Vindicator perform within reasonable range of the TEC-augmented Monsoon II, it does so without making a peep (above ambience). The Vindicator was able to match the Monsoon II's 1033MHz overclock of our QX6700 to bring it up to 3700MHz. This is an extremely impressive overclock despite high system temperatures. Although it failed to defeat the Monsoon II, the Vindicator is a sub-$40 USD part, whereas the Monsoon II costs in excess of $150 USD. This is the first in a series of CPU cooler reviews we will be performing in the coming months, and it seems as though the bar has been set pretty high by the OCZ Vindicator.

Pros
+ Easy installation
+ Price
+ Good Performance
+ Silent (maximum noise well below ambient)
+ Fan easily replacable
Cons
- Runs a bit warm when processor is overclocked and under load.
- Fan could be about 8dBA louder and still be dead silent (compared to ambient), in addition to pushing a lot more air for greater cooling capacity.
Rating
8.0 out of 10