You can tell by the looks what makes the Aero 7 different, it's the uniquely designed fan of course. All regular fans have a hub in the middle where the fan motor is, and that creates a dead spot, no air flowing from the center. And where does the cpu core usually sit under a heatsink? That's right, the center. Directly under that hub. So Coolermaster came up with this fan which is designed to better center the air where it is needed the most.

I tested the fan with it not attached to the heatsink and I found that in fact the strongest air flow is NOT centered. The air flow is strongest to one side. You can still feel air coming from the center and other side, it just isn't as powerful. Looking at the top right pic, you can see where the air would be the most powerful. Which is the top, or on the left side of the heatsink looking at it from this angle.

As you can see by the top picture and the pics below, the Aero 7 includes not only a fan controller but also a pci slot cover so you can install it there and even a 3.5" cover for it so you don't have to drill a hole in your case. Talk about convenience and choices. According to Coolermaster, the fan controller adjusts the fan speed from 1900 - 4500 rpm's. Using motherboard monitor, it shows the fan goes from 1529 - 4687 rpm's.

*click for larger versions

Above you see the Aero 7 compared against an SK-7. The Aero 7 fins are skived from the heatsink and that helps provide better heat transfer, otherwise the basic heatsink is no new design. Mainly it is the fan which is designed to center the airflow better where the heat is the hottest. And that fan, by the way, is 70mm. So it will not fit other heatsinks which use a 60 or 80mm fan.

One way to check and see if the Aero 7 will fit on your motherboard is to try an 80mm fan where a heatsink would go. The heatsink is smaller than an 80mm fan, it is 71mm x 71mm, not counting the clips.