We haven't tested many heatsinks lately because, well, there were just a bit too many on the market at the time and every heatsink seemed to look the same. Now we're at the point where there are more high power processors and with that, higher performing coolers. Aside from actual cooling features, looking good at the same time is a major plus. Today we have two models from ThermalTake, the Volcano 9 family. Want to look cool? This might just do it...
The Volcano 9 originally came to market by itself named the Smart & Silent Volcano 9. It came attached with a Smart and Silent fan, which has three control settings. Afterwards, the S&S fan had a small facelift which resulted in the introduction of the Volcano 9 Coolmod. The CoolMod basically is referring to the LED enhanced S&S fan that's now attached to the Volcano 9. Confused yet?
Here are the specs for the V9:
|
SPECIFICATION |
|
P/N |
A1365 |
|
Cooler Dimension |
80x80x77.3 mm |
|
Fan Dimension |
80x80x25 mm |
|
Rated Voltage |
12VDC |
|
Started Voltage |
6VDC |
|
Rated Current |
0.20AMP ~ 0.70AMP |
|
Power Input |
2.40W ~ 8.40W |
|
Max. Air Flow |
20.55 CFM at 1300 rpm |
|
|
75.7 CFM at 4800 rpm |
|
Air Pressure |
1.45mmH2O at 1300rpm |
| |
8.43mmH2O at 4800rpm |
|
Noise |
17 dB at 1300 rpm |
| |
48 dB at 4800 rpm |
|
Bearing Type |
Two Ball Bearing |
|
Life Time |
50,000 hours |
|
Connector |
3 PIN |
|
Tt Fan grille TR=0.38C/W |
The V9 box comes with the heatsink, temperature probe, rheostat speed control dial, 3pin -> 4pin adapter, thermal grease, thermal pad and a sheet of instructions.
The S&S fan allows you to control the speed 3 different ways.
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Full speed operation at 4800RPMs
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Adjustable speed operations
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Automatic temperature speed adjusting
So instead of a screaming 4800RPM fan blasting all day and night, you can finally control the amount of performance you need. Let it auto adjust itself through temperature changes using the probe or run it non-stop if you need the cooling. Better yet, slap on the adjustable dial and tweak to your hearts content. Let's see how this is done.
The main control points to note is right here next to the fan. In the current position above, you are making the fan spin at full speed.
If you need to use the temperature probe, disconnect the jumper on the right connector and attach the probe there. Position that probe on your CPU and you'll have a fan that auto adjusts for you instantly.
If you prefer to tweak it yourself, remove the jumper and put the rheostat dial attachment on the left connector. The only time that jumper should be there on the right connector is during full speed operation.
A 3->4pin adapter is included in case you wish to use the power directly from your power supply.
Does the heatsink look familar? It should, it's the same heatsink that ThermalTake uses in their Volcano 7 model. The only difference is that it isn't blue.
The retention clip is different as this one uses a 3 point connection. This tends to be more secure method of keeping a large heatsink in place.
Like the previous V7 model, this heatsink uses the same copper middle base. Copper is more efficient in retaining heat than aluminum, but it takes longer to dissipate it. With a combination of copper and aluminum, TT is trying to bridge a gap in terms of speed of intake and release of heat.
