-- Conclusions
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We're going to run these two units through the
trusted test rig:
- Epox 8K7A Motherboard
- AMD Tbird 1.4Ghz
- Crucial 256MB DDR PC2700
- eVGA GF2MX 32MB
The temperatures on the CPU were recorded with the
Compunurse probe. The Volcanos were run at full speed (4800RPM
+/-).
|
Models |
AMD Tbird 1.4 Stock |
AMD Tbird 1.4 @ 1.53
(1.85V) |
|
Ambient Temp. ~ 27C |
Idle |
Full Load |
Idle |
Full Load |
|
Vantec CCk-6027D |
38.8C |
41.2C |
42C |
46.5C |
| Dr.
Thermal TI-V86N |
39.4C |
43.5C |
44.9C |
48.2C |
|
Speeze Copper Rock |
38.9C |
41.1C |
41.9.C |
45C |
|
GlobalWin CAKII-38 |
39.1C |
42.7C |
43.8C |
47.2C |
| AVC
Tundra |
39.5C |
43C |
43.9C |
47.9C |
| SS
Volcano 9 / CoolMod |
37.5C |
39.8C |
40.5C |
44.3C |
Since the Volcano 9 and Volcano 9
CoolMod are identical except for the LEDs, we did not bother to put
up identical scores in two rows.
The VERY large SS Volcano 9 does well
compared to some of the other heatsinks we had a chance to use
together with it. One thing that was a real pain was the
installation. Since the unit is so large, some of the
capacitors on the Epox motherboard got in the way. Removal of
the power supply as well as some CDRW drives were necessary to get
to the socket.
The Volcano 9 CoolMod is an interesting
heatsink, utilizing the addition of 4 LEDs that are connected to the
motherboards LED leads. I was disappointed that my specific
fan was not functional, but I will classify that as a fluke
occurance.
For both units, the fan speed
adjustment attachment
is probably not very convenient for many people. It
requires you to wire it outside of the case so you can access it, or
more simple removing the panel on your case and turning the dial or
knob. The auto temperature adjustment worked well after we
tested the full speed temperatures. The speed of the fan
leveled out at about 4500 - 5000 RPMs once the system reach full
load which consisted of running the new
Distributed.net
RC5-72 Client. At this speed, the temperatures were close
to the full speed temperature marks achieved earlier.
Overall, the Volcano 9 series performs
well and also taking into consideration the eye candy factor.
The option of getting of the Volcano 9 CoolMod will appeal to some
that want to add a bit of spice to the ho-hum designs of the
offerings from other manufacturers today.
Thanks to
ThermalTake for sending over
these two samples, they have always been on the top of new and
improved cooling products. I'm sure there will be more
Volcanos to come.
Pros:
- Large heatsink with copper base
- Smart fan included
- 3 hole retention clip
- Optional offering of CoolMod version
- Respectable cooling performance
Cons:
- May not fit easily on some motherboards
- CoolMod version is a wiring mess
- LEDs are not very bright
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