SocketA Coolers Roundup Q4 `2002
Introduction
In the first two parts we covered 10 coolers, with a special emphasis given to the noise characteristics. Other important factors like the fastening reliability, radiator's dimensions, material used, appearance, processing quality etc. have been disregarded. Some of these are fairly subjective, so we estimated them in score points. The cooling ability is quite precise a parameter and can be measured in Celsius degrees.
A few words on the measurement procedure. Without any noise measurement instrument on hand I'm going to estimate the noise levels in score points. That is, the higher the score, the better a certain parameter is, or in this case the quieter a cooler is. Such an estimate is rather subjective (10 - complete lack of noise, 0 - the noise level of a running vacuum cleaner).
Now regarding the temperature. The processor temperatures and fans` rotational speeds were gauged with the Motherboard Monitor v5.2.0.0. The test system was assembled in an Inwin S506 case. If a cooler had a related thermal interface, then the thermal interface was removed it then we measured the noise with the silicon-organic paste KPT-8. The processor was heated up with the BurnK7 software, and Athlon XP with the integrated thermal sensor was chosen as the test processor. That allowed measuring the temperature at high precision.
Thermaltake Volcano 9
There it is, another kid of the Volcano family. Judging by the primary impression, it was the same Volcano 7, only re-painted in different color.
Indeed, the blue radiator has turned silvery, with the fan turned rosy. The protective grid and the special casing remained unchanged. The same applies to the retail box design - the cardboard box now has a transparent window.
Inside the box there is a cooler installation manual. A large list of quality paper with color illustrations. But the price has gone up by $7 and now is as high as $23. So, what novelties and improvements have been introduced by Thermaltake engineers this time?
The fastening clip has been modified. Now instead of the single-tooth hooking, the cooler Volcano 9 is now hooked up to all the three teeth of the socket.
The screwdriver catch has been slightly amended. In particular, some special limiters have been added which keep the screwdriver bit pressed firmly and prevent its accidental jump-off. This resulted in more convenience at installation.
Now regarding the radiator - it has remained unchanged. The massive aluminum structure with high fins, a copper disk in the base - all these, as the designers claim, should make the task of pumping out heat from the processor a breeze. By the way, regarding the base - its quality is still unsatisfactory.
In the center of the copper disk there is an almost invisible cavity, which forces the overclocker to finish the surface on his own. I would recommend the ordinary user to add a bit more thermal paste.
A small digression regarding the thermal paste. In various forums/online conferences you can quite often come across lots of questions/arguments on the right use of thermal paste, in particular, the optimum quantity. The thermal paste itself is used for filling the gap between the processor and radiator (of course, very small quantities are meant :). This gap may appear because of the surface roughness and poor processing quality of the base. That gap is filled with air that impedes heat transfer. This results in a local overheat and failures in the processor operation.
Basically, it's not a big deal how much paste you apply (even half a centimeter thick layer). The thing is, in installing a radiator the paste excesses will be squeezed out and only as much paste as needed will stay. Prior to the fixation, move the radiator sideways slightly.
That is why I always apply a thin layer of paste when installing a radiator having mirror-like (or almost mirror-like) surface. When removing a Titan CU6TB cooler I wouldn't find any paste on the processor at all - it all had been squeezed out. But I applied a thicker layer of paste when installing a Volcano 9 cooler.
By the way, for Pentium4 the situation is somewhat different. Moving the radiator sideways won't be a breeze, sine the limiting plastic frame will hinder the motions. And the surface area of the P4 protective cover is much greater. So it would be an ideal solution for Intel processors if a thin layer of the paste were applied (provided there is a tight contact with the cooler).
Coming back to the Volcano 9 cooler. On top of the radiator there is a fan, with the fastening method being absolutely the same as that for Volcano 7. On top of the radiator an adapter frame is placed on which the fan itself is installed. On the sides of the frame there are plates for guiding the air flow. Every plate has a Thermaltake logo.
On top of the fan, there is a decor grid (also bearing the same "Tt" logo).
Therefore, in all the mentioned cooler components no departures from the Volcano 7 have been found so far. It means they are all hidden inside the fan. That's just it - besides the different color we can see that the rotational speed control function has been seriously revised.
Indeed, the rotational speed control in Volcano 7 was not implemented in a good way. The main criticism from users related to the thermal sensor calibration which made the fan rotate at high speed at even relatively lower air temperatures (as you remember, the air temperature in Volcano 7 is gauged inside the case).
thermal sensor colored in green
That generated increased noise levels, and users had to face the problem, - "How on earth can I cool this goddam thermal sensor?" :)
The flaw is evident, and Thermaltake engineers decided to revise the rotational speed control unit completely. The solution came up inevitably - the dependence of speed on the processor temperatures has got to be more precise and distinct. As a result, there appeared a thermal sensor with a very long tail.
With its one end, it was plugged to the speed control unit,
with the other end (where the thermal sensor itself is placed) plugged to either the radiator base or to the inner side of the processor. In the latter case though, the thermal sensor has got to be run through the processor feet very neatly.
By the way, with this method of fastening you've got to remember to remove the jumper (what have we come to!!? - following the user's manual, coolers started having jumpers :).
Thus, as the processor load goes up, the cooler increases its rpm's. But if we attach a thermal sensor to the copper base or aluminum fins, the average rotational speed goes down considerably (the speed drop is especially pronounced in the latter case). The dependence of rotational speed on the processor load will stay, but will acquire greater sluggishness. This option will suit to assembling a low-noise system.
Having a thermal sensor is nice, but the exigent user like myself would rather revolt saying "why should I rely upon the thermal sensor? - I want to regulate the rotational speed on my own!.." So, to prevent things like these from coming up, the cooler is bundled with a variable resistance with which the user can change the fan's rotational speed between 1300RPM and 4800RPM. The air flow amounts to 20.5 CFM and 75.7 CFM, with the noise levels being 17 dB and 48 dB, respectively.
the variable resistance with a red wire
In fact, use of a variable resistance is no longer a rarity. Zalman and Thermaltake Volcano 7+ coolers are bundled with stuff like that for smoothly varying the rotational speed. What is more, the speed selector for Volcano 7+ is sold separately elsewhere and is installed on Tt Hardcano, devices for cooling hard disks.
Using the resistance for Volcano 9 proved to be awkward - the wheel is too small, the wire is slightly longer than that for Zalman Fanmate but insufficient anyway to bring the control outside the case. As a result, you either have to keep the case cover open or remove it quite too often.
There is also one more shortcoming - it can't be used with coolers other than Volcano 9. While Tt Speed Control and Zalman FanMate ran fine with other fans (e.g., in our
previous review we examined the effect of Tt Speed Control installation on Volcano 6CU).
I have no doubts that I will have to change the speed manually. At the full speed, the noise is simply unbearable and as I reduce it to 3000RPM, the noise gets down to an acceptable level. At the minimum speed (1600-2000RPM) the noise almost vanishes.
As far as the fan power supply is concerned, then, unlike the Volcano 7 it is implemented in a conventional way - there are three wires on the power connector, which allows to keep track of the rotational speed when plugging to the motherboard.
Besides, the fan can be plugged directly to the power supply unit via an adapter that comes in the retail package (but the data on the speed is missing).
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