SocketA Coolers Roundup Q4 `2002
Titan TTC-D5TB(TC)
This is one more cooler equipped with a 80 mm fan. It is manufactured by Titan company whose produce has already been to our test lab.
Look at the exterior first - it`s simply fantastic!
There is a massive aluminum radiator, an aluminum fan and a metal grid. It's a real pleasure holding such a cool thing in your hand. However, in a couple of minutes upon a closer examination you find out that the fan is in fact made of plastic with a silvery coating on, not of pure aluminum. First off, it is warm to the touch, secondly, the coating is easy to strip and black plastic is revealed.
No need to worry though - there is no practical sense in using an aluminum fan at all. Moreover, the price is lower if the fan is made of plastic.
The cooler is very awkward to fit in place - its fastening clip is tight, the screwdriver slit is too small; and there is no barrier for the screwdriver tip.
As far as reliability is concerned, the hooking up to a single tooth of the socket in this case is justified. The thing is that the mass of the aluminum radiator is much less than that made of copper (see Titan CU6TB).
The radiator base is very smooth, although not mirror-like. In fact, it`s extremely difficult to achieve a mirror-like reflection on aluminum surface (evidence to this is my own experience - it took me less than an hour to polish an aluminum waterblock shipped in a bundle with the Poseidon kit, which I am going to review in the nearest time).
Now look at the radiator half face.
We see quite massive fins of varying height, placed on a thick base (especially thick in the center). On the photo, you can see a thermal sensor that runs from the fan into a special inlet.
By its characteristics, the fan is quite average, if not poor. The maximum rotational speed is 3600RPM, with the air flow being 42.6 CFM. At the minimum rotational speed, which is as low as 1600RPM, the air flow amounts to 19.7CFM.
But remember that the maximum rotational speed is achievable at the thermal sensor temperature. It's already as high as ~3000RPM at 60 C. and at 40 C it is 2150RPM (a complete list of the readings can be found here).
Nevertheless, the fan has one undisputable merit - it's the very low noise level which is about 29 dBa at the maximum rotational speed and 22 dBa at the minimum. Be careful when plugging this fan to a device sort of Tt Speed Control or Zalman Fanmate - it won't start at the minimum speed.
The remaining cooler component is a grid that protects the work area of the fan against the user's fingers or other foreign matter.
The last but not least - the price. It's low enough and amounts to ~ $8; for this money the user also gets a tube of proprietary thermal paste "Titan Silver Thermal Grease" (which in fact is no better than KPT8).
The preliminary conclusion is this - the cooler offers a good "price/performance" ratio and excellent noise characteristic.
 |
Top Stories: |
 |
 |
|
MoBo:
| |
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
