SocketA Coolers Roundup Q4 `2002
GlacialTech Igloo 2310
Right after the second part of the SocketA coolers roundup was published, my email-box was flooded with angry letters like "why on earth did you test such powerful coolers like Volcano7+ vs. such weak ones like Igloo 2100 and Igloo 2200!!?..".
In fact, anyone holding the mentioned coolers on hands will likely ask the same questions - the 2100 and 2200 models are too small, with feeble fans. I also thought the same, but the package said in black and white: "Supports processors Athlon XP 1600+, 1700+ for Igloo 2100, and Athlon XP 2100+ (!) for Igloo 2200".
While looking at the caption "Athlon XP 2100+", I wondered if there was a hidden trick inside the Igloo 2200 cooler. But even at standard speeds the processor temperature exceeded 75 C and was still going up. So I decided to stop testing the Igloo 2200 (of course I did not test the Igloo 2100 model with XP 2100+ either).
Well, away with criticizing the GlacialTech company for the errors made by the marketing people (even renowned companies suffer from misleading the buyer). The Igloo 2100 and Igloo 2200 coolers themselves can easily cope with cooling the Duron processors (if not overclocked heavily).
Today we'll be looking at the elder models, in particular, Igloo 2310 and Igloo 2400.
By appearance, the cooler Igloo 2310 is rather mean: it has a small full aluminum radiator, 70x60x35 mm in dimensions, on top of which there is a metal frame on which in its turn a 60 mm fan is installed.
The only thing that makes the cooler stand out among most others is the slightly biased (relative to the transverse line) fan and the silver-based thermal interface. As we found out the last time, by its characteristics the thermal padding is as about as good as the KPT8 paste. But the biased fan is a more interesting solution aimed at eliminating the so-called "dead spot". In practically every cooler there is a spot usually at about the center where the air flow is minimum, therefore, the cooling efficiency turns worse. But if the fan is biased by a small distance sideways, this "dead spot" is reduced considerably.
In particular, such a cooling scheme is actively used for nVidia-based video cards Ti4200 - Ti4600.
I liked the fastening mechanism of the cooler - the clip has a finger stop, which allows installing the cooler without a screwdriver. But I used a screwdriver to remove the cooler.
As you can see on the photo, it is hooked up to the socket with the two teeth.
Turning back to the base. To keep the thermal interface layer undamaged, the base is covered with transparent plastic. But the processing quality of the base leaves much to be desired.
The noise level made me happy - although audible, it proved to be quite acceptable. That was due to the 60 mm fan producing a 13.3CFM air flow with the rotational speed 3000RPM.
Resume: the increased radiator dimensions and a more powerful fan can indeed cool lower-end Athlon XP processor models. And the performance promises a reliable cooling of processor models up to XP 2600+ inclusive (in fact, I would fear of installing such a cooler on such a processor).
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