A Roundup of High-end SocketA Coolers. Q1-2`2003
Thermaltake Volcano 9 CoolMod
The roundup of this cooler will be minimum: in fact, this is a modification of Volcano 9 which we have already tested.
All the specifications of both coolers fully coincide, with the only difference of the CoolMod model is in 4 additional LEDs installed on a plastic pad. Two LEDs (blue) are plugged to Power LED connectors positioned on the motherboard. The other two LEDs (red) are plugged to HDD LED connectors positioned also there.
As a result, once the system starts up, the interior of the PC is illuminated with smooth blue light with interim mixes of red (every time the HDD is addressed).
Basically, the idea is good, but the implementation leaves much to be desired. First, the LEDs aren't bright enough (especially, red ones), secondly, a couple of wires runs from each of the LEDs thus making up as many as 8 wires altogether. They are all loose, which makes a mess inside the PC housing.
On the cooler, there is a Thermaltake 80 mm fan whose rotation speeds vary between 1300 rpm and 4800 rpm. The air flow amounts to 20.5 CFM and 75.7 CFM, with the noise levels being 17 dBa and 48 dBa, respectively.
The speed is changed by either the user or automatically depending on the processor temperatures. For more details of the operation modes (and other specifications of the cooler), read the roundup of Volcano 9.
And a couple more comments: at the minimum rotation speed, the fan was running quite noisily (the noise coming from the motor). I do remember it quite well that while testing Volcano 9 the cooler was running almost noiselessly at the minimum speed (9/10 score points). It's most likely the quality of Thermaltake produce is getting worse. Along with that, the price difference between V9 and V9 Coolmod is around $4 (or ~$16 versus $20), which in my view is a bit too much for a piece of plastic with 4 LEDs on top.
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