|
Test
System:::...
Epox
8RDA3G (nForce2 Ultra400) (Kindly supplied by Epox)
2x256MB Corsair (TWINX3200LL) Memory (Kindly Supplied
By Corsair)
AMD AthlonXP 3200+ (Kindly Supplied By AMD)
WD80JB 80GB Hard Drive (Kindly Supplied By Western
Digital)
Windows XP Pro + SP1
The
Contenders:::...
 |
|
 |
|
Akasa
821
|
ICECUBE
|
Thermalright
SLK800U
|
Because
the SLK-800 is able to accomodate 80mm fans I decided
to level the playing field a bit by removing the fan
from the ICECUBE and using that. The Akasa 821 relies
on a rather loud 60mm, 33dBA Sanyo Denki fan pushing
around 23CFM of air.
The
testing was performed by configuring SiSoft Sandra's
Burn-in Wizard for CPU stressing then running it through
twenty complete cycles. I tried running more cycles
but temperatures had already peaked so there seemed
little point.
Naturally
the first temperature in each run is the idle temperature
as I started from nil activity in Windows.
Akasa
821 Performance
For
each cooler the burn-in was run both at the default
voltage then at an increased 1.8v which genrates a
little extra heat.
Thermalright
SLK-800U Performance
ICECUBE
Performance
Looking
at how the three coolers performed at stock voltages
it's clear that the airflow from the incredibly loud
Akasa 821 is keeping it in front. Remember here though
that the SLK-800 is using the same fan as the ICECUBE.
Also keep in mind that the SLK-800 costs over 50%
more without a fan.
Performance
Compared - Stock Voltage
Isolating
the 1.8v figures shows that although the ICECUBE is
still trailing the pack, it now seems more competitive
as the going gets tougher.
Performance
Compared - Increased Vcore At 1.8v
Noise
Levels:::...
This
is perhaps the ICECUBE's biggest weakness. The generally
average performance would possible be easier to accept
if it was near-silent. Unfortunately however it's
not. While volume levels will be perfectly fine for
regular users, and even for picky regular users, it
doesn't really earn its place in a genuine low-noise
PC project, which kind of takes some of the gloss
off its appeal.
Design:::...
Although
airflow through the fin plates is certain to cool
their surface, I've seen so many vertical-fin coolers
perform below what was expected that I can't help
but wonder if there's an inherent design flaw with
them.
Could
it be that stacking fins this way means that the hottest
ones, those near the bottom, radiate their heat upwards
to the underside of the fin plates above rather than
radiating it into the surrounding air, and that this
heating effect repeats from the bottom to the top
of the array? This may only affect a small percentage
of radiated heat but could it be enough to take the
edge off the cooling?
I
like the idea of heatpipes, but I'm not sure that
transfering heat into them though two such relatively
small footprints at the base then piping it vertically
and expecting the small contact area between pipe
and fin to properly conduct it away is any more efficient
than soldering the fins straight on the the base.
I think the value of heatpipes comes when fins are
attached the the bease in a conventional manner and
then heatpipes are used in combination to improve
efficiency.
Conclusion
The
3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After
discussing this concept with users as well as companies
and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided
that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our
'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts
and impressions on the hardware we review. As the
needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts
have increased, it has become more difficult to factor
in all the aspects that such a user would find important,
while also being fair to products that may lack these
high end "bonus" capabilities but which
still represent a very good buy for the more traditional
and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories
we've used are:
The
Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely
to put price, stock performance, value for money,
reliability and/or warranty terms ahead of the need
for hardware that operates beyond its design specifications.
The mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an
experienced user, however their needs are clearly
very different to those of the enthusiast, in that
they want to buy products that operate efficiently
and reliably within their advertised parameters.
The
Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all
the things that the mainstream user cares about but
is more likely to accept a weakness in one or more
of these things in exchange for some measure of performance
or functionality beyond its design brief. For example,
a high priced motherboard may be tolerated in exchange
for unusually high levels of overclocking ability
or alternatively an unusually large heat sink with
a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered acceptable
if it offers significantly superior cooling in return.
The
Mainstream User ~
Though
innovative and very competitively priced, there's
no getting away from the fact that ICECUBE is in all
respects a fairly unspectacular cooler in performance,
weight and noise terms. If the design appeals to you
than you could do a lot worse than strapping one on
your CPU but there's nothing oustanding about this
apart from looks
to make it stand out in a sea of similarly priced
and similarly performing heatsink/fan units.
The
Enthusiast ~
As
an enthusiast product, the ICECUBE doesn't quite make
the grade. It's not really unusual enough to be part
of a case modding adventure, it's not really efficient
enough to cool a heavily overclocked CPU and it's
not really quiet enough to appeal to the silent PC
brigade.
I
don't honestly think the heatpipes are operating as
they should because they never really became hotter
than the fins they were supposedly transmitting
heat to, either that or they're not optimised for
the correct temparature range. The lack of any kind
of thermal interface, be it solder or even a thin
smear of thermal grease, between the heatpipes and
the fin plates probably doesn't help either.
That's
not to say the ICECUBE is a bad cooler because it's
not. It's just not a great one.
|
