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Testing:::...
The
first thing was curious about was whether the air
temperature would have any influence on surface temperature
readings. To try this I took a measurement from a
wall around a meter from me. The temperature came
in at 20.5C. I then read from the same spot but fired
through the hot air from a 2KW fan heater. This time
it read 21C.
I
tried similar experiment encoding measuring warm,
indoor walls from the cold yard and so on, and though
there were instances where big differences in air
temperature could cause small, half-degree error,
for the most part it seems ambient air temperatures
can be disregarded. This is obviously good news unless
you actually want to measure air temperatures, something
for which the MT4 is supremely unsuited.
The
picture of DFI's LANPARTY 865PE motherboard below
show some temperatures I took just for fun. The numbers
in blue represent 30 minutes of regular use at stock
speeds (P4 2.4C @ 200MHz FSB) while those in red are
after the FSB was jacked up to 240MHz.
I
did this quickly with the board loose on the bench
so it's not meant to be a scientifically significant
test, more a quick look at the kind of measurements
you can take with the MT4.
Use
your MT4 to scan your water cooling kit's radiator
in search of airlocks or blockages, weed out hot spots
that are hindering your overclocking, check for even
temperatures in that new phase change unit. You may
not need it often but when you do there's probably
nothing else you could easily use instead!
Temperatures
were generally very accurate and though the claims
of an accuracy of plus or minus two degrees sounds
rather vague, it seems to hold throughout the entire
range. By that I mean that a reading that's one degree
high at room temperature seems to be one degree high
at all temperatures, it doesn't vary. This at least
gives you the chance to compensate for the discrepancy
when you need a reading that's bang on.
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 ~
If
your whole PC experience is based on "set and
forget" then the MT4 will be of very little practical
use to you. Of course, as we mentioned, its usefulness
is not only limited to your computer and provided
you have enough car, home DIY or food safety uses
for it then it makes the hefty investment a little
easier to pocket.
It's not cheap, but specialist
products rarely are as they don't have the kind of
mass sales needed to push prices lower.
The
Enthusiast ~
From
tracking down radiator based airlocks in your water
cooling circuit to sniffing out hotspots on your motherboard
that may be hindering your overclocking ambitions,
the MT4 simply offers unrivaled convenience. Even
when the novelty of "point-and-shoot" temperature
measurement has worn off he MT4 continues to earn
its place in your toolbox with its spectrum of uses.
The
only thing I'd change if I could would be to tighten
the spot measurement size to less than one in six,
but considering this isn't a device created specifically
for PC use it remains useable and accurate in almost
all close-quarter situations.
The
price is high but maybe if more of us buy one it'll
start to creep down a bit. Still, considering its
unique nature and the lack of any real competing technologies
I suppose it could cost a lot more too.
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