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TEST RESULTS
Thermal Performance
Our first test is to determine what fan speed is required to keep our test system sufficiently cooled. The integrated GPU on our Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX motherboard becomes unstable at about 95°C so we would prefer to keep it under 85~90°C if possible.
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System Measurements (CPU + GPU Load)
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Fan Voltage
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Temperatures
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AC Power
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SPL
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Avg. Core
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GPU
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HDD
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@1m
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@0.6m
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7.6V (low)
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49°C
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59°C
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47°C
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76W
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23 dBA
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27 dBA
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7V
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52°C
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62°C
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48°C
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77W
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22 dBA
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26 dBA
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6V
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54°C
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70°C
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49°C
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78W
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20 dBA
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24 dBA
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5V
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59°C
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88°C
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49°C
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80W
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18 dBA
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22 dBA
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Ambient temperature: 19°C.
Ambient noise level: 11 dBA.
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For our test system, the stock fan was more powerful than necessary, as we
did not have to run it anywhere near maximum speed to keep the system cool.
The sweet spot was 6V, which produced temperatures of 54°C and 70°C
respectively for the CPU and GPU, and a noise level of 20 dBA@1m. At 5V, the
GPU temperature rose precariously close to 90°C.
The biggest problem was the hard drive, which lacks ventilation. Jammed underneath
the motherboard tray, it heated up to almost 50°C. Incidentally, our WD
Scorpio Blue drive added about 1~2 dB to the noise level at 6V~7.6V. It generated
about 18 dBA@1m on its own.
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System Measurements (Fan @ 6V)
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State
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Temperatures
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AC Power
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Avg. Core
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GPU
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HDD
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Idle
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36°C
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44°C
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35°C
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29W
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H.264 Playback
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36°C
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47°C
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35°C
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35W
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CPU + GPU Load
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54°C
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70°C
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49°C
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78W
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Ambient temperature: 19°C.
Ambient noise level: 11 dBA.
System noise level: 20 dBA@1m, 24 dBA@0.6m.
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With the fan at 6V, temperatures were quite comfortable when idle and during video playback.
System noise level with the stock fan at 6V.
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The power supply (DC-DC converter board and AC-DC adapter) was not formally
tested, but it seemed to do a fine job. Efficiency was estimated to be at least
80%, possibly up to 85%.
AUDIO RECORDINGS
These recordings were made with a high resolution, lab quality, digital recording
system inside SPCR's own 11 dBA ambient anechoic chamber, then converted to
LAME 128kbps encoded MP3s. We've listened long and hard to ensure there is no
audible degradation from the original WAV files to these MP3s. They represent
a quick snapshot of what we heard during the review.
Each recording starts with ambient noise, then 10 second segments of product
at various states. For the most realistic results,
set the volume so that the starting ambient level is just barely audible, then
don't change the volume setting again while comparing all the sound files.
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