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TESTING
On the test bench. Note that the position of the 120mm fan allows some airflow
to be deflected down to the board level.
This can be important for cooling of the voltage regulator components around
the CPU socket.
Test Platform
- Intel
P4-2.8A The Thermal Design Power of this P4-2.8 (533
MHz bus) is 68.4 or 69.7W depending on the version. As the CPU is a demo model
without normal markings, it's not clear which version it is, so we'll round
the number off to ~69W. The Maximum Power, as calculated by
CPUHeat
& CPUMSR, is 79W.
- AOpen
AX4GE Max motherboard - Intel 845GE Chipset; built-in VGA. The on-die
CPU thermal diode monitoring system reads 2°C too high, so all readings are
compensated up by this amount.
- OCZ DDRAM PC-3200, 512 MB
- Seagate Barracuda IV 40G 1-platter drive (in Smart
Drive)
- Seasonic
Super Tornado 300 (Rev. A1)
- Arctic Silver
Ceramique Thermal Compound
- Nexus
Real Silent 120mm fan
- Two-level plywood platform with foam damping feet. Motherboard on
top; most other components below. Eases heatsink changes and setup.
Measurement & Analysis Tools
- CPUBurn
processor stress software
- SpeedFan
version 4.25 software to show CPU temperature
- A custom-built fan controller that allows us to dial in exactly what voltage
is powering the fan
- B&K model 1613 sound level meter
Load testing was accomplished using CPUBurn to stress the processor, and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to make sure that the load temperature was
stable for at least ten minutes.
The ambient conditions during testing were 18 dBA and 20°C.
TEST RESULTS
As per the design of the High-Riser, our initial testing was done completely
passively, without a fan. This is an extremely difficult situation because passive
heatsinks are designed to take advantage of system airflow. Our test bench,
however, has no system airflow at all. Furthermore, its horizontal
orientation means that the heatsink can't even use convection cooling, where
airflow is generated by rising heat.
Not surprisingly, the processor quickly shot up to 67°C and began to throttle.
In this respect, it is no different from the Scythe Ninja, which is also designed
for passive use. However, before strapped a fan on, we decided to give the High-Riser
a second chance, this time in a vertical orientation so that it could take advantage
of convection cooling. But, even this configuration did not prevent the processor
from throttling.
The test bench was tilted sideways to see if it could perform passively —
it couldn't.
It would be wise to rig up some kind of support to hold up the far end of this
HS.
A cable tie or stiff insulated wire to the PSU might do it.
Because our test bench does not closely simulate an actual system, in which there would always be peripheral airflow around the CPU area from other fans, such as the back case exhaust fan and the PSU fan. So, we
decided to attach our usual 120 mm reference fan, a Nexus. Testing proceeded
as usual, with measurements taken with the fan at 12V, 9V, 7V, and 5V.
| Thermalright HR-01 with Nexus
120 mm fan |
|
Fan Voltage
|
Load Temp
|
°C Rise
|
°C/W MP
|
°C/W TDP
|
Noise
|
|
Fanless
Horizontal
|
CPU Throttled
|
>47
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
Fanless
Vertical
|
CPU Throttled
|
>49
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
12V
|
38°C
|
18
|
0.23
|
0.26
|
22 dBA@1m
|
|
9V
|
39°C
|
19
|
0.24
|
0.28
|
~19 dBA@1m
|
|
7V
|
40°C
|
20
|
0.25
|
0.29
|
<17 dBA@1m
|
|
5V
|
42°C
|
22
|
0.28
|
0.32
|
<17 dBA@1m
|
|
Airflow: Measured in Cubic Feet per Minute mounted
on the HS
Load Temp: CPUBurn for ~20 mins.
°C Rise: Temperature rise above ambient at load.
°C/W MP / TDP: Temperature rise per Watt, based on CPU's Maximum
Power (79W) or Thermal Design Power (69W) rating (lower is better)
Noise: SPL measured in dBA/1m distance with high accuracy B &
K SLM
|
The noise profile for the Nexus reference fan is well known, so details about
the noise it makes will not be reproduced here. In any case, it was added for
testing purposes only; in an actual system it would probably not be needed.
In summary: It produces a smooth, quiet hum at full speed, and drops below the
ambient noise level in our lab somewhere between 7 and 9 volts. It does not
provide much airflow in comparison to other 120mm fans.
Once the fan was added to the test, the High-Riser's performance improved tremendously.
The amount of airflow seemed to matter very little. The difference in performance
between full speed and 5V was a tiny 4°C. This means the High Riser
performs very well with only a minimum of airflow, and would probably
continue to perform well with even less airflow than our reference fan provides.
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