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TESTING
Testing was done according to our
unique heatsink testing methodology, and the reference fan was profiled
using our standard fan testing
methodology. A quick summary of the components, tools, and procedures
follows below.
Key Components in Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel
Pentium D 950 Presler core. TDP of 130W; under our test load, it measures
78W including efficiency losses in the VRMs.
- ASUS
P5LD2-VM motherboard. A basic microATX board with integrated graphics
and plenty of room around the CPU socket.
- Samsung
MP0402H 40GB 2.5" notebook drive
- 1
GB stick of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 memory.
- FSP
Zen 300W fanless power supply.
- Arctic
Silver Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface
material, designed specifically for test labs.
Test Tools
- Seasonic
Power Angel for measuring AC power at the wall to ensure that the
heat output remains consistent.
- Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply,
used to regulate the fan speed during the test.
- Bruel & Kjaer (B&K) model 2203 Sound Level
Meter. Used to accurately measure noise down to 20 dBA and below.
- Various other tools for testing fans, as documented
in our standard fan testing
methodology.
Software Tools
- SpeedFan
4.32, used to monitor the on-chip thermal sensor. This sensor is not
calibrated, so results are not universally applicable
- CPUBurn
P6, used to stress the CPU heavily, generating more heat than most
real applications. Two instances are used to ensure that both cores are stressed.
- Throttlewatch
2.01, used to monitor the throttling feature of the CPU to determine
when overheating occurs.
Noise measurements were made with the fan powered from the lab's variable DC
power supply while the rest of the system was off to ensure that system noise
did not skew the measurements.
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 stock fan was
tested at various voltages to represent a good cross-section of its airflow
and noise performance.
The ambient conditions during testing were 19 dBA and 20°C.
TEST RESULTS
The Fan: A quick analysis of the fan's rotational speed and noise level showed that the
fan has a wide operational range as the starting voltage was only 3.6V. The
manual fan speed controller's limits are 1300 RPM and 2050 RPM, approximately
7V ~ 12V. It's a fairly loud fan that can be made reasonably
quiet with undervolting.
|
MaxOrb Stock Fan Measurements
|
|
Fan Voltage
|
Fan Speed
|
Noise Level
|
|
12V
|
2050 RPM
|
40 dBA@1m
|
|
9V
|
1620 RPM
|
35 dBA@1m
|
|
7V
|
1290 RPM
|
29 dBA@1m
|
|
5V
|
920 RPM
|
24 dBA@1m
|
|
3.6V
|
640 RPM
|
20 dBA@1m
|
Cooling Results
|
Thermaltake MaxOrb |
|
Fan Voltage
|
Noise @1m
|
Temp
|
°C Rise
|
°C/W
|
12V
12V
|
40 dBA
|
35°C
|
15
|
0.19
|
|
9V
|
35 dBA
|
37°C
|
17
|
0.22
|
|
7V
|
29 dBA
|
39°C
|
19
|
0.24
|
|
5V
|
24 dBA
|
41°C
|
21
|
0.27
|
|
3.6V
|
20 dBA
|
45°C
|
25
|
0.32
|
Load Temp: CPUBurn for ~10 mins.
°C Rise: Temperature rise above ambient (20°C) at load.
°C/W: based on the amount of heat dissipated by the CPU (measured
78W); lower is better. |
Fan @ 12V: With a 40 dBA noise output, it was hard to discern the fan's acoustic
character. The turbulence simply overpowered any other sounds.
Cooling performance was excellent at only 15°C over ambient.
Fan @ 9V: It was still fairly loud, but the 5 dBA drop in noise level revealed
some buzzing at one meter's distance. Otherwise the overall sound was
smooth but too loud. The CPU temperature increased by only 2°C.
Fan @ 7V: The buzzing decreased but was replaced by a low-pitched
hum, with some ticking when listened from a foot away. It exhibited
nasty tonal qualities (narrow bandwidth peaks) like previous Thermaltake and Zalman fans. Again,
performance suffered by only 2°C.
Fan @ 5V: Most of the noise disappeared, leaving only a bit of turbulence
and a low-pitched hum. Though 24 dBA is fairly quiet by the standards of the
average person, the tonal hum would make it conspicuous in most indoor
environments, even if the ambient noise was around the same level. The CPU
temperature increased once more by 2°C. At this level there was a reasonable
balance between SPL and cooling performance.
Fan @ 3.6V: Only a touch of hum remained at 20 dBA. Inside a case, it would probably
fade away into the background from one meter or more. Temperature
was a respectable 25°C above ambient.
Comparisons:
Compared to the last Thermaltake heatsink we tested, the Big
Typhoon VX (using the stock fan), the MaxOrb performed more or less
equal to it, except when each fan was producing 20 dBA or lower, at which
point the MaxOrb outpaced it by 5°C. In a showdown with the Zalman CNPS8700,
it was basically a tie.
|
Thermaltake MaxOrb: Comparables
|
|
CNPS8700
|
MaxOrb
|
Big Typhoon VX
|
|
SPL @1m
|
°C Rise
|
SPL @1m
|
°C Rise
|
SPL @1m
|
°C Rise
|
|
33 dBA
|
17
|
35 dBA
|
17
|
33 dBA
|
19
|
|
28 dBA
|
19
|
29 dBA
|
19
|
n/a
|
|
24 dBA
|
23
|
24 dBA
|
21
|
25 dBA
|
22
|
|
n/a
|
20 dBA
|
25
|
~19 dBA
|
30
|
Compared to other top-down coolers at low fan speeds (and noise), the MaxOrb is
overpriced. The Zalman 8700 could not be included in this comparison because it was not tested with its fan at 20 dBA.
|
Comparison: Top-down Coolers
|
|
Model
|
Price
|
Fan Voltage
|
SPL @1m
|
°C Rise
|
|
Scythe Andy (ref. fan)
|
$35
|
9V
|
20 dBA
|
20
|
|
Asus Triton 75 (ref. fan)
|
$40
|
9V
|
20 dBA
|
20
|
|
Xigmatek HDT-D1284 (ref. fan)
|
$??
|
9V
|
~19 dBA
|
22
|
|
Gigabyte G-Power 2 Pro
|
$40
|
5V
|
20 dBA
|
23
|
|
Thermaltake MaxOrb
|
$50
|
3.6V
|
20 dBA
|
25
|
|
Xigmatek HDT-D1284
|
$??
|
7V
|
20 dBA
|
26
|
|
Thermalright SI-128 (ref. fan)
|
$45
|
9V
|
20 dBA
|
26
|
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|
