Gigabyte Volar CPU heatsink review

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Devonavar
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Gigabyte Volar CPU heatsink review

Post by Devonavar » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:00 pm


FlorisNielssen
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Post by FlorisNielssen » Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:43 am

Wasn't it possible to remove the fan from the heatsink, to have a better look at the fins? I missed that on the second page of the review.

Besides that: another excellent review.

NeilBlanchard
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Post by NeilBlanchard » Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:00 am

Greetings,

The fan is semi-transparent, the fins are pretty thick so they must be causing turbulence and noise -- and the fins could be "ringing". The fan is open framed and the heat sink seems to be fairly highly restrictive -- so a fair bit of air could be "escaping' out the sides and not flowing through the fins very effectively.

dragmor
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Post by dragmor » Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:27 pm

Isn't the 45 degree angle supposed to cool the VRM? The lack of VRM cooling is one of the main problems with Tower heat sinks.

Avalanche
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Post by Avalanche » Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:11 am

Nice review Devon, but Mike, your postscript really takes the review to the next level. With the postscript you:
  • 1) emphasize the independence of your site,
    2) remind readers of your connections and
    3) question what's wrong with the industry.
It does make you wonder what goes on in the Gigabyte test lab, though. Clearly in this case they're not using it for making better products or for quantifying the quality of their current products. How can a consumer make an informed decision about these products without sites like SPCR?

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:17 am

The only explanations for this glaring discrepancy:

We have a very bad fan sample (though it doesn't sound obviously damaged).
Gigabyte engineers made those fan SPL measurements while it was in free air, not mounted on the heatsink.
there is another, more likely explanation: marketing dept got hold of the dBA figures and "massaged" them down to a more marketable 23dBA.

Felger Carbon
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Post by Felger Carbon » Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:46 am

Gigabyte has two of the new leaning "120mm" HSFs. They chose to send the cheapie lower-performing unit to SPCR. Here is a review of the other unit.

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