The Nirvana is the successor to a fairly proficient CPU cooler, the ZEROtherm Zen. It retains much of the Zen’s core design elements but sports a new look with nickel-plating and a frameless fan.
October 27, 2009 by Lawrence Lee
Product | ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM CPU Cooler |
Manufacturer | ZEROtherm |
Street Price | US$40 |
Nirvana is the successor to ZEROtherm’s earlier Zen
CPU cooler. The Zen was a very proficient heatsink that had a great
mounting system and a reasonable price. It fell a few degrees short of achieving
elite status in our test arena, but a new and improved model might be able
to crack that barrier. It will not be easy as the market is
saturated with affordable high performance coolers.
|
|
Nirvana retains many of the Zen’s core design elements: Four heatpipes, thick,
tightly grouped fins with a “honeycomb” style pattern at the center,
and a translucent fan with blue LEDs. This heatsink is nickel-plated,
giving it a less generic appearance and protecting it from the oxidation. The fan
is also frameless, attached to a metal stand like a windmill — this will
undoubtedly affect acoustics. To catch any air spilling out from the
sides of the fan, the fins at the edges have been extended further outward.
Truth be told, at a glance it doesn’t seem to have any feature or design element
to give it an edge over the Zen. We’ll see if testing supports this impression.
|
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM: Key Features (from the product web page) | |
Feature & Brief | Our Comment |
Best Performance among 120mm air cooling CPU coolers | To be determined. |
Effective 8-line Heat pipe effect | Technically 4 U-shaped heatpipes, but effectively they act like 8. |
Honeycomb structure for optimized air flow. More than 6,748 cm² heat dissipation area | The honeycomb structure increases surface area but also impedes airflow. |
120mm fan for max. air-flow (up to 60CFM) | Okay. |
PWM Automatic Fan Speed Control | As it should. |
Ultra Low – Noise Max 30 dBA at 1,800 rpm | We’re more interested in the noise floor. |
Polished NI-Plated Copper Base | Wards off rust. |
Support Latest Intel & AMD CPUs | But not LGA1156. |
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM: Specifications (from the product web page) | ||
Dimensions | 128 X 95 X 150 mm (5.04 X 3.74 X 5.83 inch) | |
Weight | 638g (Without Components) | |
Material | Base | Pure Copper |
Heat pipe | Pure Copper | |
Fin | Cr/Ni Plated Aluminum | |
Heat Dissipation Area | 6,748 cm² (1,046 inch²) | |
Cooling Capacity | Over 150W | |
Fan Size | 120×25 mm w/ 2 blue LEDs | |
Fan Speed | 900 ~ 1,800 rpm (± 10%) PWM Auto Speed | |
Acoustic Noise | Under 30 dBA (± 10%) | |
Bearing Type | Long Life Bearing | |
Operating Voltage | 5.0 ~ 13.8 VDC | |
Airflow Rate | Max. 60 CFM | |
Compatibility List | ||
Intel | Core™2 Extreme Core™2 Quad Core™2 Duo Pentium D Pentium 4 | Socket-T (LGA775) Support All Speeds (Models) |
Core™ i7 | Socket-B (LGA1366) Support All Speeds (Models) | |
AMD | Athlon64 FX Athlon64 X2 / BE Athlon64 Sempron Opteron | Socket 939 / 940 / AM2 Support All |
Incompatibility List | ||
Intel | Socket 478, 771, 603, 604 | |
AMD | Socket 754, Socket F or Socket A |
PHYSICAL DETAILS
The heatsink features 4 “U” shaped heatpipes in a straight, non-staggered
array and 44 fins cooled by a 111 mm diameter fan.
|
|
|
|
|
BASE & INSTALLATION
The most critical aspect of installation is for the heatsink
to be securely mounted. The more firmly it is installed, the better the contact
between the heatsink’s base and the CPU itself. It’s also less likely to fall
off. Ease of installation is also important — a simple mounting scheme
means less time spent installing, and a reduced likelihood of screwing up.
The nickel-plating certainly gives the base a nice look, but |
|
|
|
TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM: Approximate Physical Measurements | |
Weight | 660 g 700 g with topside mounting hardware |
Fin count | 44 |
Fin thickness | 0.43 mm |
Fin spacing | 1.83 mm |
Vertical Clearance | 46 mm (measured from the motherboard PCB to the heatsink’s bottom fin) |
Horizontal Overhang | 1 mm (measured from the edge of the heatsink to the top edge of our test motherboard’s PCB) |
Comparison: Approximate Fin Thickness & Spacing | ||
Heatsink | Fin Thickness | Fin Spacing |
Scythe Ninja 2 | 0.39 mm | 3.68 mm |
Thermalright HR-01 Plus | 0.45 mm | 3.15 mm |
Noctua NH-U12P | 0.44 mm | 2.63 mm |
Noctua NH-C12P | 0.47 mm | 2.54 mm |
Thermolab Baram | 0.44 mm | 2.52 mm |
Prolimatech Megahalems | 0.50 mm | 2.00 mm |
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 | 0.33 mm | 1.96 mm |
Scythe Kabuto & Zipang 2 | 0.34 mm | 1.94 mm |
Scythe Mugen-2 | 0.31 mm | 1.89 mm |
ZEROtherm Nirvana | 0.43 mm | 1.82 mm |
Zerotherm Zen | 0.37 mm | 1.80 mm |
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme | 0.42 mm | 1.50 mm |
Thermalright Ultra-120 | 0.45 mm | 1.42 mm |
Testing was done according to our
unique heatsink testing methodology, and the included 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, C1 stepping. TDP of 95W; under our test
load, it measures 78W including losses in the VRMs. - Asus P5Q-EM motherboard.
A microATX board with integrated graphics and short solid-state capacitors
around the CPU socket, and a diminutive northbridge heatsink for maximum compatibility. - Intel
X25-M 80GB 2.5″ solid-state drive. - 1GB
of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 memory. 2 x 512MB PC2-8500. - FSP Zen 300W
fanless power supply. - Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs. - Nexus 120 fan (part of our standard testing methodology; used when
possible with heatsinks that fit 120x25mm fans)
Nexus 120mm fan measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 16 dBA@1m | 1100 RPM |
9V | 13 dBA@1m | 890 RPM |
7V | 12 dBA@1m | 720 RPM |
5V | 11 dBA@1m | 530 RPM |
Measurement and Analysis 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. - PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digital
audio interfaces. - Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower - Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology. - SpeedFan, 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.
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.
TEST RESULTS
Stock Fan Testing
Stock Fan Measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 31 dBA | 1930 RPM |
10V | 26 dBA | 1580 RPM |
9V | 20 dBA | 1180 RPM |
8V | 15 dBA | 760 RPM |
7V | 14 dBA | 550 RPM |
Fan @ 12V: The noise generated is very buzzy, but the abundance of turbulence
masks a slight tone that can be heard in close proximity. Needless to say it’s
far too loud at 31 dBA.Fan @ 10V: At 10V there is a 5 dBA reduction in noise which is significant
but not enough to make it tolerable. Two distinct noises also emerge: A low-pitched
hum which is likely caused by vibration, and tonality in the fan’s bearings/motor.Fan @ 9V: At this level the fan noise becomes bearable. The lack of
turbulence from the fan brings focus to the humming mentioned earlier.Fan @ 8V/7V: At 8V and below, the vibration and tonality make the fan
sound “wobbly.” This effect is audible at 1m in an open testing environment
but would likely be masked inside a case where it would be essentially inaudible.
|
Cooling Results
ZEROtherm Nirvana | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Fan Voltage | SPL@1m | Temp | °C Rise | °C/W |
12V | 31 dBA | 36°C | 14 | 0.18 |
10V | 26 dBA | 38°C | 16 | 0.21 |
9V | 20 dBA | 39°C | 17 | 0.22 |
8V | 15 dBA | 44°C | 22 | 0.28 |
7V | 14 dBA | 49°C | 27 | 0.35 |
Load Temp: CPUBurn for ~10 mins. °C Rise: Temperature rise above ambient (22°C) at load. °C/W: based on the amount of heat dissipated by the CPU (measured 78W); lower is better. |
The Nirvana performed well at high fan speeds with a thermal rise of 14°C
at 12V. Cooling suffered little when the fan speed was dialed back to 10V and
then 9V, despite a dramatic reduction in noise. When the fan finally entered
quiet territory at 8V, performance decreased by 5°C and then another 5°C
at 7V even though the SPL was barely affected. At low fan speeds heat dissipation
takes a nose dive. This is typical for heatsinks with tight fin spacing, but
the rate at which its effectiveness degrades is still quite rapid.
COMPARABLES
Since the Nirvana fan is not easily replaceable, it cannot be easily compared to other 120mm fan heatsinks where our reference quiet fan was used. So we compared it with its own stock fan set to the same SPL levels as the reference fan. This is a patently unfair comparison, but it shows precisely how bad the stock Nirvana package is for quiet cooling.
°C rise Comparison: The Best of the Best | ||||
Heatsink | Nexus 120mm fan voltage / SPL @1m | |||
12V | 9V | 7V | 5V | |
16 dBA | 13 dBA | 12 dBA | 11 dBA | |
Prolimatech Megahalems | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 |
Thermalright U120E | 12 | 14 | 17 | 24 |
Thermalright HR-01+ | 13 | 15 | 16 | 20 |
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 22 |
Scythe Kabuto | 13 | 15 | 19 | 26 |
Noctua NH-U12P | 14 | 16 | 17 | 21 |
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme | 14 | 17 | 21 | 26 |
Zerotherm Zen | 15 | 16 | 19 | 24 |
Scythe Mugen-2 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 23 |
Thermalright U120 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 26 |
Noctua NH-C12P | 16 | 18 | 21 | 26 |
Scythe Ninja 2 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 23 |
Thermolab Baram | 18 | 20 | 22 | 25 |
ZEROtherm Nirvana ( 16 & 13 dBA@1m points extrapolated; see graph below) | 21 | 32 | – | – |
The Nirvana has the look of a top-performer, but its fan is a loser. When we compare
cooling results with its stock fan set to noise levels equivalent to those of our reference
fan, the Nirvana trails the Thermolab Baram by only 3°C at 16 dBA. However
when airflow is reduced further, its performance tanks, with the difference widening
to double-digits. The main culprit is that stock custom fan.
MP3 SOUND 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.
These recordings are intended to give you an idea of how the product sounds
in actual use — one meter is a reasonable typical distance between a computer
or computer component and your ear. The recording contains stretches of ambient
noise that you can use to judge the relative loudness of the subject. Be aware
that very quiet subjects may not be audible — if we couldn’t hear it from
one meter, chances are we couldn’t record it either!
The recording starts with 10 second segments of room ambiance, then the fan
at various levels. 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.
- ZEROtherm
Nirvana NV120 PWM with stock fan at one meter
— 7V (14 dBA@1m)
— 8V (15 dBA@1m)
— 9V (20 dBA@1m)
— 10V (26 dBA@1m)
— 12V (31 dBA@1m)
- Nexus
120mm Real Silent Case fan at one meter
— 5V (11 dBA@1m)
— 7V (12 dBA@1m)
— 9V (13 dBA@1m)
— 12V (16 dBA@1m)
FINAL THOUGHTS
The ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM is a disappointment. Not
only does it fail to match any of the top coolers we’ve tested in the past 2-3
years, it cannot even stand up to its own predecessor, the Zen
FZ120. The noise of the fan is poor, made worse by the decision
to mount it on a metal stand — this also makes replacing the fan problematic.
And while the base is nickel-plated, its surface could certainly be a lot smoother.
It’s rare to see distinct ridges on a base without looking for them, let alone
being able to actually detect them by touch. The only thing
not made worse is the mounting system, which uses a backplate for Intel installations
and a rotatable frame for AMD boards. This seems to be the Nirvana’s one saving
grace.
It is possible with with a much hotter CPU at full load, the cooling performance of the Nirvana at full fan speed could match some of the low noise kings we exalt. But that would be a very different target — maximum cooling, never mind the noise — than the one SPCR seeks: Best cooling with near-inaudible fan noise.
The main problem is the fan — and not just how it’s mounted.
Taking away the box frame results in a drop in pressure which the fan needs
to efficiently push air through the tightly-spaced fins, especially through the “honeycomb” pattern at the center.
The end result is a cooler that cannot compete with competitors in the
same class, especially at low fan speeds. Despite having the dimensions of a high-performance
tower heatsink, its cooling proficiency is clearly 2nd tier. It’s difficult
to recommend given the many available coolers that are cheaper, perform
better and generate less noise. There are even a few smaller coolers with
92 mm fans that can give the Nirvana a run for its money. Sorry, Zerotherm, better luck next time!
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 PWM | |
PROS * Good, not great performance | CONS * Loud fan with poor mounting design * Base surface could be smoother |
Our thanks to ZEROtherm
for the Nirvana NV120 PWM heatsink sample.
* * *
Articles of Related Interest
Smallish LGA775 Heatsink Roundup
– Part 2
Scythe Top-Down Coolers:
Kabuto vs. Zipang 2
LGA775 Low Profile Heatsink
Roundup
Scythe Mugen-2 CPU Cooler
Scythe Katana 3: Same slant, new version
Zerotherm Zen FZ120 CPU Cooler
* * *