Date:
Thursday , March 05, 2009
Author:
Marc Adams
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
Google +1

Thermaltake SpinQ, A1VX and BigTyp 14 Pro

Overall, the world of air cooling has gotten to be fairly stagnant simply due to the quality and efficiency of the products on the market. That said, for those of you that are looking for good cooling that carries with it a good dollar value and some aesthetic value as well, there is always something new to look at.

Introduction

Thermaltake is back with no less than three new CPU coolers for the enthusiast community with its SpinQ, BigTyp 14 Pro, and the V1 AX. OK so maybe the V1 AX isn’t entirely new but it’s not like Thermaltake is the only company re-branding old tech, right? All joking aside, Thermaltake has been rather busy these past few years engineering new cases, all sorts of coolers, and even external storage solutions. One thing that can be said about Thermaltake is they are always trying to stay ahead of the curve. So how well do these new coolers perform and more importantly, are they worth your money?

Article Image

System Setup

All testing of the Thermaltake coolers will occur on our QX9650 test bed. All of this testing was done before we had our new Core i7 cooler test system up and running. We will have two more articles based on the QX9650 system before we finally roll over fully to our Core i7. Currently our setup consists of the Asus Maximus Formula paired with an Intel QX9650. That said, the QX9650 is capable of producing a good amount of heat itself, especially when overclocked as we show you. Keep in mind that by Intel specs the QX9650 and Core i7 920 we use fit inside the same thermal envelope.

Article Image

Test Methods

CPU

When we concluded the first roundup of CPU heat sinks way back when, Kyle and I both came to the same conclusion. Software temperature monitoring just isn't going to cut it. We need to step it up the [H]ard way. That is just what we did. We reached out to Intel about using a hardware monitor drilled into the IHS to measure the CPU temperature and wouldn't you know it, this is the exact way Intel tests their own chips. Now we knew we were on the right path. A few weeks later and a little planning along with some specifications and we were able to do it just like Intel does. Any advanced machine shop should be able to get you there too.

Article Image Article Image Article Image Article Image

Temperatures for the CPU will be measured using a Sperry Digital 4 Point thermometer. Now you may be asking why we didn’t just use a quad core CPU and continue monitoring temperatures through software. Take a look at this table. These measurements were recorded using the Intel stock cooler with the CPU at default settings. Core-Temp reports the individual temperature from each core.

Article Image

With large discrepancies and variations between programs, this is why we chose hardware monitoring.

GPU

For this article the GPU will be kept at stock speed to keep any excess heat away from the CPU that could impact the results. In 2D mode the 7900GTX under clocks its core to 275MHz which creates very little heat and allows the fan to run at inaudible levels.

Thermal Paste

Noctua's NT-H1 thermal paste was selected as the paste of choice for a few key reasons. Firstly, the thermal paste has been shown to provide excellent thermal conductivity allowing the heat sinks to better do their job. Secondly, there is no observed curing time. That is, performance does not get any better over time. Any curing time could have introduced variables into the equation causing at best dubious results and at worst unreliable ones. Lastly, because we have a special CPU on our hands it requires a compound that is more viscous so not to seep into the channel and run off.

Temperatures

Ambient temperature will be kept at 25C for the duration of the tests and measured with a MicroTemp EXP non-contact infrared thermometer and cross referenced with the Sperry Digital 4 Point thermometer. Any variance greater then 0.2C will halt the testing until temperatures return within spec for fifteen minutes.

Article Image Article Image

Idle

Idle temperatures will be recorded after a fifteen minute period of inactivity. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes.

Load

Load temperatures will be recorded after a fifteen minute period of 100% load. To obtain this we will be using Prime95 v25.3. We have previously used Intel's Thermal Analysis Tool (TAT) to create a load on the CPU but this application is not designed for quad-core CPUs. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes.

Sound

Sound levels will be measured with a Reliability Direct AR824 sound meter from a distance of four feet away. With everything turned off and the room completely silent the meter registered a sound level of 38dB(A). This is a very quiet room where a simple pin drop could be heard. All sound measurements are recorded in the very late evening to further reduce any ambient noise.