OCZ Vindicator: Heatpipe Tower Cooling from OCZ
by Wesley Fink on April 5, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
The OCZ Vindicator is a full heatpipe tower that is designed to be used with one or more 120mm cooling fans. OCZ also claims that the Vindicator can be used to cool at stock speeds with no fan at all. That is probably true, but our current case setup is really not optimized with cooling paths for fanless cooling. With the barely average results achieved with the stock Vindicator fan it seemed unfair to test and report less than stellar fanless results with a cooling setup not really geared to fanless cooling. We will be making changes to our cooler test bed in the near future, with the goal of realistically reducing noise and improving case airflow using means available to our readers.
The Vindicator is produced in the same plant as the Scythe Ninja Plus Revision B, so it is understandable that the OCZ cooler bears a striking resemblance to the Ninja Plus B. OCZ ships the Vindicator preassembled for Socket T (Socket 775), so it is ready to install on today's most common enthusiast CPU - Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. OCZ also includes an easy to mount adapter for AMD Socket AM2/939/940/754. The Vindicator therefore fits all current production processors and most recent CPUs except for Intel Socket 478.
The stock Vindicator fan is clearly designed for low noise first. With a meager 40 CFM output and 18.5 dB-A noise rating it is a great cooler for a low-noise PC just as it comes from the kit. If your goal in purchasing a new cooler is silence you will be happy with the full OCZ stock package. The Vindicator name does suggest more though, and overclocking is one arena where OCZ is always a player.
The problem with overclocking, however, is the anemic output of the stock Vindicator fan. If you push overclocking with the Vindicator as far as it will go you end up with a stable overclock on our test bed of 3.80GHz. This is average to below average among the heatpipe tower coolers we have reviewed. Fortunately this problem can be corrected and the Vindicator is capable of much more. Replace the stock fan with the quiet (14 dB-A) and powerful (72 CFM) SilenX IXTREMA 120 and the Vindicator can overclock with the best.
The OCZ Vindicator with the SilenX reached a stable 3.90GHz, which matches the top tier of cooler performance we have tested. This matches the excellent Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultra 120, Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and the Scythe Infinity with two fans in a push-pull configuration. You can achieve similar but slightly lower results by using two OCZ fans, or similar quiet medium output fans in a dual push-pull arrangement. However two SilenX in push-pull did not really allow a higher overclock, so there is a limit to how much increased airflow will benefit the performance of an air cooler.
For OCZ, the Vindicator is said to be the first in a much expanded line of CPU coolers. We look forward to testing the upcoming OCZ coolers, but we hope the new coolers will be a little more original that the Vindicator. Performance does differ from the similar Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B primarily because a different fan is used, but the cooler itself is a Ninja Plus Rev. B with a different cut-out design on the aluminum fins.
If you want a quiet PC and modest overclocking you will be very happy with the stock OCZ kit. It is quiet and cools reasonably well. If you are an enthusiast who overclocks, buy another fan and clips and do push-pull for improved performance. For top overclocking performance throw away the stock OCZ fan and substitute something like the super quiet/high output SilenX or the Scythe SFLEX SFF21F. With a better matched fan you can reach the performance levels of the best air coolers available.
However, no matter what you do the OCZ is not quite as effective at lowering temperatures as the Tuniq Tower 120 or the Thermalright Ultra 120/Ultra 120 Extreme. The Vindicator with a better-matched fan will not hold back your overclocking attempts, but cooling is not in the same league as the top Tuniq and Thermalright coolers we have evaluated at AnandTech.
The OCZ Vindicator is a great beginning to an expanded OCZ cooler line. We liked OCZ coolers when they were more plentiful a few years ago. OCZ has that cooler background to be tapped in expanding their cooler product line. We look forward to seeing many new designs as OCZ establishes and expands their selection of cooling products.
The OCZ Vindicator is a full heatpipe tower that is designed to be used with one or more 120mm cooling fans. OCZ also claims that the Vindicator can be used to cool at stock speeds with no fan at all. That is probably true, but our current case setup is really not optimized with cooling paths for fanless cooling. With the barely average results achieved with the stock Vindicator fan it seemed unfair to test and report less than stellar fanless results with a cooling setup not really geared to fanless cooling. We will be making changes to our cooler test bed in the near future, with the goal of realistically reducing noise and improving case airflow using means available to our readers.
The Vindicator is produced in the same plant as the Scythe Ninja Plus Revision B, so it is understandable that the OCZ cooler bears a striking resemblance to the Ninja Plus B. OCZ ships the Vindicator preassembled for Socket T (Socket 775), so it is ready to install on today's most common enthusiast CPU - Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. OCZ also includes an easy to mount adapter for AMD Socket AM2/939/940/754. The Vindicator therefore fits all current production processors and most recent CPUs except for Intel Socket 478.
The stock Vindicator fan is clearly designed for low noise first. With a meager 40 CFM output and 18.5 dB-A noise rating it is a great cooler for a low-noise PC just as it comes from the kit. If your goal in purchasing a new cooler is silence you will be happy with the full OCZ stock package. The Vindicator name does suggest more though, and overclocking is one arena where OCZ is always a player.
The problem with overclocking, however, is the anemic output of the stock Vindicator fan. If you push overclocking with the Vindicator as far as it will go you end up with a stable overclock on our test bed of 3.80GHz. This is average to below average among the heatpipe tower coolers we have reviewed. Fortunately this problem can be corrected and the Vindicator is capable of much more. Replace the stock fan with the quiet (14 dB-A) and powerful (72 CFM) SilenX IXTREMA 120 and the Vindicator can overclock with the best.
The OCZ Vindicator with the SilenX reached a stable 3.90GHz, which matches the top tier of cooler performance we have tested. This matches the excellent Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultra 120, Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and the Scythe Infinity with two fans in a push-pull configuration. You can achieve similar but slightly lower results by using two OCZ fans, or similar quiet medium output fans in a dual push-pull arrangement. However two SilenX in push-pull did not really allow a higher overclock, so there is a limit to how much increased airflow will benefit the performance of an air cooler.
For OCZ, the Vindicator is said to be the first in a much expanded line of CPU coolers. We look forward to testing the upcoming OCZ coolers, but we hope the new coolers will be a little more original that the Vindicator. Performance does differ from the similar Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B primarily because a different fan is used, but the cooler itself is a Ninja Plus Rev. B with a different cut-out design on the aluminum fins.
If you want a quiet PC and modest overclocking you will be very happy with the stock OCZ kit. It is quiet and cools reasonably well. If you are an enthusiast who overclocks, buy another fan and clips and do push-pull for improved performance. For top overclocking performance throw away the stock OCZ fan and substitute something like the super quiet/high output SilenX or the Scythe SFLEX SFF21F. With a better matched fan you can reach the performance levels of the best air coolers available.
However, no matter what you do the OCZ is not quite as effective at lowering temperatures as the Tuniq Tower 120 or the Thermalright Ultra 120/Ultra 120 Extreme. The Vindicator with a better-matched fan will not hold back your overclocking attempts, but cooling is not in the same league as the top Tuniq and Thermalright coolers we have evaluated at AnandTech.
The OCZ Vindicator is a great beginning to an expanded OCZ cooler line. We liked OCZ coolers when they were more plentiful a few years ago. OCZ has that cooler background to be tapped in expanding their cooler product line. We look forward to seeing many new designs as OCZ establishes and expands their selection of cooling products.
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Spoelie - Thursday, April 5, 2007 - link
I would also like to know a more quantifiable difference between the stock fan and this silenx fan. The noise measurements are kinda useless since they put everything on the same level. But do they actually sound all the same? Is the silenx really quiter?? Would be kinda strange.So even if it is like (this one sounds louder as that one, and when i put my hand before them i can feel more air move with this one than with this one) than we can at least confirm what each fan does, just not by how much. The only thing we know at this moment is that the silenx moves more air, judging by the temperatures.
silentpcreview is really good, but the focus on these articles is different, they're more geared to overclocking. So while some critique is valid, this article is not trying to be a definite one on the noise front or a competitor to what silentpcreview does.