ZEROtherm Nirvana: Designed for Top Performance
by Wesley Fink on January 16, 2008 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
CPU Cooling Test Configuration
All
tests use our new cooling test bed. This consists of a Rosewill R604-P-SL case
sold by Newegg without a power supply. The
Rosewill is typical of a moderately priced mid-tower case our readers might
own. We chose this case because it is a Newegg top seller and includes a
variable front intake louver and a quiet 120mm exhaust fan at the rear of the
case. The case is also screw-less with components held in place by plastic
holders instead of metal-to-metal connections. This appears to reduce case
vibration and noise.
The power supply is a Corsair HX620W, which has proven in benchmarks to be an
exceptionally quiet unit. The HX620W features a variable speed exhaust fan and
a down-facing intake fan mounted just above the CPU space in the case. To
eliminate the video card as a source of noise we have moved to a fanless card.
Since we will move to Vista and DX10 in the very near future, the test bed runs
an MSI NX8600 GTS that supports DX10 and cools with heatsinks and heatpipes.
The reduced noise power supply and fanless video card have the potential to
dramatically lower system noise in the test bed.
The motherboard is the ASUS P5K Deluxe. This P35 chipset motherboard has
exhibited outstanding overclocking capabilities in our testing. It can also
mount the newest 1333 FSB Intel Core processors and can handle our existing
high-speed DDR2 memory. The P5K3 uses heatsinks and heatpipes to cool board
components so all motherboard cooling is passive. There are no active cooling
fans to generate unwanted noise during testing.
The 120mm exhaust fan mounted to the rear of the case is below the system noise
floor. We run that fan during performance and overclocking tests. However,
system noise can be cumulative, so we turn off the exhaust fan during noise
testing.
| Cooling Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo
X6800 (Dual-core 2.93GHz, 4MB Unified Cache) |
| RAM | 2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8888 (DDR2-1111) |
| Hard Drive(s) | Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer) |
| Video Card | MSI NX8600GTS (fanless) - All Standard Tests |
| Intel TAT | Version 2.05.2006.0427 |
| CoreTemp | Version 0.95 |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 163.71 |
| CPU Cooling | ZEROtherm Nirvana
NV120 Cooler Master Hyper 212 OCZ Vendetta Scythe Kama Cross Swiftech H2O-120 Compact Corsair Nautilus 500 Thermalright Ultima-90 ZEROtherm BTF90 Xigmatek AIO (AIO-S800P) Evercool Silver Knight Enzotech Ultra-X 3RSystem iCEAGE Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX Thermaltake MaxOrb Scythe Andy Samurai Master Cooler Master Gemini II Noctua NH-U12F Asus Silent Square Pro Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B OCZ Vindicator Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Thermalright Ultra 120 Scythe Infinity Zalman CNS9700 Zalman CNS9500 Cooler Master Hyper 6+ Vigor Monsoon II Lite Thermalright MST-9775 Scythe Katana Tuniq Tower 120 Intel Stock HSF for X6800 |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX620W |
| Motherboards | Asus P5K Deluxe (Intel P35) |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| BIOS | Asus AMI 0501 (06/26/2007) |
We
run all cooling tests with the components mounted in the standard mid-tower
case. The idle and stress temperature tests are run with the case closed and
standing as it would in most home setups. Room temperature is measured before
beginning the cooler tests and is maintained in the 20 to 22C (68F to 72F)
range for all testing.
For consistency of test results, we use a standard premium silver-colored
thermal compound. In our experience, the thermal compound used makes little to
no difference in cooling test results. This is particularly true now that
processors ship with a large manufacturer-installed heatspreader. Our current
test procedure uses this standard high-quality silver-colored thermal paste for
all cooler reviews.
For comparison, we first tested the stock Intel air cooler at standard X6800
speeds and measured the CPU temperature at idle. We then stress the CPU by
running continuous loops of the Far Cry River demo. We repeat the same tests at
the highest stable overclock we could achieve with the stock cooler. "Stable"
in this case is the ability to handle our Far Cry looping for at least 30
minutes without crashing.
The same benchmarks are then run on the review cooler(s) at stock speed,
3.33GHz (10x333) at stock voltage, highest stock cooler OC speed (3.73GHz), and
the highest OC that could be achieved in the same setup with the cooler being
tested. This allows measurement of the cooling efficiency of the test unit compared
to stock and the improvement in overclocking capabilities, if any, from using
the test cooler.
We compare cooling results with a representative sample of air and
water-cooling results measured with CoreTemp. TAT provides a similar core
measurement, but test results with CoreTemp are more consistent over a wide
range of test conditions than the results reported by TAT. We retested previously
reviewed coolers with CoreTemp under idle and load conditions. In benchmarks
where the new test bed makes no apparent difference, like maximum overclock, we
include results for all coolers tested since beginning cooling reviews in early
2007.
Noise Levels
In addition to cooling efficiency and overclocking abilities, users shopping
for CPU cooling solutions may also be interested in the noise levels of the
cooling devices they are considering. We measure noise levels with the case on
its side using a C.E.M. DT-8850 Sound Level meter. This meter allows accurate
sound level measurements from 35b dB to 130 dB with a resolution of 0.1 dB and
an accuracy of 1.5 dB. This is sufficient for our needs in these tests, as
measurement starts at the level of a relatively quiet room. Our own test room,
with all computers and fans turned off, has a room noise level that has been reduced
slightly to 35.0 dB(A) compared to the previous 36.4 dB(A). With the new test
bed, the system noise at idle is 36.5 dB(A) at 24" and 37.8 dB(A) at 6".
This is better than our previous system noise floor of 38.3 dB(A) at 24".
The noise reduction at the 6" distance is dramatically lower than the
previous test bed floor of 47 dB(A).
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38 Comments
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Wesley Fink - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
It looks like we are going to have to do an article to educate readers on dBa sound levels. Noise does matter, but some of the fanatic quiet sites have completely distorted the meaning of noise levels so people no longer understand what they mean. 35 dBa is the noise level of a quiet suburban bedroom, away from traffic, at night. 45 dBa is considered a Quiet Room. Our sound floor in the new test environment is around this level. Our super quiet variable-fan-speed power supply is around this level at idle, but not while doing useful work. Unless you are running a fanless power supply measurements below this threshold are meaningless.Below is a chart from an acoustic engineering company. It is to help put in perspective what dBa sound levels actually mean.
190 dBA Heavy weapons, 10 m behind the weapon (maximum level)
180 dBA Toy pistol fired close to ear (maximum level)
170 dBA Slap on the ear, fire cracker explodes on shoulder, small arms
at a distance of 50 cm (maximum level)
160 dBA Hammer stroke on brass tubing or steel plate at 1 m distance,
airbag deployment very close at a distance of 30 cm (maximum level)
150 dBA Hammer stroke in a smithy at 5 m distance (maximum level)
130 dBA Loud hand clapping at 1 m distance (maximum level)
120 dBA Whistle at 1 m distance, test run of a jet at 15 m distance
Threshold of pain, above this fast-acting hearing damage in short action is possible
115 dBA Take-off sound of planes at 10 m distance
110 dBA Siren at 10 m distance, frequent sound level in discotheques and close
to loudspeakers at rock concerts, violin close to the ear of an orchestra
musicians (maximum level)
105 dBA Chain saw at 1 m distance, banging car door at 1 m distance (maximum level),
racing car at 40 m distance, possible level with music head phones
100 dBA Frequent level with music via head phones, jack hammer at 10 m distance
95 dBA Loud crying, hand circular saw at 1 m distance
90 dBA Angle grinder outside at 1 m distance
Over a duration of 40 hours a week hearing damage is possible
85 dBA 2-stroke chain-saw at 10 m distance, loud WC flush at 1 m distance
80 dBA Very loud traffic noise of passing lorries at 7.5 m distance,
high traffic on an expressway at 25 m distance
75 dBA Passing car at 7.5 m distance, un-silenced wood shredder at 10 m distance
70 dBA Level close to a main road by day, quiet hair dryer at 1 m distance to ear
65 dBA Bad risk of heart circulation disease at constant impact
60 dBA Noisy lawn mower at 10 m distance
55 dBA Low volume of radio or TV at 1 m distance, noisy vacuum cleaner at
10 m distance
50 dBA Refrigerator at 1 m distance, bird twitter outside at 15 m distance
45 dBA Noise of normal living; talking, or radio in the background
40 dBA Distraction when learning or concentration possible
35 dBA Very quiet room fan at low speed at 1 m distance
25 dBA Sound of breathing at 1 m distance
0 dBA Auditory threshold
mustardman - Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - link
Doesn't the chart list 35dBa as a "Very quiet room fan at 1m"? That's quite different than a quiet suburban bedroom. Everyone's threshold of annoying noise is different. I know I can not sleep with a fan, even low speed, in my room. So, a computer louder than that is unacceptable. Same reason I had to unplug my TiVo before sleeping. I eventually moved it out of the room.I'll check the other sites in addition to Anand, which I've been an avid reader for 8+ years.
strikeback03 - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
I'd guess checking over at Silent PC Review would be more useful for you then, that is the type of testing they do. Anandtech has typically tried to show how it will impact a more typical system, which has fans.The room noise level for the tests was listed as 35dB, so a 25dB system would be probably be considered silent.
mustardman - Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - link
Good point. I didn't see the room noise level. I guess they would be unable to test lower in that case.Cardio - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
Have this cooler and improved its performance by 1-3c with a little work. Bottom of heatsink is chrome plated like the rest of the cooler. Chrome is a poor heat transfer material. I removed the chrome by sanding with 200 grit wet/dry @ 100RPM on a varible speed rotating bench sander. Finishing with jewelers rouge on a sheeps wool buffer. Bottom plate is also much smoother as it was quite shiny before but showed some machine marks. Very pleased with cooler as it now achieves great results at even lower fan speed.can - Monday, January 21, 2008 - link
It's nickel, not chrome.DukeN - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
Why not included in any comparisons guys - this one is incredibly popular (and seems like a great bargain at ~ $25 or less)?Thanks.
aussiestilgar - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
I've been waiting for AnandTech to review this cooler. I like that the test setup is very consistent which makes it easy to compare different coolers. I own this cooler and I must say its fantastic. It cools like the best of them and is extremely good value!sotx - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
um... just wondering here...the result for the ultra extreme 120 are obtained with or without the fan(s)?
Wesley Fink - Thursday, January 17, 2008 - link
The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme was tested with the Scythe SFlex SFF21F 120mm fan. You can refer to the full review for test results by clicking on the cooling tab at the top of this page and searching for the 120 eXtreme review.Those results were run with our earlier test bed and the nVidia utility and they are not directly comparable to current test results. As we said in the review we retested the top coolers on our new test bed with CoreTemp and those are the reported results in this review.