Test Setup
Our thermal tests utilize sensor readings via the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) capability of the drives. We use the Active SMART 2.6 utility for the reported values. We test our drives in an enclosed case environment without the fans operational; this setup approximates the type of environment found in near silent SFF or HTPC case designs. We typically find the reported numbers drop anywhere from 18% to 25% when the case fans are operational. Our base temperature level in the room at the time of testing is 25C.
As the Ultra cooler will have no impact on the performance of the hard drive, the benchmark focus for this article is on heat dissipation. We could find no impact in terms of noise or vibration during our tests - we'll discuss that in more detail in our conclusion.
For this test, we measure the temperature of the hard drive after the system is idle for an hour (ensuring that the drive has ample time to reach its standard idle operating temperature). We then place a heavy load on the drive by running our PCMark05 HDD test. We monitor heat levels during the test to get a graphical representation of what effects, if any, the Ultra cooler produces.
| Standard Test Bed Test Application Results |
|
| Processor | Intel E6600 - 2.4GHz Dual Core |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 |
| RAM | 2 x 1GB OCZ Reaper PC2-6400 Settings: DDR800 4-4-3-9 |
| OS Hard Drive | 1 x Western Digital WD1500 Raptor - 150GB |
| System Platform Drivers | Intel 8.3.0.1013 Intel Matrix RAID 7.6.0.1011 |
| Video Card | 1 x MSI 8800GTX |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA ForceWare 162.18 |
| Optical Drive | Plextor PX-760A, Plextor PX-B900A |
| Cooling | Tuniq 120 |
| Power Supply | OCZ GXS700 |
| Case | Cooler Master CM Stacker 830 |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| . | |
Our thermal tests utilize sensor readings via the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) capability of the drives. We use the Active SMART 2.6 utility for the reported values. We test our drives in an enclosed case environment without the fans operational; this setup approximates the type of environment found in near silent SFF or HTPC case designs. We typically find the reported numbers drop anywhere from 18% to 25% when the case fans are operational. Our base temperature level in the room at the time of testing is 25C.
As the Ultra cooler will have no impact on the performance of the hard drive, the benchmark focus for this article is on heat dissipation. We could find no impact in terms of noise or vibration during our tests - we'll discuss that in more detail in our conclusion.
For this test, we measure the temperature of the hard drive after the system is idle for an hour (ensuring that the drive has ample time to reach its standard idle operating temperature). We then place a heavy load on the drive by running our PCMark05 HDD test. We monitor heat levels during the test to get a graphical representation of what effects, if any, the Ultra cooler produces.
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Ajax9000 - Monday, November 5, 2007 - link
So you take a 3.5" drive out of a 3.5" bay, wrap it in a metal shroud, stick it in a 5.25" bay and its temperature goes down ...Well, how much would the teperature have gone down if you just mounted the bare drive in the 5.25" bay?????????????
SunAngel - Sunday, November 4, 2007 - link
The following comments are not directed towards the article itself, but the product.It amazes me with all the "hotroding" going on in computers. A hard drive cooler? Come on, get real. If your hard drive is running hot I think you have more serious problems than a hard drive cooler will solve. Like maybe you need to have better case cooling. But, I guess there are individuals out there that will fall for this type of product.
At $43 MSRP, this should put this product in the grave real quick. For $43 you could purchase a better cooling case or upgrade the cooling the case you already have. I feel so ashamed when I read reviews of these types of products. I always think, "Damn, if this persons wasn't so immature they would see this product is worthless." I don't know why I feel ashamed, hell, its not my money. It as if a bully is taking money from a baby. I just want to bash the nose to back of their skull. Yet, I know we are different and have different needs and tastes.
So I'm going to end my jibber jabbing and let bygons be bygons.
mechBgon - Sunday, November 4, 2007 - link
Not to be a language Nazi, but with reference to the title, the phrase is "put it through the wringer," from the olden days when that was part of doing laundry. :)mindless1 - Sunday, November 4, 2007 - link
So we have heatpipes or at least heatpipe looking *things*, but what's missing? The heatpipes should be connected to fins to increase their surface area, that is essentially the point of heatpipes. Having that fin plate arrangement on top is far less effective than it ought to be.For this reason I'd have to consider the product misengineered, before even considering that if it were well engineered it would still make minimal difference unless the drive was installed in some hot cramped place where it shouldn't have been w/o another cooling method already like passive intake holes in front of the bay or a fan. A couple degrees isn't even worth the time to install this if they gave it to you for free.
If it had LEDs and the heatsink was giganormous enough that you had to buy another case with it's own zip code just to use it, then it would at least impress the younger crowd. This product has free after rebate written all over it.
RichUK - Sunday, November 4, 2007 - link
What a useless bit of kit. This is akin to putting spinners on your pimped out Hummer.jmv - Saturday, November 3, 2007 - link
What does a "7% decreased load temperature" mean?Is that 7% with respect to
a) ambient room temperature
b) ambient case temperature
c) 0 C
d) 0 Fahrenheit
d) absolute zero (-273 C)
I suspect it's c), but that would be a completely arbitrary scale. For example, the result would be different if measured in Fahrenheit!
Dave Robinet - Saturday, November 3, 2007 - link
7% drop versus what the drive originally ran at (ie. without the cooler).SO:
Without the heatsink, the Raptor was 58.6 degrees. With the heatsink, it was 54.7. That difference (3.9 degrees) is roughly 7% of the original 58.6 degree temperature (actually 6.665%).
Sorry if that wasn't clear. Thanks for reading, and for the smile this morning. :)
dnd728 - Saturday, November 3, 2007 - link
Hmm... You shouldn't really do this. It would only mean anything if you use the ambient temperature as your base. 0C is simply an arbitrary point chosen because that's when water freezes. It has no relevance here - it means nothing.Woodchuck2000 - Saturday, November 3, 2007 - link
Spot on... Seriously, before you write an article about practical thermodynamics, take a few seconds to actually do some research. The only meaningful reading you can take here is the difference beween drive and ambient temperature. You don't actually specify how you measure the drive temperature, and you don't consider the effects of the different mounting mechanisms within the case - the default 4 in 3 hard drive mounting of the Stacker 830 will be lousy for convective cooling compared with the 5.25" bay mounts which have clear air above and below (unless you've mounted between your two optical drives - again, not stated). This is, in the end, a pointless product which makes no practical difference to your rig and I would expect a site of Anandtech's calibre to actually say so.puffpio - Friday, November 2, 2007 - link
any thermal paste used?Totally passive system would be sweeeeeeeet