Testbed and Methods

Now let’s move on to the tests. We performed the tests only in a closed system case with the following configuration:

• Mainboard: ASUS P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP (Intel P35, LGA775, BIOS 0501)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2400MHz, 1.2875 В, L2 2x4096KB, FSB: 266MHz x 4, Kentsfield, B3)
• CPU cooler: Thermalright SI-128 + 120-mm Scythe Minebea fan at ~1140rpm
• Thermal interface: Arctic Silver 5;
• Graphics cards:
• Sysconn GeForce 7900 GS 256MB (256 bit, @575/1710MHz)
• MSI Radeon X1900 XT (RX1900XT-VT2D256E) 256MB (256 bit, 621/1440MHz)
• System memory: 2x1024MB DDR2 Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-9136C5D (SPD: 1142MHz, 5-5-5-18, 2.1V)
• Disk subsystem: Hitachi HDT725032VLA360 (SATA-II, 320GB capacity, 7200rpm, 16MB cache, NCQ)
• Optical drive: SATA-II DVD RAM & DVD±R/RW & CD±RW Samsung SH-S183L
• System case: ASUS ASCOT 6AR2-B Black&Silver ATX case with two 120mm Sharkoon Luminous Blue LED (~980rpm) system fans and a 120mm GlacialTech SilentBlade GT12025-BDLA1 fan (~940rpm) a on a side panel
• Power supply: Enermax Galaxy EGA1000EWL 1000W power supply with a 135mm intake fan at ~850rpm and 80mm outtake fan at ~1650rpm

The tests were performed in Windows XP Professional Edition SP2 operating system. We used DirectX 9.0c (released August 2007), ForceWare 163.67 and Catalyst 7.9 graphics card drivers.

The graphics cards were warmed up by running the Firefly Forest test from the synthetic 3DMark 2006 benchmarking suite 10 times with enabled 16x anisotropic filtering:

We didn’t enable full-screen antialiasing during this test session. The graphics cards temperatures were monitored with RivaTuner version 2.0.4 utility. Each cooler was tested at least two times with a stabilization period of 10-15 minutes between test cycles. The noise level of the tested cooling systems was measured according to our methodology described in the previous articles. The subjective comfortable noise level of 36dBA is marked with a dotted line on the diagrams below, and the background noise of the system case with a passive graphics card cooler in it measured at 1m distance during our test session equaled 34dBA. The room temperature at the time of tests was relatively low and sat at 18.5ºC (marked with a red dotted line on the diagrams).

Besides the two Cooler Master CoolViva Pro coolers we have also included the results of a pretty popular Zalman VF900-Cu LED cooler on copper heatpipes and of highly efficient but very rare in retail these days Arctic Cooling Accelero S1. The former was tested in two operational modes: at relatively quiet ~1620rpm and at maximum 2630rpm (when connected directly to the mainboard without Fan Mate 2). The Swiss Arctic Cooling solution was tested in passive mode (only for GeForce 7900 GS) and with one 120-mm fan from GlacialTech running at 940rpm.

Besides Zalman VF900-Cu LED and Arctic Cooling Accelero S1, we have also included the results for standard graphics cards cooling systems. We have already discussed the Sysconn GeForce 7900 GS graphics card before, and for your reference here is the MSI Radeon X1900 XT solution:

As you can see, this graphics card has pretty standard cooling system for solutions for this type. It was tested in three work modes: with automatic fan rotation speed control (~3150rpm), in quiet mode at ~1900rpm and at maximum fan rotation speed of ~4900rpm. Before we pass over to discussing the thermal and acoustic performance results of our today’s testing participants I would like to remind you that the average fan (blower) rotation speed of all tested coolers is measured with the monitoring tools and not taken from the official claimed specs.