X-bit labs

OCZ Vindicator CPU Cooler Review: When the Copy is As Good As the Original (page 6)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 05/08/2007 | 04:36 PM ]

Thermal Performance

Now let’s take a look at the results:

And what do we expect to see here? :) According to our article called SuperCoolers Return: Zalman CNPS9700 LED and Scythe Infinity, we already know that Thermaltake Big Typhoon proves more efficient than Scythe Ninja in a closed system case, therefore, we shouldn’t actually expect any wonders from OCZ Vindicator. The loss of 6°C in a closed system case and a little less than 4°C in an open stand can be eliminated by installing a second quiet fan (almost with no increase in the level of generated noise). However, the newcomer still cannot outperform the Big Typhoon winner.

In the rivalry between the two clone-coolers, Scythe Ninja won, although we have to admit that its thermal performance advantage is tiny in both test modes: with one and two fans. I don’t see the point in installing faster 1,200rpm fans onto OCZ Vindicator, as the results will not really change, as you may have already guessed.

And in conclusion I suggest that we check out how far our Intel Core 2 Duo can overclock if the OCZ Vindicator cooler is installed in passive configuration, i.e. without the fan. The results turned out not so low actually: 3079MHz at the nominal Vcore when checked with TAT. Although the overall thermal mode looked pretty scary in this case and the CPU was on the edge of going into throttling:

However, you know that in case of 100% load on both cores Intel Thermal Analysis Tool (TAT) loads the CPU in a way absolutely not typical of any applications. Therefore, I decided to continue my overclocking and stability experiments with OCCT program. As a result, we found out that our processor could run stably at 3160MHz (without increasing the Vcore) when cooled with only the passive heatsink!

In this case the temperature under peak load didn’t exceed 75°C:

This is excellent result from the noise-to-efficiency prospective, however you shouldn’t forget that in our testbed the system case was cooled with three 120-mm fans. So, you may not be able to achieve the same results in traditional system cases not featuring that many additional case fans.