X-bit labs

New Coolers from Scythe: Katana II and Kama Cross Review (page 7)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 07/02/2007 | 03:58 PM ]

Testbed and Methods

It has become a kind of tradition for us to test new coolers in comparison with the Cooler Master Hyper TX and the Thermaltake Big Typhoon. These coolers come from two difference price categories, costing $22 and $40, respectively. I consider these two coolers as best in their segments in terms of price/performance. They are also quiet at work and widely available. I think these are substantial reasons for this pair of coolers to serve as the reference point in our reviews.

It would have been interesting to compare the original Katana with the second version but I couldn’t find it. I was told the first Katana was out of production due to the launch of Katana II.

The coolers are tested on an open testbed as well as in a system case with the following configuration:

• Mainboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP (Intel P965 chipset, LGA775, BIOS 1101)
• Chipset cooler: Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II (~2500rpm)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2400MHz, 1.2875V, 266x4MHz FSB, 2x4096KB L2 cache, Kentsfield B3)
• Graphics card: Sysconn GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB/128bit (running at 670/2016MHz)
• Graphics card cooler: Arctic Cooling Accelero S2 in passive mode
• Memory: 2 x 1024MB Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-9136C5D DDR2 SDRAM (SPD: 1142MHz, 5-5-5-18, 2.1V)
• Disk subsystem: Hitachi HDT725032VLA360 (SATA-II, 320GB storage capacity, 7200rpm, 16MB cache, NCQ)
• Optical drives: NEC ND-4571A DVD burner
• System case: ASUS ASCOT 6AR2-B Black&Silver with two system fans from Cooler Master (120mm, 1180rpm, 21dBA) and one 120mm fan Sharkoon Luminous Blue LED (1000rpm)
• Power supply: MGE Magnum 500 (500W) + 80mm GlacialTech SilentBlade fan (~1700rpm, 19dBA)

The peak CPU frequency was limited by the efficiency of the weakest cooler. The quad-core CPU was overclocked to 3213MHz (a frequency gain of 33.9%) with a voltage increase to 1.45V.

The mainboards’ automatic fan speed management is disabled for the time of the tests. The thermal throttling of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is controlled with RightMark CPU Clock Utility version 2.25.

All tests are performed in Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2. SpeedFan 4.32 is used to monitor the temperature of the CPUs, reading it from the CPU sensor. The CPU is heated up by means of OverClock Checking Tool version 1.1.0 in a 25-minute test in which the system remains idle in the first and last 4 minutes.

The TAT program I had used earlier in my cooler reviews heats an Intel Core 2 Quad up by 2-4°C more than the OCCT does, but the OverClock Checking Tool is more practical and issues an error message if the CPU is unstable while the TAT goes on working under such conditions.

I perform at least two cycles of tests and wait for 25-30 minutes for the temperature to stabilize during each test cycle. The maximum temperature of the hottest CPU core in the two test cycles is considered as the final result (if the difference is not bigger than 1°C – otherwise the test is performed once again). Despite the stabilization period, the result of the second cycle is usually 0.5-1°C higher.

The ambient temperature was monitored by means of an electric thermometer and remained at 24°C during the tests. The fan rotation speed is shown in the diagram as reported by monitoring tools.