by Sergey Lepilov
10/01/2007 | 12:16 PM
There is one very simple reason why our today’s article saw the light of day. Cooler Master Company has recently launched their new updated cooling solution for graphics cards called CoolViva Pro SE .
<%BANNER[article]%>We have already reviewed the first modification of this system in our article called New Graphics Card Cooling Solution from Cooler Master: CoolViva Pro Review and at that time it made a very good impression on us. This highly efficient, quiet, universal cooling solution from Cooler Master is still available in stores these days, but it is being little by little replaced by the second modification called CoolViva Pro SE (SE stands for Second Edition). So today we are going to discuss what the differences between the new CoolViva Pro SE and its predecessor actually are.
Taking into account everything we have already said in the previous article about the design and peculiarities of CoolViva Pro it doesn’t make much sense to repeat most of it today, as you can always check out our previous review. Therefore, we suggest dwelling particularly on the differences between the regular and SE modifications.
As always, let’s start with the package design and accessories bundle.
The design of CoolViva Pro SE package remained the same, there are only a few smaller details that allow distinguishing between the older and the newer versions. Besides the addition of the new “SE” lettering index to the cooler name on the front of the box, there are also three pictograms instead of one: one indicating the noise level and the other two with the new Nvidia and AMD graphics card models (hereinafter we will have CoolViva Pro on the left and CoolViva Pro SE on the right):
There are much more differences on the back side of the package. The photos are more detailed, the list of supported graphics cards is more extensive as well as the technical specifications and brief description of cooler features:
The accessories bundle has also been slightly changed:
CoolViva Pro
| CoolViva Pro SE
|
Externally, the two coolers look very similar and the differences between them are hardly noticeable. The plastic casing of the older cooler model was of gray color, while the second edition has a black casing:
The stickers on the front of the casing are also different, which is actually quite logical. Here we immediately notice the main distinguishing feature of the new CoolViva Pro SE: a different type of blower, however, we are going to talk about it in detail later in this article.
If you look at the bottom of the coolers, they will not be very much different from one another at all:
Identical casings:
Identical aluminum heatsinks on three copper heatpipes:
Only the blower fans are dramatically different. Take a look:
CoolViva Pro features a blower with straight fan blades with variable rotation speed ranging between 700 and 1800rpm (±10%) that varies due to pulse-width modulation. According to the monitoring data, the maximum rotation speed of the CoolViva Pro blower is 1800rpm, which is completely compliant with the claimed technical specifications. SE model features a slightly larger (1mm bigger) and differently shaped blower with constant rotation speed of 1800rpm (±10%). However, its blades represent something between a turbine and a fan. Unfortunately, the manufacturer didn’t mention the airflow data in both cases, but I dare suppose that it will be higher by CoolViva Pro SE in case of identical fan rotation speeds. Moreover, the monitoring data also reported that the blower rotation speed exceeded the claimed deviation of ±10% claimed in the specifications and reached 2050rpm.
CoolViva Pro blower is manufactured by Delta Electronics (BFB1012L model), while the SE version features a turbine from a not very well-known Taiwanese Talent Top Ltd. Company (DT1275LSAV model). It is very interesting that despite more aggressive blade design, the level of generated noise by the SE cooler is claimed to be 1dBA lower than that of CoolViva Pro (19dBA against 20dBA). Among the drawbacks of the new solution we should definitely point out a less long-lasting slide bearing that they used this time, while CoolViva Pro has two frictionless bearings. The CoolViva Pro SE also has no PWM support.
The copper cooler base of both solutions is very nicely finished and is equally even:
Also, I have to point out that the new CoolViva Pro SE is 30g lighter than the predecessor.
The cooler installation procedure remained the same. Two bent brackets are tightened to the aluminum plate in the cooler base with four screws:
There are two types of retention kits for different graphics cards:
The installation guide bundled with CoolViva Pro SE contains a list of supported graphics cards grouped according to the included clips and the corresponding retention holes in them:
Although this guide as well as the official company web-site still contain the same identical list for both: CoolViva Pro and CoolViva Pro SE, the support of Nvidia GeForce 8600 and AMD (ATI) Radeon X1950 graphics card series is specifically stressed on the new cooler package.
CoolViva Pro SE is tightened to the graphics chip with two or four spring screw studs. Not so long ago we came across some reports in the forums that the spring screw studs are not very reliable. Luckily, we cannot confirm this fact, because during our numerous installations and dismounting of the CoolViva Pro and CoolViva Pro SE we never came across this problem.
I would like to remind you that before installing the cooler on to the graphics card you should stick the heatsinks to the memory chips and install the meshed bracket instead of the cover panel of the rear case slot newt to the graphics card. Two memory chips will be right underneath the CoolViva Pro SE cooler once it is installed that is why there are two tick thermal pads specifically included into the bundle for these two chips with the CoolViva Pro SE system. I have to admit that it is not the best solution, but it is anyway better than nothing by the previous cooler model - CoolViva Pro.
The cooling system installed onto Radeon X1900 XT looks as follows:
You can see clearly that CoolViva Pro SE will also take up the next PCI-E slot, but we cannot really name it a serious drawback because it takes only one slot, not more than that. Most reference graphics card coolers in the mainstream and high-end segment are dual-slot ones anyway.
Here is what the system will look like in an assembled case:
Now that we have discussed all the major and minor differences between the two cooling solutions from Cooler Master, let’s sum everything up in the side-by-side specification comparison chart:
I would like to specifically stress that CoolViva Pro SE boasts $9 lower recommended retail price than the predecessor, which is a definite plus.
Now let’s move on to the tests. We performed the tests only in a closed system case with the following configuration:
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.
Well, here are the results:
CoolViva Pro SE has truly become much more efficient than the first revision. The performance improvement under peak workload reached 4ºC for GeForce 7900 GS and 3ºC for Radeon X1900 XT. This improvement results from the successfully modified turbine blower design that is also rotating 250rpm faster. Moreover, you can really feel this difference, because the airflow ousted from the system case by CoolViva Pro is hardly noticeable.
Radeon X1900 XT graphics card provides two additional results: ambient temperatures and voltage regulator temperature:
Of course, the situation improved here, too. And in case of voltage regulator temperature this improvement is pretty significant.
But did the turbine design change affect the level of generated noise by CoolViva Pro SE? Let’s answer this question right now:
The noise level generated by CoolViva Pro SE not only never exceeded that of the predecessor, but it proved to operate even quieter than the regular CoolViva Pro. The “plastic” sounding of the first cooler blower disappeared completely and even a slight increase in the turbine blades rotation speed had no negative effect on the level of generated noise.
Well, CoolViva Pro SE is an excellent example of how the existing cooling solutions should be modified. All changes introduced in the SE model are aimed at making the solution more attractive for the users and overclocking fans. CoolViva Pro SE became more efficient, much quieter and more light-weight, and of course, even more affordable from the price standpoint, which is also very important. Universality has been improved minimally, because the retention kits and mounting holes remained the same as by CoolViva Pro, they simply added a few new graphics card models into the compatibility list.
As for the drawbacks, we can certainly point out the absence of PWM-function support although at the current level of generated noise this is an insignificant issue. All in all, CoolViva Pro that is being discontinued as we speak has got a truly worthy replacement.