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Date: June 11th, 2007
Article by: Jackie Mueller (Hardware Reviewer)
Edited by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner / Head Editor)
Product was submitted by: Thermaltake USA
<--SHOP FOR A THERMALTAKE V1 HEATPIPE COPPER INTEL/AMD CPU COOLER HERE

 

PRODUCT INSTALLATION AND TESTING

The two push pin brackets in the picture above are for Intel 775 sockets. One bracket is screwed to each side of the base, and then the cooler is secured to the motherboard using the push pins. For this review, I will be installing the V1 on an AMD socket 754 system. The stock retention frame is used and only one other part is needed besides the cooler itself - the single metal clip. One end clips on the middle hook on the retention frame, and the other side simply clips in the same way and the lever is turned clockwise to tighten it all down. It doesn't get much easier than that. A three pin connector plugs into the motherboard for power.

 

 

 

Now that the V1 is installed it's time to see what it can do. As you can see in the pictures above I managed to inadvertently bend a couple of the fins during installation, so be careful as the fins are lightweight and therefore a bit delicate.

I did not install the motherboard in a case so keep in mind temps will vary depending on airflow when inside a case. As I mentioned earlier make sure you have enough clearance due to the tall size of this cooler. In most cases it should be fine, but just be aware. For testing, here's the system I used.

-A64 3200+ processor
-DFI Lanparty nF3 250 GB motherboard
-2 x 512Mb Patriot PC3200
-Radeon X800 XT PE
-2 x WD800JD in Raid 0
-NEC ND-3520A DVD-RW
-Lite-On XJ-HD166S DVD-ROM
-Antec Smartpower 500W PSU

The conditions I used during testing are:

-Ambient room temperature was kept at a constant 20C.
-Artic Silver 5 thermal paste used.
-Idle temps were recorded after the PC had been sitting for one hour under zero load.
-Load temps were recorded after two hours of torture testing with Prime95.
-Temps were recorded first at stock speed (2.2GHz) and then again after overclocked (2.5GHz).
-Since the V1 has an adjustable fan, temps were recorded on both the lowest fan speed and then the highest.

I have also listed the stock AMD cooler results in all tables for comparison.

Stock Speed, Low Fan (1300RPM)

Stock Speed, High Fan (2000RPM)

Overclocked, High Fan (2000RPM)

I have to say that I am pleased with the results. The V1 temps were very close to the Max Orb and obviously a big improvement over the stock cooler. I was also impressed with the fan – the blue LED gives off a nice glow and running at low speed, it is practically silent. At the highest setting it's a bit on the noisy side, but not to the point where it became bothersome.