Asetek VapoChill Micro
Thermal Readings - Stock Clock Speeds
Testing Methodology: Setting up our test system was fairly straight forward. After setting up our hardware and installing Windows XP SP2, we began our testing. For this review, we compared Asetek's Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise CPU cooler to a stock cooler that accompanied our Athlon 64 3700+ in its retail package. We then ran a series of tests comparing the two coolers. We ran loaded and unloaded tests at both stock speeds and while overclocked as well as with fan speeds set to their slowest and fastest settings. The goal is to provide a broad picture of the performance of the Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise cooler compared to stock cooling in all possible scenarios.
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| AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (2.2GHz) San Diego Asetek Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise w/Fan Controller Stock AMD Cooler EPOX KN1SLI EXTREME (NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI) 2x512MB PQI3200-1024DBU CL 2-2-2-5 ATI Radeon X850 Pro 256MB On-board Ethernet On-board Audio Western Digital 80GB Hard Drive 7200 RPM IDE Windows XP Pro SP2 nForce 4 Drivers v6.66 ATI Catalyst 5.8 DirectX 9.0c |
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In our first test, we compared the idle performance at default CPU speed with the Vapochill Micro and stock cooling. In each test, we set both fans at their highest and lowest settings. The fans were allowed to sit in their respective state for 30 minutes to ensure the temperatures were settled before we recorded their values.
At both high and low speed tests, each cooler hovered in the 30C temperature range with the Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise model holding a 1C advantage over the stock cooler.
In our next test we loaded Prime95's torture test for a full 30 minutes and recorded each temperature reading once again. As with the idle test, this test was at stock CPU speed with the fans set to their highest and lowest settings.
In this segment, the Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise offered the greatest advantage in the low fan speed test. Here the stock cooler ran 7C hotter than the ULN cooler, while the gap narrowed to 3C with the fans at maximum speeds. Not only does the Vapochill Micro Ultra Low Noise offer a very quiet experience over stock cooling, it manages to do it without sacrificing performance along the way.
