Tuniq Tower 120: Air Cooling to the Max
by Wesley Fink on January 15, 2007 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Does Cooling Matter With Core 2 and AM2?
In a recent review of the upcoming Core 2 Duo E4300, Anand found that the new 1.8GHz E4300 could be easily pushed to 3.37GHz with stock cooling, an astounding 87% overclock. Why then, would anyone want to worry about enhanced cooling? The answer is really simple. If you want to reach even higher overclocks - to potentially around 4 GHz - you need to look at improving CPU cooling.It is absolutely true that Core 2 Duo is not Pentium 4 when it comes to heat generation. The extremely hot and poor performing NetBurst processors have been replaced by Core 2 Duo, which runs very cool at stock speeds and overclocks like few chips we have ever seen in the evolution of the CPU. As a result life is good right now for Intel CPU users.
This year we will see if AMD can accomplish something similar with AM2 at 65nm. Current top 90nm AM2 processors have almost no "head room" at all, making concerns about overclocking relevant only for lower end AM2 chips. Early 65nm chips are also not stellar overclockers, but it is still early, and everyone expects that AMD can achieve overclocking results similar to C2D when their 65nm manufacturing is fully rolled out. It will be interesting to stop the speculation and actually see what AMD rolls out this year.
With relatively cool CPUs and massive overclocking capabilities it is worth looking at what happens with a stock processor and a stock heatsink/fan, at rated speed and when overclocked. We monitored CPU temperature on an NVIDIA 680i motherboard running an X6800 CPU with the stock Intel HSF - both at the stock speed of 2.93GHz, and at the highest stable overclock that would still allow gaming of 3.73GHz.
| X6800 CPU Operating Temperature with Standard Heatsink/Fan (Ambient Temperature 21C (70F) |
||
| CPU | System | |
| IDLE 2.93GHz | 41C (106F) | 32C (90F) |
| GAMING 2.93GHz | 56C (133F) | 33C (91F) |
| IDLE 3.73GHz | 56C (133F) | 37C (99F) |
| Gaming 3.73GHz | 71C (160F) | 38C (100F) |
While temperatures are dramatically improved compared to P4 NetBurst processors, it is clear that temperatures do increase rapidly as the overclock increases. At the highest overclock of 3.73GHz idle temperature had increased to 56C (133F) and stressed temperature rises to 71C (160F).
At this 3.73GHz overclock we suspect that the biggest handicap to further overclocking is CPU cooling. However, this is a question that can only be answered with a closer look at the performance of the Tuniq Tower 120. In the end we buy improved coolers for better cooling in most performance configurations. This improved cooling should theoretically allow even higher overclocks of the CPU. If the cooler you are considering does not cool better and/or improve overclocking, there is absolutely no justification at all for buying the cooling solution.
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monsoon - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Hello,I was a little surprised not tp see comparison benchmarks to a TUNIQ + E4300. I would love to see how much higher can the little buddy be pushed to a overclock with a TUNIQ.
Also, how comes lower clocked CPUs are those that can get higher ? ( sorry, I'm a newbie to PC modding )
THANKS
Great Googly Moogly - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Do not use the word "silent"; use "quiet". Also, you'd do better if you at least gave some impressions of the quality of noise, as that is just as, if not more, important.The rest is good.
RobbieMc - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
I recently purchased a Scythe Ninja to cool a QX6700. I was considering purchasing the Tuniq Tower, or the Ninja, and was told the ninja had slightly better cooling. After installing it (properly), I found that the Ninja ran nearly 30 degrees F hotter than the stock cooling. I was under the impression that the Ninja and the Tuniq Tower had about the same performance, but based on this review, if my data is right, then the Tuniq would be much better. I'm wondering what the weak link is with the ninja. Is it really possible that the stock cooling is substantially better? Do you all suspect I had an improper installation (I am convinced I did everything properly), is the Tuniq better than the Ninja, are my results at all normal? Thanks.xsilver - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&nu...">http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getart...ber=2&am...a non obvious installation problem is too much thermal grease
either that or malfunctioning probes?
RobbieMc - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
The first time installing, I did put on WAY too much thermal grease, but I soon realized this was bad, and reinstalled it with a very thin layer of Arctic Silver 5 grease. I don't think the probes are bad either because the temperature readings I'm getting are within 1-2 degrees of Anandtech's stock cooler temperatures (131F under load).Shark Tek - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Those stock temps are quite high if I compare them to my 939 AMD 4400+ X2 setup. At 2.8GHz I run 35'C idle and 50'C load.Which is the maximum or limit temp that a Core Duo 2 can stand in such way that it will work flawlessly? I mean, in which point you need to worry about temperature?
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
How are you measuring temperatures? Most motherboards are notoriously inaccurate in CPU temp measurements.Zaitsev - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Great review, Wesley. I'm so happy that Anandtech is finally testing cooling solutions again. It would be nice if you could comment on the weight of the heavier coolers in the next article, since that is a common complaint about heatsinks like the tuniq tower or infinity. Look forward to the rest of the series.mobutu - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
I suggest that Anandtech take a look at http://www.silentpcreview.com/">http://www.silentpcreview.com/ and learn how to do a "noise" test. If 34db is quiet then how about 22-25db? Definitevly 34db is LOUD.Otherwise pretty good review, but to compare aplle with aplle then you should test at least Thermalright Ultra 120 and Scythe Ninja (not to mention similar solutions from zalman, thermaltake and the others).
Cheers!
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
We are very aware of some of the excellent "noise level" testing done by Silent PC. The information is very useful for those who are looking for the lowest possible noise.However, all our benchmarking tries to factor in the "real world" where users are operating their computers. The real world in this case is a "subjectively" very quiet 520W OCZ Power Supply at a noise floor of 38.3db and our test room at 36.3 db with all computers and fans turned off. To mainteain noise in the mid-30's we have to leave off all other computers, ac, and heat in the lab during our sound measurements. At those db levels, performance at 24db is interesting, but it doesn't tell us much about the noise of a cooler in a working computer in our test room.