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 The extremely hot and poor performing NetBurst processors have been replaced by Core 2 Duo, which runs very cool at stock speeds and overclocks like few chips we have ever seen in the evolution of the CPU.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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kilkennycat - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
The Tuniq Tower 120 weighs 798grams WITHOUT the fan. Both AMD and intel spec ~ 450g maximum and the first-class coolers in this class, the radial design such as the Zalman 9500 and the very similar new Asus radial design endeavor to minimize the weight while maximizing the cooling. The 9500 is ~ 475 grams and the Asus is ~ 610 grams ( both including the fan). Also, the center of gravity of this cooler is much higher off the motherboard than either of the coolers mentioned, especially when the fan is installed. The only way such a cooler can be used safely if the PC is to be transported anywhere after installation... eg to a LAN party or even moving between rooms... is to extend the mounting points of the cooler directly to the PC case, so that the case becomes the prime resistance against any physical strains on the cooler. Otherwise, torsion on the motherboard in the event of any shock to the cooler parallel to the plane of the motherboard is likely to compromise the integrity of the motherboard any one of a number of really nasty ways .... rupture ball-grid array solder joints, rupture circuit-board vias due to layer separation, pop the solder connections of surface mount components, cause hair-line cracks in rigid components such as surface-mount resistors and capacitors. Such failures almost invariably show up as functional intermittents and impossible to track down. I have personally witnessed similar failures caused by poor mechanical designs involving large unsupported components on professional electronic gear when subjected to standard shock tests.Jedi2155 - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
I've had this installed in my system and i've already moved it about 3-5 times (Lan parties). I've had no issues so far. It seems stable enough.btwango - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
798grams? without fan!! i don't think i want that much mass hanging off my mobo.plewis00 - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
The temperature graphs are a bit funny. You give STOCK, 14 x 266 and then 14 x 1095 and 1114 (which I'm guessing are quad-pumped figures instead). Also maybe it was me but I couldn't figure out if your temperature figures were with the Tuniq running at full or minimum speed, I presume the former.It's a great bit of cooling but given I'm working in a mATX case, I'll never have the fun of trying this kit out.
Googer - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Did you forget to add Peltier to the list of cooling options?
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Peltier, or thermoelectric cooling and heating, operates on the same principal as phase change, but the way cooling is actually accomplished is somewhat different. We added Peltier to our list of the various cooling solutions.DigitalFreak - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
I want to see the temps with just someone blowing on the heat spreader!Gigahertz19 - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
I purchased the new Thermaltake Typhoon VX for my Core 2 rig and love it. I have it turned on to the lowest setting and you can't even hear it. Only thing I don't like is the knob to adjust the fan speed is on the HSF so you have to open up your case to adjust it, they should have provided a PCI slot like the Tuniq to adjust fan speed.I read in some review the Typhoon VX is the best, I have the linked saved on my laptop but it comapared the VX to a whole bunch of the air cooling solutions and it performed at the very top. I don't think the review included the Tuniq Tower 120 yet.
Zalman 9700 vs Thermaltake Typhoon VX vs Tuniq Tower 120 for the next review!!! We would truly know what's best!
sadsteve - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
Hi, very nice review.I was wondering if you monitored the PWMIC and chipset temperatures too. I had a Sonic Tower (another 'vertical fan' HSF) which cooled my processor very well, but my PWMIC and chipset temperatures were quiet high. I switched to a Big Typhoon where the fan blows down on the motherboard. I had pretty much the same CPU temperatures (actually better) but my PWMIC and chipset temperatures dropped 15-20 degrees C. I was able to remove the chipset HSF and replace it with a passive heatsink and still had lower temperatures on the chipset (minus the high pitched fan noise!).
Keep up the good work. I check your site at least once a day (yes, weekends too!).
Thank you.
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 15, 2007 - link
We did not monitor chipset temperatures, but you make a very good point. Our EVGA 680i board uses active cooling on the northbridge. Frankly that 680i fan is so loud we needed to turn it off for all noise measurements. It is only needeed for overclocking, fortunately. The 680i is fine with passive cooling at stock speeds.