Benchmarks
Hardware
| CPU |
Intel
Pentium 3 700 @ 980MHz
|
| Heatsink
& Fan |
Global
Win FKP-32
|
| Motherboard |
Asus
CUSL2 rev 1.02 w/1002 BIOS (provided by AD
of K)
|
| Memory |
Mushkin 128MB CAS2 PC133 (256MB total)
|
| Hard
Drive |
IBM
15.3GB 75GXP 7200 RPM ATA100
|
|
CD-ROM
|
Plextor
12-04-32 SCSI CD-RW
|
| Sound
Card |
SB
Live! Value
|
| Video
Cards |
Onboard AGP i815 Video, 64MB Texture memory
|
| Case |
InWin
S500 w/PowerMan 300W Supply
|
It should
be noted that the excellent S500
ATX case was used for testing. What's so exciting about this arrangement
isn't necessarily the super mid tower arrangement with a horizontally mounted
power supply, but its fantastic air flow characteristics. Without the aid
of any other case fans, the S500 manages to hold the inside temperature
at the ambient outside temperature. The motherboard temp isn't all that
far behind as without the XT, it's only a paltry 9ºF higher than the
ambient outside air temp.
| |
CPU
Temp
|
MB
Temp
|
Case
Temp
|
| w/o
XT |
91ºF
|
80ºF
|
71ºF
|
| with
XT |
89ºF
|
71ºF
|
71ºF
|
There's nothing
like real world benchmarks to add fuel to the fire. In the XT's case, the
fire burns in favor of overall temperature reduction. Even with the GW 4500
RPM CPU screamer in place, The Card Cooler reduced the CPU temp by a solid
2ºF. The MB temp was also lessened by a large 9ºF drop. To hear
the beautiful noise The Cooler makes click here for
an MP3 treat. Since the case already has the best airflow characteristics
ever measured at TargetPC, I really didn't expect any further reduction. When
ambient and interior case temps match, that's as good as it gets.
Conclusions
It appears that lately,
I either receive fantastic products that are worthy of more than faint praise
or I get real bombs. Those are items that should not be marketed at all or
are in desperate need of some heavy re-engineering. I'm happy to announce
that the Card Cooler XT falls into the former category.
If your requirements demand
100CFM+ of airflow or you just want to keep your servers cool as a cucumber,
the XT is by far the best choice. While not obnoxiously loud, they are moderately
quiet considering the enormous 138CFM total output. Add that to the minuscule
4.8 Watt power draw and the reasonable price and you have a winning formula.
William Yaple
11/05/00
