RDJD
K701 SECC1 Cooler
Cooling became an issue a few years
ago, somewhere around the start of the overclocking craze. But that's not the
main reason why many of today’s PC’s run with several fans to keep them cool.
In today’s techie world, everything is getting smaller and smaller, which is good.
But did you also know that everything is also getting hotter and hotter? For example,
let’s compare how many Watts were used in a CPU in 1988. It started playing around
1–4 and it’s now shot up to over 60 (Athlon 65Watts). That’s around 20 times more,
and it’s still going up. As more and more transistors are crammed into smaller
and smaller areas, and cycled on and off at higher speeds, more heat is produced.
High performance CMOS devices are pushing the limits of traditional forced
air-cooling. More advanced cooling methods are needed. Semiconductor and computer
system manufacturers must take steps now to prepare for greater thermal densities
in the future for Thermal
Cooling. But we won’t be talking about this
today. We will be reviewing the RDJD K701 cooler.
The competition
So
how can a cooling company compete in today's world? it must offer one hell of
a service, a good price and off course a high quality product. There are probably
thousands of different coolers available on the market today. From Alphas to Lasagnas.
But do they really offer what we need? For some of them it's off course a yes
and the others a no. We can easly put the RDJD in that competition, it's approved
by AMD for its top-speed Athlon 750 MHz processor. But read on the review.
Techie Info
The
values typically used to express heat sink efficiency are "thermal resistance"
and "pressure drop." Thermal resistance is expressed as the rise in temperature
per watt (°C/W)-the lower the value, the higher the thermal performance. Pressure
drop is the resistance to the air moving through the heat sink, expressed in units
of mmH2O, and ideally should be as low as possible. For example, the heat dissipation
requirements for a computer using a 30-watt CPU can be considered as follows.
If the maximum operating temperature of this CPU is 75 °C, and the airflow in
the case is 1.5m/s, and the temperature of the air is 45 °C, then a heat sink
with thermal resistance of 1 °C/W or less is required. The reason for this is
that in order to keep the CPU within its maximum operating temperature of 75 °C,
the elevation of the CPU's temperature must be kept below 30 °C. To hold the temperature
rise for 30W to within 30 °C, the heat must be dissipated using a heat sink with
thermal resistance of 1 °C/W (30 °C / 30W) or less. While this offers a rough
standard for choosing a heat sink, in reality other factors must be considered,
including heat radiated to the heat sink from other parts, the amount of pressure
drop, and the surface area of the heat source touching the heat sink.
Impressions
The
cooler it self came in a big FEDEX box, just a few days after the order was placed,
I expected it to be something else, but it was the little K701 compared to that
huge box. It was wrapped in a bubbled plastic. I was really amazed of the weight,
it's only 199 grams and its 99.9% aluminum made. Which I could say is pretty good,
Aluminum is one of the best heat conductors and should definately do a great job
on Centreal processing unit cooling. It reminded me of an Alpha cooler, in smaller
size. I think it will perform quite well.
Specifications
& Features
Approved
by AMD for its top-speed Athlon 750 MHz processor.
Unique sink to socket clip
for fast, easy attachment/detachment.
High performance thermal interface allows
efficient heat transfer.
Folded fin design is lightweight (only 199 grams)
and offers more consistent flatness and better contact than competing technology.
Priced significantly lower than competing designs while offering better cooling
characteristics.
Fan
Dimensions: 52mm x 52mm x 15mm Dual-Ball Bearing Rated
Fits
on all SECC1 Central processing units (AMD K7 - P II)
Voltage:
12Vdc
Rated Amperage:
0.19 Amps
Rated Speed:
6000 RPM
Airflow:
17.5 CFM
Noise Level:
36 dBA
Installation
Installing
the K701 isn't complicated, and can be done in less than 2 minutes. When you receive
the package the cooler is already assembled. You will first need to remove your
cpu out of your box, then remove your existing heatsink. As for the third step,
if you have some thermal grease (goop) on the cpu, I highly recommend you to clean
the surface for better results. After that has been done, you will need to mount
the K701 on your SECC1 CPU. It has a really good mounting system, a much better
thought out than other coolers use on the market. Anyhow, you will need to screw
the 2 screws on the top to give some pression between the Central processing unit
and the heatsink. As for the last step, insert the whole unit back and plug the
fan. And you are done. That shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
Some
Extra Shots (click to enlarge)
The
numbers
I Decided to do a little comparision with the Alpha P125 Cooler,
which is now considered as the top cooling solution for us overclockers. I used
a PII 400MHz ( SL2S7) SECC1 Central processing unit running on a Asus P3B-F Motherboard.
Overclocking
temperature results, ALPHA is leading by an average of 3 degrees celsius.
This
chart is showing the motherboard temperature changes, as we can see the ALPHA
is leading thanks to it's powerefull dual fans.
Conclusion
As
we can see, the Alpha is still the winner, but the K701 isn't that far behind.
I also noticed that the motherboard temperature drops by a nice 2-3c using the
alpha's powerefull dual ball bearing fans. If we compare the prices, the alpha
is almost 2 times more.The K701 is sold at 15$ and another 15$ for fast 2 days
shipping (FEDEX), you could go for the other option that is a few bucks less but
will take over 5 days. Also, Celery users, this product is not for you, It comes
with a nice clip system for the SECC1, but no adapter for the celery. If not counting
that, the K701 can be called a competitor, we can highly recommend it for it's
low price and good performance. For more details check out RDJD's
web site.
