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Cooler Master CoolViva Pro |
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Written by Nebojsa Todorovic
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Friday, 06 July 2007 |
After reviewing affordable, yet solid graphics card cooling solution, we tested one "heavy-weight". The one in question is new cooler from Cooler Master, whose target group is clear - enthusiasts. Even before starting popular ritual of removing the cooler from the package, you can tell it is a good product. Big cooling system covered with plastic mask with "blower" type of fan and three copper heatpipes are clear indicator there is much to expect from this model.
| Overall Dimensions: | 178.5 x 130 x 41mm | | Heatsink Material: | Aluminum fin and copper base | | Heatsink Dimensions: | 145 x 112 x 38 mm | | Weight: | 320 g | | Fan Dimensions: | 74 x 74 x 22.5 mm | | Bearing Type: | 2 Ball Bearing | | Fan Speed: | 700~1800 ± 10% R.P.M. | | Noise: | 20 dBA | | Rated Voltage: | 12 V | | Dimensions: | 13 x 12 x 8.88 mm | | Material: | Aluminum |
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Cooler grids are not too dense, and three parallel heatpipes passing along cooling system have function of equal heat allocation. Well-polished cooler base is made of copper, which facilitates better heat distribution to heatpipes. Surprisingly, the cooler is rather quiet, because when casing closes, produced noise is not detectable. However, Zalman´s representative is quieter – almost stealthy. The fan can be connected in two manners.
The first is to use feeding on the card itself, which will be approved by many. The second usual manner is to do it directly through Molex connector. Beside this cooler, we have eight more passive aluminum coolers coming in the package. They are identical to the coolers coming from CoolViva G1. We should mention that minor problem occurs in certain situations. Namely, when memory chips (usually two in pair) are above GPU, you cannot attach small passive coolers. This type of situation is rather frequent, therefore, we have objection to this Cooler Master’s oversight. This should not discourage you, but it is definitely smaller-proportion minus.
Mounting on X1950PRO card went rather smoothly with help of four holders, but here we have another small objection. Although the package contains information that CoolViVa PRO matches almost all current graphics cards, with certain models, mounting is made with two holders. Mounted in this way, cooler experiences "seesaw" effect, which affects stability and overlapping on cooler; therefore, mounting should be performed more cautiously. On the other hand, performances of this cooler will make us forget its faults. As you can see in the table, we made comparison with Zalman´s top model we’ve introduced earlier.
Although the competition was visibly tensed, disbelief went in favor of Cooler Master’s model. It is true that we’ve expected plenty of CoolViVa-e PRO, but it exceeded our expectations. Likewise, we should mention that temperature diagram was more linear than Zalman´s, which experienced more temperature oscillations. With all of this, after loading, CoolViVa PRO returned more quickly to "idle" temperature values. Test has been conducted in home conditions, in closed and well ventilated casing with application of Cooler Master NanoFusion thermal paste.
| Results | | | | Cooler | Zalman VF900-Cu | Cooler Master CoolViVa PRO | | Idle (°C) | 39,58 | 37,50 | | Full (°C) | 53,96 | 52,12 |
Graphics card: Radeon X1950PRO 256MB (580MHz / 1400MHz) |
Some things are definitely speaking in favor of Zalman´s VF-900Cu, like smaller gabarite, simplicity of mounting and produced noise. CoolViVa has equal number of virtues, yet more valuable. Its advantages are better performances, rather lower price than competitor’s and probably the most important thing – its availability on the market. When initial problems pass, it will be almost perfect solution. Without further discussion, it is even now worth of an “Approved” award from our side. |
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