|
Spire Whisper Rock IV Socket A Cooler
Test Results
Testbed Specs:
Case: Topower B030 (Provided
by EYO)
Motherboard: Epox 8K9A2+ (VIA KT400)
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (Tbred A)
Memory: 512Mb Corsair XMS PC2700
Graphic Card: 64Mb Leadtek GF4 Ti4200
HDD: Seagate 80Gb 7200.7
In order to put the coolers under as much stress as possible, the VCORE of
the CPU was set to 1.85V and the case side was left ON during all tests. Idle
testing was done by simply powering on the computer and leaving it idle for
20 minutes. Load testing was done by running Folding@Home along with 3DMark2003
demo looping for 20 minutes. Ambient (room) temperature during all testing was
kept at a constant 21.5C.
The results really speak for themselves. Temperatures were virtually identical
(within the margin for error), which isn't surprising really, considering the
heatsinks are identical and whilst the fans are different, the actual output
(CFM) of the fans on both units is identical.
As far as sound testing is concerned, the difference is not as easy to notice as one would think. In our test case, with its 2 case fans and power supply fan, not even the Spire Falcon Rock II's fan is distinctly audible above the others, and the Spire Whisper Rock IV's is even quieter than that. In order to fully test the sound levels of both these fans, I removed them from the heatsinks, and set them up as case fans in two identical cases. The cases were just generic ones, with the only other fan being the one in the power supply.
The results were amazing. While the Spire Falcon Rock II's fan was extremely
quiet, the Spire Whisper Rock IV's fan is definitely quieter. While it is hard
to describe, the Whisper Rock IV's fan lacks a certain hum/whine that the Falcon
Rock II's does. Whichever way you spell it, its two thumbs up for Spire on this
one.
< < Previous - Features || Next
- Conclusion >>
| 
