Monsoon II Lite: Thermal Electric Cooling Tower
by Wesley Fink on February 6, 2007 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
CPU Cooling Test Configuration
The standard test bed for cooling tests is an NVIDIA 680i motherboard, specifically the EVGA nForce 680i SLI. This was primarily based on the consistent test results on this board and the excellent NVIDIA Monitor temperature measurement utility, which is part of the nTune application suite.
NVIDIA Monitor has a drop-down pane for temperature measurement which reports CPU, System, and GPU results. Reviews at this point will concentrate primarily on CPU temperature. In addition to the real-time temperature measurement, NVIDIA Monitor also has a logging feature which can record temperature to a file in standard increments (we selected every 4 seconds). This allows recording of temperatures during testing and play back, for example, of stress test results that can then be examined when the stress tests are completed. There is also the handy reference of speeds and voltages in the top pane to confirm the test setup.
Other components in the cooling test bed are generally the same as those used in our motherboard and memory test beds:
All cooling tests are run with the components mounted in a standard mid-tower case. The idle and stress tempature tests are run with the case closed and standing as it would in most home setups. We do not use auxilliary fans in the test cooling case, except for the north bridge fan attached to the 680i for overclocking.
We first tested the stock Intel cooler at standard X6800 speed, measuring the CPU temperature at idle and while the CPU was being stressed. We stressed the CPU by running continuous loops of the Far Cry River demo. The same tests were repeated at the highest stable overclock we could achieve with the stock cooler. Stable in this case meant the ability to handle our Far Cry looping for at least 30 minutes.
The same tests were then run on the cooler under test at stock, highest stock cooler OC speed (3.73GHz), and the highest OC that could be achieved in the same setup with the cooler being tested. This allows measurement of the cooling efficiency of the test unit compared to stock and the improvement in overclocking capabilities, if any, from using the test cooler.
Noise Levels
In addition to cooling efficiency and overclocking abilities, users shopping for CPU cooling solutions may also be interested in the noise levels of the cooling devices they are considering. Noise levels are measured with the case open on its side and are measured using a C.E.M. DT-8850 Sound Level meter. This meter allows accurate sound level measurements from 35bdB to 130dB with a resolution of 0.1dB and an accuracy of 1.5dB. This is sufficient for our needs in these tests, as measurement starts at the level of a relatively quiet room. Our own test room, with all computers and fans turned off, has a room noise level of 36.4dB.
Our procedures for measuring cooling system noise are described on page seven along with noise results comparing the stock Intel cooler and recently tested CPU coolers to the Monsoon II Lite.
The standard test bed for cooling tests is an NVIDIA 680i motherboard, specifically the EVGA nForce 680i SLI. This was primarily based on the consistent test results on this board and the excellent NVIDIA Monitor temperature measurement utility, which is part of the nTune application suite.
NVIDIA Monitor has a drop-down pane for temperature measurement which reports CPU, System, and GPU results. Reviews at this point will concentrate primarily on CPU temperature. In addition to the real-time temperature measurement, NVIDIA Monitor also has a logging feature which can record temperature to a file in standard increments (we selected every 4 seconds). This allows recording of temperatures during testing and play back, for example, of stress test results that can then be examined when the stress tests are completed. There is also the handy reference of speeds and voltages in the top pane to confirm the test setup.
Other components in the cooling test bed are generally the same as those used in our motherboard and memory test beds:
| Cooling Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 (x2, 2.93GHz, 4MB Unified Cache) |
| RAM | 2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8888 (DDR2-1111) |
| Hard Drive(s) | Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer) |
| Video Card: | 1 x EVGA 7900GTX - All Standard Tests |
| Platform Drivers: | NVIDIA 9.53 |
| NVIDIA nTune: | 5.05.22.00 (1/16/2007) |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA 93.71 |
| CPU Cooling: | Vigor Monsoon II Lite Thermalright MST-9775 Scythe Katana Tuniq Tower 120 Intel Stock HSF for X6800 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ PowerStream 520W |
| Motherboards: | EVGA nForce 680i SLI (NVIDIA 680i) |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| BIOS | Award P24 (1/12/2007) |
All cooling tests are run with the components mounted in a standard mid-tower case. The idle and stress tempature tests are run with the case closed and standing as it would in most home setups. We do not use auxilliary fans in the test cooling case, except for the north bridge fan attached to the 680i for overclocking.
We first tested the stock Intel cooler at standard X6800 speed, measuring the CPU temperature at idle and while the CPU was being stressed. We stressed the CPU by running continuous loops of the Far Cry River demo. The same tests were repeated at the highest stable overclock we could achieve with the stock cooler. Stable in this case meant the ability to handle our Far Cry looping for at least 30 minutes.
The same tests were then run on the cooler under test at stock, highest stock cooler OC speed (3.73GHz), and the highest OC that could be achieved in the same setup with the cooler being tested. This allows measurement of the cooling efficiency of the test unit compared to stock and the improvement in overclocking capabilities, if any, from using the test cooler.
Noise Levels
In addition to cooling efficiency and overclocking abilities, users shopping for CPU cooling solutions may also be interested in the noise levels of the cooling devices they are considering. Noise levels are measured with the case open on its side and are measured using a C.E.M. DT-8850 Sound Level meter. This meter allows accurate sound level measurements from 35bdB to 130dB with a resolution of 0.1dB and an accuracy of 1.5dB. This is sufficient for our needs in these tests, as measurement starts at the level of a relatively quiet room. Our own test room, with all computers and fans turned off, has a room noise level of 36.4dB.
Our procedures for measuring cooling system noise are described on page seven along with noise results comparing the stock Intel cooler and recently tested CPU coolers to the Monsoon II Lite.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
19 Comments
View All Comments
nickfd - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
Can you post a review/link to review for this cooler?Wesley Fink - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
The Freezone is in our testing calendar and it will definitely be compared to the Monsoon II Lite.jvuser - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
It is not recommended to run TEC/peltiers by thermostatic switching. This leads to excessive stresses and preliminary failure. See datasheets at www.marlow.com.DrMrLordX - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
Reviews I've seen of the original Vigor Monsoon II seem to reflect your findings, except:1). The Monsoon II works much better when modded to work with a better 92mm fan (not easy to do)
2). The Monsoon II works better in cases with good airflow
You didn't mention the case or case fans used, and you barely showed a picture of the test system. Could you please elabourate on the airflow situation in which you tested the Monsoon II? Also, are you able to include a Titan Amanda in your test as well?
It is good that the Monsoon II will now be available at a lower price.
RobFDB - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
From your results the only advantage the Monsoon II Lite seems to give the EU is maybe 60 more mhz. Aside from that it costs more than the Tuniq 120, it doesn't cool as well, it adds 50w of power to your overall consumption and it's noisier. Sure it's an innovative idea, but it doesn't actually help out the EU.Jodiuh - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
Exactly what I wanted to say. I'm one of those "will give up OC for a nice quiet room" guys. And I actually replaced the Tuniq fan w/ a Scythe SFLEX. :DSurJector - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
I totally agree as well. Additionally the sentenceis incorrect: the air cooler has to cool 49 more W. If the processor consumes 150W and the Peltier element 49W (leaving 1W for the fan), then the radiator has 199W to cool down instead of 150W. It is very tricky to cool down a Peltier element without noise. In that case, I would say that they did not succeed: the processor is warmer and the fan noisier. The additional 60MHz (i.e. 1.5%) look insignificant, at least to me.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
The noise level with the TEC and fan running at full speed is still much lower than the stress sound levels we measured. Most of the added noise is the buzzing, pops, and clicks from the fan being controlled simultaneously with the TEC. As we said in the review the fan running continously is much quieter.Vigor says they are aware of the issues and they are working to separately control the fan and TEC with the controller. This will definitely reduce noise levels.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - link
I totally agree. While it's a novel idea, the only plus it has over the Tuniq 120 is an extra 60Mhz overclock. When I get my C2D or C2Q system, I'm going with the Tuniq.