Cooler Master GeminII: Performer or Poser?
by Wesley Fink on April 30, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
CPU Cooling Test Configuration
The standard test bed for cooling tests uses an EVGA NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboard. This is primarily based on the consistent test results on this board and the excellent NVIDIA Monitor temperature measurement utility, which is part of the nTune program. The 680i chipset is also one of the better options for socket 775 CPU overclocking, and it provides great flexibility in our standard cooler tests which overclock to the failure limit with each cooler tested.
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.
NVIDIA Monitor was compared to test results from the Intel TAT (Thermal Analysis Tool). Intel TAT CPU portions do function properly on the EVGA 680i motherboard, but the chipset-specific features do not operate as they should. Idle temperatures in TAT were in line with measured idle temps with NVIDIA Monitor. The CPU stress testing with TAT pushing both cores showed TAT stress temps at 80% CPU usage roughly corresponded to temps reported in our real-world gaming benchmark.
Other components in the cooling test bed are generally the same as those used in our motherboard and memory test bed:
All cooling tests are run with the components mounted in a standard mid-tower case. The idle and stress temperature tests are run with the case closed and standing as it would in most home setups. We do not use auxiliary fans in the test cooling case, except for the Northbridge fan attached to the 680i for overclocking.
Cooler Master provided a small syringe of silver-colored thermal compound without much of a description. Therefore we tested the cooler with our standard premium silver-colored thermal compound. In our experience the thermal compound used makes little to no difference in cooling test results. This is particularly true now that processors ship with a large manufacturer-installed heatspreader. Our only control on thermal compound is that we use the manufacturer-supplied product if they supply a premium product, or a standard high-quality thermal paste if a premium brand is not supplied.
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 benchmarks 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 35b dB to 130 dB with a resolution of 0.1 dB and an accuracy of 1.5 dB. 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 noise level of 36.4 dB.
Our procedures for measuring cooling system noise are described on the page reporting measured noise results comparing the stock Intel cooler and recently tested CPU coolers to the Cooler Master Gemini II.
The standard test bed for cooling tests uses an EVGA NVIDIA 680i SLI motherboard. This is primarily based on the consistent test results on this board and the excellent NVIDIA Monitor temperature measurement utility, which is part of the nTune program. The 680i chipset is also one of the better options for socket 775 CPU overclocking, and it provides great flexibility in our standard cooler tests which overclock to the failure limit with each cooler tested.
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.
NVIDIA Monitor was compared to test results from the Intel TAT (Thermal Analysis Tool). Intel TAT CPU portions do function properly on the EVGA 680i motherboard, but the chipset-specific features do not operate as they should. Idle temperatures in TAT were in line with measured idle temps with NVIDIA Monitor. The CPU stress testing with TAT pushing both cores showed TAT stress temps at 80% CPU usage roughly corresponded to temps reported in our real-world gaming benchmark.
Other components in the cooling test bed are generally the same as those used in our motherboard and memory test bed:
| 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 | Cooler Master GeminII Noctua NF-U12F ASUS Silent Square Pro Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B OCZ Vindicator Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Thermalright Ultra 120 Scythe Infinity Zalman CNS9700 Zalman CNS9500 CoolerMaster Hyper 6+ 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 | 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 temperature tests are run with the case closed and standing as it would in most home setups. We do not use auxiliary fans in the test cooling case, except for the Northbridge fan attached to the 680i for overclocking.
Cooler Master provided a small syringe of silver-colored thermal compound without much of a description. Therefore we tested the cooler with our standard premium silver-colored thermal compound. In our experience the thermal compound used makes little to no difference in cooling test results. This is particularly true now that processors ship with a large manufacturer-installed heatspreader. Our only control on thermal compound is that we use the manufacturer-supplied product if they supply a premium product, or a standard high-quality thermal paste if a premium brand is not supplied.
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 benchmarks 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 35b dB to 130 dB with a resolution of 0.1 dB and an accuracy of 1.5 dB. 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 noise level of 36.4 dB.
Our procedures for measuring cooling system noise are described on the page reporting measured noise results comparing the stock Intel cooler and recently tested CPU coolers to the Cooler Master Gemini II.
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PICBoy - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
I know it's been a a while since Wesly reviewed the Katana and this space is reserved for the recently reviewed heatsink.But I wanted to know if AT is planning on a review about the "Katana 2" (now available @ FrozenCPU). I hope it's better than the Katana Cu and the regular Katana. I even hope to see it close to the Ninja!
That's all. Thanks!
Rocket321 - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
I think this is an error at the bottom of page 2.
Wesley Fink - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
Both editing errors corrected.herbiehancock - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
I do appreciate the heatsink reviews AT and Wesley do...........but I have some observations to make about them.First, Wesley absolutely gushed over the SilenX fans....and was wowed by the 14dBA rating! Gosh....so quiet!
It certainly is too bad that Wesley did absolutely no research into the fans or testing of them. If he had he'd have found out they are absolutely nothing special and are mediocre at best. SPCR has done an indepth test of the SilenX fans and found their dBA ratings are just hype and bogus....the fans actually created a sound rating of 34dBA or worse....and their air output was bested by comparable fans such as the S-Flex SFF fan lineup....not the monster 110cfm fan that is included in the overly loud ratings, but maybe the SFF21F fan that produces 70cfm at an honest 31dBA. Or use the next level down...the SFF21E...producing 51cfm at an honest 23dBA.
But, then again, when you rate the loudness of your fans by taking sound readings from 1M away from the fan, take them on 3 axes (one on axis with the fan...two off-axis and therefore oblivious to the noise production), and then take the mean of the three readings, I'm sure I could get almost any fan out there to achieve around 14dBA.
Naturally, the sound production of SilenX fans does not address their overly small motors, either. User after user has commented on the fact that after extended use, the small motors of SilenX fans tend to heat up a LOT more than fan motors of more normal sizing. But....when you source your fans from Globe Fan as SilenX does, and Globe is not the best producer of quiet fans, what do you expect?
Second, why even post sound ratings of any of the heatsink/fan combos when they are all drowned out by the noisy power supply? To just show hs after hs sound ratings that are almost all at 47dBA....that's meaningless information. All we know is that the power supply is making that much noise. Nothing about how much each hs/fan combo is producing.
My suggestion is to test the hs/fan combo in question mounted on a mb separately from a power supply's contamination. You don't have to have a darned thing heating it up to make the fan run at full speed to see how loud the fan is at full tilt. Alternatively, there are methods of producing a heating device a heatsink can mount to to test cooling capacity and sound production at various levels of cooling....all without having the contamination of the pwoer supply's fan.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - link
AM I missing something here, or was this review concerning a new heatsink, or a fan, that some other sites are 'waring' over ? I am really, really, getting bored with you whiners, that feel it nessisary, to spread your unhappyness all over the internet.In case it has not been made obvious to you, and the other whiners, that the AT staff view themselves as a real world application type reviewer, I DO NOT CARE how quiet the fan really is, so long as it is quieter than the rest of the components in the system( I know I am not alone here). I am sure, the specifications AT gave out, where copied directly from the box, or given to them by the manufactuer. Now, if you really feel it nessisary to know the true specifications, go read about the fan at some other site, that has nothing better to do, than whine about how quiet a fan really is.
Let me know if the above text is too complicated to understand, and I'll be happy to throw in a few 'goo goo's', and 'gaa gaa's', just for you.
xsilver - Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - link
maybe a good compromise can be made on this whole fan noise issue.maybe AT can test the HSF as a separate setup to the system(psu).
With the graph though they can have a line going through it for where the system noise should be; so you have the noctua/sflex etc. with lower bars but then a great big red line at 47/38.3 db saying "your psu noise is most likely here you knob!"
that should put all the naysayers to rest.
yyrkoon - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - link
Maybe each individual AT reader could send the AT staff $100usd daily for their time ? Possible, but not likely.Seriously though, as an outsider looking in, I do not think it is in ATs best interrest to do so. Each seperate test takes time, and time is money . . .
stromgald - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
As a member of the SPCR community, I haven't heard anything about the issue with small motors. Also, there are several very good Globe fans in terms of quiet computing. Check SPCR's recommended list. I believe there are one or two Globe fans on there.Most SPCR members will tell you that SilenX aren't the best, but they certainly aren't the worst. Misrepresentation of noise and airflow levels are rampant in the industry and has been demonstrated by several websites. It's nothing new or particularly bad that SilenX misreperesents their numbers. The rift between SilenX and SPCR does not come from their hardware, but a marketing ploy SilenX tried on SPCR forums.
Even as a silent PC enthusiast, I don't expect AT to do SPCR level testing. I just want consistent testing for all products, and testing that is close to real world applications as possible, with discrepancies from real-life application pointed out clearly.
The drown-out issue is important though. Even though most environments have a sound 'floor', I think AT should consider using a quieter PSU (Seasonic or Corsair) or passive graphics card when doing cooling tests. A reference 'everything off', quiet room reading of the sound meter would also be greatly appreciated in the noise readings, and wouldn't be hard to do.
strikeback03 - Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - link
5th paragraph on the Noise page of the review.
Wesley Fink - Monday, April 30, 2007 - link
It is clear SilenX and some SPCR readers had a war some time ago and feelings still run deep. We were not part of that war. We can only report what we found, which was the SilenX fan cooled well and improved performance at below system noise floor on the heatsinks we tested with it. Performance was improved over the stock cooler on some heatsinks and not on some others.As we have said repeatedly, there is a place for testing fans in isolation separated from a real world power supply. You will not find those kinds of fan tests at AT. We are revising our test bed to further lower noise, but noise measurements will still be with a balanced system capable of enthusiast level performance.
Those interested in silence only need to look at other sites that specialize in that approach.