Thermaltake Volcano 9

[ironique]

How good is the thermaltake volcano 9? I want to buy one for an T-Bred 2400+ and it's $20 which I think is a good price. Anyone out there using it? What can you tell me about noise levels and cooling fficiency for this HSF? All comments appreciated.

 

[ErnieD]

I have one on my 2100+ and am very happy with it. I'm using the temperature sensor mode of the fan, it's got a nice lead which goes under the processor (between it and the socket, the wires are thin enough to fit between the pins). It can get quite noisy when the CPU temp rises (playing games, encoding, etc). Thermaltake's specs say it gets up to 48dba at full speed. As for temperatures, my CPU idles at about 51C, and peaks at 56. I will make one suggestion however...and that is to take off the metal TT logo grill on the fan. It's only there to look good, but it generates extra noise.

 

[ironique]

How well does it respond to overclocking? By the way, isn't 51C at idle & 56C at active pretty high? I'm running a 2000+ with its bundled HSF and it runs at 46C idle and 50C when active. You got case fans? You should if you don't. All the fan technology doesn't help much if the fan is blowing already warm air onto the processor.

 

[AndyD2k]

I'm not happy with it. I didn't want to go to the auto route as I would like to avoid the fan reaching its max speed. First, my temps are at 55C idle. Compared to other similar setups, I've seen temps at least 10 degrees lower. Second, this thing is noisy. At 4200RPM, it's just as noisy as the GeforceFX if not worse. God knows how it would sound like at max speed. I don't even want to know. I used to leave my pc on pretty much 24/7 and now I can't even bear to leave it on when I'm about to hit the bed.

I'm actually in this forum right now looking for other recommendations. I'm thinking of getting a Thermalright SL800 and some other fan to go with it.

 

[OulOat]

If you care about noise, do not go with anything in the Volcano line.

 

[godmare]

ironique
My advice: ditch the Volcano 9. Buy an SK-7 and spring a few extra bucks (over the V9) for a fan.

IMO, the fan on the Volcano 9 (the smart case fan 2) is a good fan (although loud at full blast), though you could easily use a less expensive and much quieter fan, such as a Panaflo L1A.

AndyD2k,
best thing to do to quiet a Volcano 9, besides throwing it out the window and getting a Thermalright product, is to take that damn Tt grill off the fan. That thing creates so much air turbulence, although it does look cool, that taking it off will make you think you've got a different fan. You could also try throwing some grommets or o-rings between the fan and the heatsink shroud.

 

[obi1]

i have a volcano 7+ good cooling but to noisey ok if you keep it on low go for slk7/slk8 and a panafio fan

 

[AndyD2k]

ironique: I have two fans in the back and one on the side. There are two fans in the PSU. Have a fan in the front that I haven't connected as I need a longer 3 pin cable.

godmare: I actually got the volcano 9 that had the coolmod mod which had LEDs. I will probably go with the Thermaltake.

 

[ironique]

Thanks guys, I think I'll go for the SK-7 + Panaflo combo. The less the noise the better!

 

[godmare]

Originally posted by: AndyD2k
godmare: I actually got the volcano 9 that had the coolmod mod which had LEDs. I will probably go with the Thermaltake.

Ahh, I see. Well, at least your loud fan looks really cool