Cooler Master CM Storm SF-17 Gaming Notebook Cooler Review

Cooling/VGA & Other Cooling by leeghoofd @ 2013-11-14

CM Storm is Cooler Masters' hardware related gaming brand. Covering gaming gear from cases, input devices in the shape of gaming keyboards and mice, headsets, mouse pads and last but not least three different laptop coolers. The today reviewed SF-17 is the mid range notebook cooler variant. The little SF-15 brother, supports laptops up to 15.6 inch, while this SF-17 model has no issues to provide support for up to 19 inch sized laptops. The flagship SF-19 version is compatible with laptops from 19 inch and beyond. Time to unravel the refined design features of this mid range SF-17 model.

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Temperature and Noise Tests

Take note that the below results are close to being the best case scenario outcome. The MSI GT70 has large vents on the backside, thus the created airflow of the SF-17 notebook cooler has maximum effect.

If we look at the IDLE results we can conclude that the SF-17 doesn't bring much, logic as the GPU as the mobile GPU down clock when being idle. Only at the maximum fan setting we spot up to a 2°C decrease in GPU operating temperature. The processor cooling is bested with one degree versus the stock MSI cooling solution.

 

 

More interesting will be the load temperatures, hence it being the main reasons why the end user would invest in one these sort of cooling solutions.

 

 

During the Vantage runs the beefy stock cooling solution of the MSI GT70 manages to keep the Intel quad core CPU and nVidia GPU at respectively 82.5 and 84°C. Not bad, but there's always room for improvement.  With the minimum fan setting there's already a 1°C drop in temperature noticeable. Take note that the SF-17 hardly shifts air at the tested lowest setting. At the medium setting the load temperatures drop another 1°C versus the minimum test setting. Once we crank up the 180mm Fan speed, the temperatures reached 78°C, for both the I7 Processor as for the GTX670M GPU. That's a solid 6°C better performance in the graphics department and a 4.5°C on the processor cores. While some might not find these numbers impressive, remember that we are not dealing here with a replacement for the existing heat pipe setup. Consider it more as an addition to the GT70's cooling concept, alike adding a more powerful fan to your existing air cooler.

 

Noise wise it's hard to tell if we were dealing with a flakey sample as the noise emitted at lowest Fan speed was quite high. This mainly due to the fact the 180mm Fan made a grinding noise. Once the speed picked up, this  particular noise dissapeared. At maximum Fan speed the fan is audible, however not disturbing. If one requires maximum performance then sacrifices have to be made.

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