InstallationGetting the X-Mars installed is almost as easy, if not easier, than the stock Athlon 64 unit. A smart clip on system ensures that the unit will remain tight in its spot, and it’s safe for LAN party goers.
Test Setups and MethodologyJMke's Test Setup |
| CPU | A64 3200+ |
| Mainboard | DFI NF3 Lanparty |
| Memory | 1 * 256Mb PC3700 OCZ |
| Other | ATI R9000 Passive Cooling
Silverstone EFN-300 300W Passive Cooled PSU
Maxtor 120GB IDE HDD |
in-take temperature was measured at 22°C for all tests, but temp fluctuations, different mounting and user error can account up to 1-2°C of inaccuracy in the obtained results. Please keep this in mind when looking at the results. Each heatsink was tested repeatedly; if we got questionable results the test was restarted.
Noise level of each HSF combo was recorded with SmartSensor SL4001A, the sensor was placed ~50cm away from the case. The lowest dBA reading in the test room was 32.5dBA with everything turned off!
System was stressed by running K7 CPU Burn for 30min (after Thermal Compound’s burn-in); this application pushes the temperature higher then any other application or game we’ve yet encountered. Speedfan was used to log maximum obtained temperatures.
Arctic Silver kindly send us their “Lumière” thermal testing compound which has the same colour as Ceramique, but only a break in time of 30min!
Arctic Silver’s ArctiClean was used to clean off thermal paste of the CPU and heatsink between tests
The Case
Yellow box = Sonata II – White Dot = dBA meter
2 different test scenarios were configured as such:
Test Setup 1: Overclocked and Silent
- Antec Sonata II + Silverstone Passive PSU
- AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with Acousti Fan Gasket)
- Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2400 – 1.7v vcore
- nVidia TNT2 Passive cooled video card
- Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 34dBA @ 50cm
Test Setup 2: Stock Speed and Silent
- Antec Sonata II + Silverstone Passive PSU
- AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with Acousti Fan Gasket)
- Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2200 – 1.5v vcore
- nVidia TNT2 Passive cooled video card
- Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 34dBA @ 50cm
What was measured?
The CPU temperature was measured with SpeedFan and highest value recorded
Temperature of air coming into to the case at the front
PWM temperature through SpeedFan, this represent the area around the CPU socket, the power management caps which you see on a motherboard, they are there to make sure the power which is fed into the motherboard coming from the PSU is filtered and delivered the CPU and other components. Too high temperature will cause Vcore fluctuations which in turn causes system instability.
Onto our test results and conclusion ->
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