INFO: G-Power Cooler Pro (GH-PDU21-MF) reviewed on an Athlon XP 1700+
REVIEW DATE: 07/29/05
COST: Under $50 USD
AUTHOR: David Kroll
SPONSOR: Gigabyte
Light it up!:
I guess the pictures pretty much explain themselves. Due to
the design of the fan, putting LED's in the fan sides wouldn't work, but having
the LED's under the fan, works very well. Although static, as 97% of LED
fans are, the illumination is quite nice. Never
mind the wire mess. Me=lazy on my own systems. Since I am tinkering all the
time, I can't just leave one thing well enough alone, so I'd have to undo my
wires anyway. I can't afford 6 different
systems to test stuff on, so...But oh yeah, on someone else's PC, that is a
different story. I am really quite a stickler for airflow, wire neatness, and heat
dispersion...Ask anyone that has worked with me...Moving on...
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| (18) Lit up |
(19) Lit up II |
Mounting and fan controller:
Touching back on mounting; Mounting the HSF onto my socket was easy. Once I figured how
to do it. Just a little thumb push (down and in) and it clipped right in. I pretty much
abandoned the manual previously because of unclear text and worse pictures. So armed with common sense, I installed the fan
controller in the front of my case, as well as hooking up the fan control unit.
Wire lengths for those were adequate, although I would have liked to have seen a
longer fan cable (coming from the fan) and cable that goes from the fan
controller to the mainboard a bit longer. To go over the whole wiring process,
there is a wire that goes from the fan controller knob. That goes into the fan
controller. The fan cable gets plugged into the fan controller, and there is a
return cable from the fan controller that plugs into your mainboard. The fan cable from the fan is about as long as the one that goes from the fan
controller to the CPU fan header on the motherboard. That is about 10 1/2
inches. The other cable, the one that comes from the
knob to the fan controller is about 20" long. (Need to change those inches to
metric? Go right
here.)
Testing:
Since I initially thought wow, this fan goes down to 21 dBA,
I'll be testing against a Thermaltake Silent Boost. Plus, I had that one
installed previously to installing the G-Power Pro. Some specs you might be
interested in are; Hardware: DFI Nforce2 Ultra 400 Rev A, AMD XP
JIUHB 1700+ Cooling: Coolmax Taurus 140mm Fan PSU, two 80mm Galaxy
fans (front intake and rear exhaust) Lian Li PC 6010 case.
Sisoftware's Sandra
2005 burn in test was used to generate full load to the processor.
MBM 5 was used to read temps from the
CPU diode. Ambient air was 24°C. Yes, it was warm...Idle temperatures were taken
30 minutes after a cold boot into Windows XP Pro. Load temps are taken 30
minutes after full CPU load was initiated. Below are the results. The first
graph below is stock speed and voltages.
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| (Graph1) Stock CPU and Voltages |
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| (Graph2) Overclocked CPU and Voltages |
The results analyzed a bit:
It's pretty clear that the Thermaltake Silent Boost is
slightly better at removing heat in Idle situations, and the CPU not being
overclocked. However, the complete opposite is obvious at higher speeds
and voltage. The Silent Boost can't keep up. I suppose you could say that as
well about he G-Power Pro, in the case of the CPU being at stock speeds and
voltage. I must remind you once again, that I do have excellent air flow in my
case. You can see proof of that up above in picture 19. Of course, your results
will vary. Which is another reason that I would have expected more of a temp
decreas with the G-Power Pro fan on high, but that didn't happen here. Let me
tell you the difference between 21.3 dBA and 40.1 dBA is astounding. Around 20 dBA's would be a whisper, and about 40 dBA's would be background noise in a home
in the city. Having the option to adjust the speed of the fan should really appeal to
everyone then. I mean, those people that want their computer quiet, and the old
enthusiast, that wasn't happy if their PC didn't sound like a jet taking off...That
used to be me...
Summary:
The G-Power Pro is a good Heatsink. No doubt here in my
testing of it. Although you'll have to look
elsewhere to find tests of this HSF on other platforms. I tend to stay away
from reviews of the product that I'm reviewing to stay objective. While my
qualms shouldn't go unnoticed, there are better HSF's out there. And of course,
there are worse. At around $45 bucks or so at this time of writing, the G-Power
Pro isn't the top of the heap, but it fits nicely into a perceived niche' of
HSF's.
Pros:
• Supports multiple platforms. Even the
aging Socket A!
• Low temperature changes between idle and load
• Blue LED's
• Good airflow around the socket and potentially, your mosfets
• Adjustable fan speed Via 3.5" bay or PCI slot
• Good load temps
Cons:
• Poor manual, and even worse pictures in
it
• A couple fan wires could be longer to aid in hiding the fan controller
• Lian Li 6010 and K7 socket clip incompatible
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| "A Multiple Platform Cooler That Can Take The Heat!" |
Closing:
I'd like to thank Gigabyte for sponsoring the G-Power Pro HSF
for review. It's also been on the bench for far too long as well. But, that was
my fault. Breaking the K7 Clip didn't help matters in any way. Regardless, I
hope you found the review helpful. So thanks for coming by! Until next time...
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