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AMD Budget Coolers Shootout - Technical Ratings



Technical Ratings of Autumn-Winter Models

Budget coolers that take part in our ratings:

Budget coolers for Athlon 64 - models from Cooler Master, GlacialTech, Speeze, and Thermaltake
Low-End coolers for Athlon 64 - models from Cooler Master, GlacialTech, and Titan
Shootout of Budget Coolers for AMD - 15 Models from Arctic Cooling, Cooler Master, Foxconn, GlacialTech, Speeze, Thermaltake, and Titan

Economic Charts

You should really read about our new procedure for integrated assessment of usability of cooling systems to get an idea before you browse the table of economic charts and overall ratings.

Table 1. Economic charts of cooling systems

Model (modification) of a cooling system Indices PFG ARP** Integrated Assessment
Et NE U AC U RM U PC Ep* Bonus IAF CS IAU CS
Arctic Cooling Alpine 64
57
136
24
12
18
48
10 (PTC)
B
14.5
257
305
Cooler Master DK8-8I32A-99
49
129
14
20
16
83
10 (PTC)
A
6
238
321
Cooler Master CK8-8JD2B-99
58
115
16
20
16
88
10 (PTC)
B
8
236
324
Cooler Master X Dream K640
50
141
16
22
20
34
10 (PTC), 5 (TCC)
A
14.5
264
298
Cooler Master X Dream K641
49
132
16
20
16
56
10 (PTC)
A
9
243
299
Foxconn NBT-CMAK8-1CN
57
100
26
16
22
47
5 (BTC), 5 (TCC)
B
15
231
278
Foxconn NBT-CMAK8-1T
41
141
12
12
14
63
5 (BTC)
A
8
224
287
Foxconn NBT-CMAK8-2T
43
136
12
12
14
53
5 (BTC)
A
9.5
223
276
GlacialTech Igloo 7300 Light
55
141
22
24
22
61
10 (PTC)
B
11.5
274
335
GlacialTech Igloo 7300
60
118
22
24
22
61
10 (PTC)
B
11.5
256
317
GlacialTech Igloo 7300 Pro
64
107
22
24
22
61
10 (PTC)
B
11.5
249
310
GlacialTech Igloo 7210 Silent
47
150
20
24
22
59
10 (PTC)
A
8.5
273
332
GlacialTech Igloo 7210 Light
53
136
20
24
22
59
10 (PTC)
A
8.5
265
324
GlacialTech Igloo 7210
57
122
20
24
22
82
10 (PTC)
B
8.5
254
336
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 Light (E)
53
136
16
26
25
59
10 (PTC)
A
8.5
266
325
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 (E)
58
122
16
26
25
82
10 (PTC)
B
8.5
257
339
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 Pro (E)
62
102
16
26
25
82
10 (PTC)
B
8.5
241
323
Speeze DolphinReef III
54
125
20
20
18
39
5 (BTC), 5 (BMA)
B
18
247
286
Speeze KestrelKing I
54
94
16
16
14
88
10 (PTC)
B
8
204
292
Speeze KestrelKing II
57
92
20
16
15
61
10 (PTC)
B
11.5
210
271
Thermaltake TR2 M14 SE
57
125
14
20
20
52
10 (PTC)
B
13.5
246
298
Thermaltake TR2 M6 SE
47
136
14
20
12
48
10 (PTC)
A
10.5
239
287
Thermaltake TR2 M17 SE
58
125
18
20
16
58
10 (PTC)
B
12
247
305
Thermaltake TR2 M19 SE
50
113
16
20
14
63
10 (PTC)
A
8
223
286
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8A825Z
50
113
9
16
10
83
5 (BTC)
A
6
203
286
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8A825Z/CU35
50
118
9
16
10
71
5 (BTC)
A
7
209
280
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8D925Z
57
122
11
16
18
82
5 (BTC)
B
8.5
228
310
Titan TTC-K8ETB/825
50
107
12
16
11
71
5 (BTC)
A
7
201
272
Titan TTC-K8DTB/925
51
113
12
16
12
53
5 (BTC)
A
9.5
209
262
Titan TTC-K8ATB/825/SC
51
90
12
9
9
43
5 (BTC), 10 (PAA)
A
11.5
1401
183
Titan TTC-NK32TZ
65
110
9
18
16
76
5 (BTC), 25 (PFG-C)
C
17
248
324

*To calculate price efficiency of a cooling system, we use average retail prices (in Moscow) or recommended prices (for new products) for October 20, 2006.
**Average retail prices
125% penalty for a very high noise level (from 50 dBA to 60 dBA)

Here is the list of bonus abbreviations, used in Table 1.

PFG-C - bonus for professional fitness group C
PTC — preinstalled thermal compound
BTC — bundled thermal compound
TCC — thermal control circuit
PAA — power adapter, adjustable
BMA — bundled mounting accessories

Technical and economic ratings

Diagram 1. Usability rating of cooling systems, points


Diagram 2. Economic rating of cooling systems, points


Diagram 3. Functionality/Price Rating

Note
Functionality/price ratio (FPR) is calculated like this:

FPR = DM*(IAF)/(P/Rp), where

IAF stands for "integrated assessment of functionality of a cooling system" (IAF CS), Rp — reference price), P — average retail price of a cooling system, DM — denominate multiplier (0.1).

That seems to be all for today.

Methodological Addendum. Integrated Assessment of Usability of Cooling Systems



Vitali Crinitsin (vit@ixbt.com)
November 29, 2006

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