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Inexpensive Coolers for AMD Processors



Ratings of 42 Autumn/Winter Products

Our contenders:

Athlon 64 budget coolers - Cooler Master, GlacialTech, Speeze, and Thermaltake
Athlon 64 low-budget coolers - Cooler Master, GlacialTech, and Titan
Shootout of budget coolers for AMD processors - Arctic Cooling, Cooler Master, Foxconn, GlacialTech, Speeze, Thermaltake, and Titan
Budget coolers for AMD processors - GlacialTech, Speeze, and Thermaltake
Budget coolers for AMD processors - ASUS, Foxconn, GlacialTech, Thermaltake, and Titan

For the description of our cooler test procedure please read this article.

Table 1. Technical and economic indices


Cooler modification 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
64
10 (PTC)
B
11
257
321
ASUS K8A1-8LB3
58
115
12
14
22
93
10 (PTC)
B
7.5
232
325
ASUS K8A4-8LB3
62
96
12
20
22
74
10 (PTC)
B
9.5
221
295
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
78
10 (PTC)
B
9
236
314
Cooler Master CK8-9JD2B-0C
50
141
16
20
16
40
10 (PTC), 5 (TCC)
A
12.5
258
298
Cooler Master X Dream K640
50
141
16
22
20
52
10 (PTC), 5 (TCC)
A
13.5
264
316
Cooler Master X Dream K641
49
132
16
20
16
48
10 (PTC)
A
10.5
243
291
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
56
5 (BTC)
A
9
223
279
Foxconn NBT-CMAM22B-C
52
129
14
18
20
63
5 (BTC)
A
8
238
301
Foxconn NBT-CMAM23B-C
44
141
14
18
12
91
5 (BTC)
A
5.5
234
325
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 Light (E)
53
136
16
26
25
71
10 (PTC)
A
7
266
337
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 (E)
58
122
16
26
25
100
10 (PTC)
B
7
257
357
GlacialTech Igloo 7220 Pro (E)
62
102
16
26
25
100
10 (PTC)
B
7
241
341
GlacialTech Igloo 7222 Light (E)
53
145
16
26
25
71
10 (PTC)
A
7
275
346
GlacialTech Igloo 7222 (E)
58
125
16
26
25
100
10 (PTC)
B
7
260
360
GlacialTech Igloo 7310 Light
57
150
22
26
23
67
10 (PTC)
B
10.5
288
355
GlacialTech Igloo 7310
60
129
22
26
23
67
10 (PTC)
B
10.5
270
337
GlacialTech Igloo 7310 Pro
64
113
22
26
23
67
10 (PTC)
B
10.5
257
324
GlacialTech Igloo 7310 TC
58
141
22
26
23
61
10 (PTC), 5 (TCC)
B
11.5
285
346
GlacialTech Igloo 7311 Silent (E)
57
155
16
26
23
74
10 (PTC)
B
9.5
287
361
GlacialTech Igloo 7320 Silent (E)
58
155
16
26
23
74
10 (PTC)
B
9.5
289
363
GlacialTech Igloo 7320 Light (E)
62
141
16
26
23
74
10 (PTC)
B
9.5
277
351
GlacialTech Igloo 7320 (E)
65
118
16
26
23
74
10 (PTC)
C
9.5
284
358
GlacialTech Igloo 7320 TC (E)
58
150
16
26
23
61
5 (TCC), 10 (PTC)
B
11.5
288
349
Speeze DolphinReef III
54
125
20
20
18
70
5 (BTC), 5 (BMA)
B
10
247
317
Thermaltake TR2 M6 SE
47
136
14
20
12
50
10 (PTC)
A
10
239
289
Thermaltake TR2 M17 SE
58
125
18
20
16
64
10 (PTC)
B
11
247
311
Thermaltake TR2 M19 SE
50
113
16
20
14
71
10 (PTC)
A
7
223
294
Thermaltake TR2 R1
58
145
18
20
20
70
10 (PTC)
B
10
272
342
Thermaltake CL-P0444
43
125
16
20
8
56
10 (PTC)
A
9
222
278
Thermaltake TMG A3
55
145
18
20
20
54
10 (PTC)
B
13
269
323
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8A825Z
50
113
9
16
10
71
5 (BTC)
A
7
203
274
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8A825Z/CU35
50
118
9
16
10
67
5 (BTC)
A
7.5
209
276
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8D925Z
57
122
11
16
18
78
5 (BTC)
B
9
228
306
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8J825Z/N/G
42
132
12
20
12
67
10 (PTC)
A
8
229
296
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8H925Z/N
51
110
12
18
18
71
5 (BTC)
A
7
214
285
Titan Data Cooler DC-K8K925Z/N/G
51
110
12
18
18
83
10 (PTC)
B
6
219
302
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
48
5 (BTC)
A
10.5
209
257
Titan TTC-NK32TZ
65
110
9
18
16
91
5 (BTC), 25 (PFG-C)
C
16.5
248
339

*Average retail price or MSRP.

**Average retail price

Table 1 legend:

  • PFG-C - bonus for group C of fitness for cooling purposes.
  • PTC - preinstalled thermal compound.
  • BTC - bundled thermal compound.
  • TCC - thermal control circuit.
  • BMA - bundled mounting accessories.

Technical and economic charts

Chart 1. Cooler usability rating



Chart 2. Cooler economic rating



Chart 3. Price/performance rating

Note
Price/performance rating (PPR) is calculated as follows:
PPR = DM*(IAF)/(P/Rp)
where IAF is "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).
Appendix. Integrated Assessment of Cooler Usability

Vitali Crinitsin (vit@ixbt.com)
November 23, 2007

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