Thermaltake Volcano 7+
Reviewed by Akimoto, 04.23.02
Provided by: Thermaltake

Testing

Test Setup:
    AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1 GHz
    Gigabyte GA-7VRXP
    256 MB Crucial-Micron DDR
    Cooler Master Premium Thermal Compound

Room temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit
   

The reference heatsink in this review is the Cooler Master HHC-001 Heat Pipe HSF. Ambient temperatures were obtained by allowing the computer to sit idle for half an hour, load temperatures were obtained by running Toast (a CPU intensive burn-in program) for half an hour. The temperatures were tested with Gigabyte's thermal probe program. The actual probe on the GA-7VRXP actually touches the back of the CPU, which explains the rather high temperatures.

    As you can see, the Volcano 7+ has a lower ambient temperature than does the HHC-001, but it loses by 1 degree under load. The fan is quite loud during the high setting, and slows to a very tolerable speed under medium. Temperatures are tolerable under the medium setting, and temperatures under the low setting render the heatsink useless for overclocking. The low setting for the fan is very quiet; it was difficult to hear at all.

Conclusion

As a performance heatsink, the Volcano 7+ is excellent. The adjustable fan that is sported by the Volcano 7+ makes it a very versatile and attractive heatsink. While its other fan settings do not permit a great deal of overclocking, but give excellent cooling for such little noise that is emitted. The clip isn't the greatest, but this doesn't detract too heavily from the sinks attractiveness.

Pros

• It looks great
• Speed-variable adjustable fan
• Performs well; both as a performance heatsink and as a quiet one
• Versatile: it fits both Athlon and Pentium IV based mainboards

Cons

• Not the greatest clip
• The fan-grill serves more of an aesthetic purpose than a practical one
• Pricey: about $38 USD

The Volcano 7+ serves a quite intoxicating brew, earning

8.5/10 Beers.

Thanks very much to Thermaltake for making this review possible. For any questions, comments, or flames, email Akimoto.

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