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Product: DP5-6H51 heatsink & fan
Manufacturer: Coolermaster
Homepage: www.Coolermaster.com.tw
After reviewing Coolermaster's flagship model (CB5-5G12) last week with good results, we decided to take a look at another in their range. Enter the DP5-6H51 into the arena, which is rated up to 1.2ghz:
The first thing that I noticed was the difference in size between the two Coolermaster products.
In heat dissipation, bigger is usually better. The greater the surface area, the more heat can be dissipated. The same goes for the size of the fan (on the premise that a larger fan will shift more air). Therefore, it comes as a surprise that the CB5 is rated at 1.3ghz against the DP5's 1.2ghz. The copper base for the CB5 cannot be that much more efficient than aluminium to warrant a size decrease. This, obviously, is just my humble opinion and no scientific evidence has led me to make such wild statements.
This looks much more like your standard, run-of-the-mill hsf unit when taken from it's box. There are none of the problems associated with the copper fins of the CB5 and therefore it is a very sturdy setup. As with all AMD approved and most non-approved hsfs, there is a thermal pad attached to the bottom of the heatsink and they are usually a real pain to get off. So, after 15 mins of razor blade and thumb work, I eventually rid myself of this pestilent putty and set about cleaning it with some Isopropyl alcohol. Once finished, I applied a thin layer of Arctic Silver II to the clean core of my Duron and we were ready to rock.
Test conditions
The system that the cooler was tested on:
Abit KT7A-RAID
Duron 700mhz
256mb PC100 generic
Voodoo 3 3000 PCI
Maxtor 6 Gig HD
Our aim, as always, is to provide a real world test, i.e. to simulate the experience that you would have if you had bought this heatsink. Therefore, we will take measurements from the onboard temp gauge under the cpu and decibel readings but not under lab conditions.
The ambient room temperature was kept at 22c, if this changed we stopped testing until it had returned to this base level.
Installation
The main problem that many people seem to encounter with cpu coolers is their propensity to crack the core. I assume that this is the fault of the user not taking necessary care when fitting. The requisite pressure required by AMD for a clip on a cooler is between 16-22 psi which, at the higher end, is a hell of a lot of force needed to put the clip on. If you attempt this without making sure that everything is positioned correctly, then you are asking for trouble. Remember careful, careful, careful.
I think that the DP5's clip is pushing these limits though as it took the use of two screwdrivers and a bit of effort to put this in place. I managed to slightly graze the mobo but there doesn't seem to be any ill effect, yet! Once in place, it was totally immobile and I think getting it off will prove a hurdle. Anyway, on with the fictional readings.... only joking lets put it to the test.
Noise
We were spoilt by our first review's low noise level. The DP5 is not from the same stable, and immediately emitted a slightly more high pitched and louder sound. The fan runs at a slower 4,450 rpm but the fan's greater size means that it will naturally generate more noise. These are purely subjective findings and so we took some decibel readings.
The readings are taken at 15cm from the cooler and also 1.5 metres away which is the rough distance that you would sit from the base unit.
The readings bear out our first impressions against the CB5 but the levels are still low and our psu fan produces more noise.
Performance
We tested by leaving the pc on for 30 mins to get the idle temperature and ran seti@home for 30 mins to test it under a full load. The cpu was running at it's default speed of 700 mhz at 1.6v. The two sets of results that we have so far are for a generic hsf that came with the Duron and the Coolermaster CB5-5G12.
It's clearly able to outperform the CB5 at these low levels. When we upped the ante and ran 3D Mark 2000 looped for 30 mins (running Setti in the background) it managed to only reach 39c. This is an impressive 5c lower than the CB5. We ran the test a number of times and came up with the same result, leading us to the conclusion that the reading from the CB5 test was an anomaly.
To really test the ability of this hsf, we took the cpu up 200mhz to run it at 900mhz using a core voltage of 1.775. This will drastically increase the output of heat and then we can compare it's cooling properties to those of the CB5.
The results were nearly identical to those from the CB5 with an idle temp of 29c (1c below the CB5) and load of 48c.
I increased the cpu speed to 945 mhz (9*105) at 1.85v and ran the system reasonably stably. The system ran 3D Mark once fully and then crashed the second time, with the CB5 it could not even run it once. The full load temp was 49c as opposed to the 53c the CB5 managed, and it idled at 30c. The DP5 left the CB5 behind at these levels, with the DP5 pulling some exceptional results out of the hat.
Conclusion
The upshot of this review is that the DP5-6H51 is a very effective cpu cooler. It achieves a marginally better level of cooling than the CB5-5G12 at low temperatures and really outperforms it as the levels increase. The CB5 is a better looking and quieter unit and for many people, these are factors that matter. For those who are looking for substance over style and who don't mind the extra noise, go for the DP5. For the overclocker, the DP5 is the only choice (out of the two), capable of coping well with the extra wattage that the increased voltage produces. A very solid performance from a well established company.
The final ChillBlast rating is ********
Coolermaster site can be found at www.Coolermaster.com.tw
Many thanks to Coolermaster for the supply of this and many more of the company’s range that will be coming soon to the ChillBlast review section.