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Product: PCH 113
Manufacturer: Power Cooler
Homepage : www.powercooler.com.tw
Let's keep this short and sweet. The monkey has apparently contacted a number of agencies claiming that we have libeled him in some of our recent reviews. Our legal team have advised us that we can no longer make statements referring to said nefarious and litigious simian. We all feel betrayed by his actions in a personal as well as a professional way. Right, that's the legal wranglings out in the open, let's get on with the monkeyin' er... messing around.
We received word from our man in Taiwan regarding a little known company who had come to his attention. The company was Power Cooler and he had been alerted by one of their latest coolers that came in a natty pink colour. Within a matter of days of this information, we were shocked to discover a well known overclocking retailer was selling these coolers as their own. They are obviously able to re-brand generic hsf but it stills smacks of something less than savoury. Oh well, that's the way the capitalist cookie crumbles.
A quick call to the Power Cooler HQ and some samples were winging their way Chillblastward. On arrival, we opened up the package and were immediately under whelmed by the design of the box. Plain white with blue and red writing and the PC icon. Bodes badly, methinks. Open the top and it's a whole new world, literally. The difference is unbelievable. The unit itself (PCH 113) is breathtaking, with a lot of time having gone into the design and manufacture of the unit. The unit is a three tiered affair with an aluminium upper skirt and a blue, less wide skirt underneath and the fan's being the icing on top. The heatsink is of circular design, the base is extraordinary with a flower type shape which sits on the core. There is a strange clip situated just above the base but more about that later.
The previous beauties were from the Coolermaster and ThermoSonic stables, but this takes the biscuit for pure aesthetic appeal. No need for anything but eyes now...
The base is more like the base of the ThermoEngine than anything else.
The core is solid and the heatsink looks like this:
I know this design is radical, but it is the result of competition and this benefits us all. Retro time with a couple pictures of the PCH against a standard designed hsf (Coolermaster EP5-6I11)
The complexity involved in the manufacturing of this unit even puts the Swiftech MC-462A to shame. Companies are working harder than ever to provide us with high quality and effective thermal solutions, so have PC succeeded with this model? Let's see:
Test Rig
Duron 700
Abit KT7A-RAID
2*128 mb PC133 CL2
Voodoo 3 3000 PCI
Maxtor 6 Gig HD
Enermax EG 365P-VE
The PC is the same one used for all the cooler reviews.
Our highly scientific approach has been compromised by a small number of factors. Chiefly that we don't have a scientific approach. This means that our aim 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 +/- 1C, if this changed we stopped
testing until it had returned to this base level. As was pointed out to me by
BlitZ our readings for the Swiftech were off in the first test as it is impossible
to go lower than the ambient room temperature. Cheers BlitZ for pointing this
out and accordingly we now say that all readings are +/- 1C.
Installation
Every-one strapped in ready for the ever present rant about thermal pads and installation? Right, overturn the unit, get the Isopropyl ready, razor blade, elbow grease and then... WOOHOO no thermal pad! I'm happy but this is not a first so lets move on. Core prepped, time to seat this baby and where is that screwdriver? Hmmm. Nowhere to sit the head of the screwdriver on the clip, but there is the screw mechanism with loose >/tight >on the wings of it. Perhaps if I set it to loose, seat it and clip the front and back (requiring absolutely no pressure) then twist it to tighten it... OMG. PC have come up with a system to attach a hsf with zero chance of core, pcb, anything damage. The mechanism itself is very simple, the twisting motion moves four "fins", that face up, from a slight depression along until they meet the sides and are forced downward, thus lifting the whole sink and tightening the clip on the board. It is hard for me to describe the action but suffice it to say it is simple and effective. All the more reason to question why it has taken so long for a company to come up with it? This is a true revelation the type of which I have not seen before in my brief career as a reviewer of coolers. True respect, PC.
Noise
The PCH has managed to excel in the first two challenges. It has not only destroyed the competition but has melted down their metallic corpses and made a nice little cutlery set from the resulting ingots. Can it keep it up for the full competition? Who knows? Er right... we .. do?
Break out that digital decibel reader and lets draw some pretty charts. Game on.
Rpm was measured at 5,400. Ah silence is golden, but 52 dB is the next best thing. The readings are about the same as those from the Coolermaster EP5 and the Taisol. Three great scores returned for the first three tests but a low score in the noise comp generally means a poor performance in the cooling department.
Power Cooling?
The company have really set out their stall with such a name but we know that it wouldn't make it if we were to unleash the CAK or MC462 on it. Therefore the PC is going to do battle against the stock cooling champ, the EP5, which was able to hold on to it's crown against the Taisol (just).
The first test as ever is default speed (700) at default voltage of 1.6v. The idle reading is taken after 30 mins and full load taken after 30 mins of Seti@home. Wait for the lights to change then drop that clutch.
This seems strangely reminiscent of the Taisol/Coolermaster ruck. There is little to choose between them once the margin for (believe you me there are a lot of these) error is taken into account. The stock crowd seem to be stuck at 27C at idle, none being capable of getting under it. I guess that the fan is the true culprit, you need a more powerful fan to cool more but this in turn has it's own problems foremost of which is noise. Our decision to put the PCH into the stock cooling category is apparently vindicated (we guessed before testing...honest).
The 900 mhz test is 9*100 @1.775v which is beginning to produce a reasonable amount of wattage. Rivazza looms, so heads down and lets pull some serious Gs (-3.8).
Not much I can really write, again. The EP5 may have an edge over the PCH under load but at idle it gets pipped. Frankly, we want far more extreme results with a 20C gap so we can ridicule rather than get ridiculed. Near parity is all well and good for certain currencies but we want blood and there is very little on the saw dusted floor. I attempt to hamstring the EP5 but my blade meets stainless resistance. Damn, we can't even cheat now.
Turn up the heat and put the boys on to roast. How many watts is our little Duronic friend emitting? Quis scit, but it is a lot. Max out the voltage and lets go "to the pain" people.
Aha, now there's a result. The fallen corpse of the PCH is being kicked around like a rag doll. Never before have I seen such a rout. I bet Power Cooler regret having sent this little soldier to the front! Right, I think we can see that this is really not the case at all. The EP5 has managed a 2C lead under full load which is immediately reversed at idle.
Conclusion
Cooling wise it is nearly impossible to differentiate between these two warriors. They match each other blow (lol) for blow and take turns in leading. The outcome is a dead heat in the efficiency tests and also the noise test. The ultimate winner will need to be an all rounder and so there is only one choice. The PCH113 is a remarkable unit. The innovation that is its screw tightening device makes it a cut above all the rest. I really mean that. I have had many heart stopping moments while putting the requisite 22 psi through the tip of a screwdriver over the pcb. One slip and it will be all over. I hope this will spur the rest of the cooler manufacturers to take this on. A breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale room.
We are therefore returning to the purity of water and allotting this score in ice crystals.
The final ChillBlast rating is *******
Power Cooler's site can be found at www.powercooler.com.tw
Thanks go to Peter for his help and constant correspondance. He provided us with everything we could want and was happy to do so.
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