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Product: PCH 075
Manufacturer: Power Cooler
Homepage : www.powercooler.com.tw
The court date has been set and our legal beavers are on the case. Literally. They say fight fire with fire, so we fight mammal with mammal. These boys came highly recommended, Bubbles received a handsome settlement after these critters took over the wranglings. So, Monkey, back down now over this libel litigation and let's get back to the old set-up. You can even play the organ this time.
This is round two. The newest victim (perhaps) is the twin to the PCH113 that we reviewed last, I advise reading the first review here. It is also, obviously, manufactured by Power Cooler and goes by the name the PCH 075. The difference between the two is that the the 075 has a copper insert which should be able to remove the heat from the core more efficiently. The major downside is that it is not blue ;-((
I know that we should not care too much about something that will be hidden away within the case, and whose main function is cpu cooling, but the 113 looked so gorgeous that I feel a little deflated by the 075 colour scheme. The base does admittedly look more hardcore (get it?) but the gold skirt doesn't pack the same dynamite punch as the blue. Oh well, let's get on with it and complain at the end if we need to.
The unit is identical in form to the 113 with the same three tiered set up. One point that I neglected to mention in the first review is the fan has two sets of blades, one being set lower and rotated around a bit more. The effect, I assume is to increase the flow of air, but we are unable to verify this.
Prepare yourself for strangely similar photos to those you saw in the 113 review. Ready?
Now for the real money shot.
The core of the core is solid copper with an aluminium case. Here is the second money shot, this time of the heatsink without fan.
Unlike the PCH113, the PCH 075 has a hole drilled in the top and it is clearly aluminium so the copper insert is merely that. What purpose the hole serves is anyone's guess.
Here's the PCH075 posing next to the Coolermaster EP5-6I11, just to give you some idea of it's dimensions.
They are totally different is design and fan size as you can see. The 075, sporting the natty dual blade fan with the Coolermaster opting for the low profile affair.
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
As we discovered in the review of the PCH 113, Power Cooler have come up with a radical new design for attaching the unit to the motherboard. First prep the core. The installation involves loosening the mechanism with a twist, placing it on the cpu, putting the clips in place (zero force required) and then twisting again to raise the unit and tighten it against the board. Genius. The core is safe, pcb safe, fingers safe, everything is safe. Nice. The kind people at Power Cooler also supply the unit with no thermal pad and a sachet of grease. How refreshing. How Heineken.
Noise
The fan is the same as the PCH 113 and the results were too. Check it.
Figures as sweet as Carmen Electra's ***. These fans are able to shift a lot of air with a low dB level so we are all smiling. I am more than happy to use this fan in my rig as I can't abide by noise.
Cool
After taking the stock cooling crown from the Coolermaster EP5, the PCH 113 is ready to go one on one with its younger, but slightly more intimidating brother.
1.6v at 7*100 mhz gets us to the default speed of our Duron. The readings are taken 30 mins after boot for idle and 30 mins of 100% cpu usage under Seti@home for full load. The hooter sounds and the action starts.
A small difference, right off the bat. A dead heat at idle but the 075 begins to stretch it's legs when we turn the heat up.
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).
Again, we see the same results returned for both coolers at idle but the 075 increases it's lead to 2C under full load. The copper insert is paying dividends when the going gets hot, the copper inserted cold cast heatsink will, without doubt, carry the day (I love succinct proverbs).
Our Duron has been ironically re-named the Fridge. We felt the camp needed a boost as morale is low after the monkey issued the writ. Anyway, bang out the voltage to 1.85v and roll some phat beats while winding the speed to the top. 945 mhz doesn't sound much these days but it keeps us happy. Roll out the codling grinder......
Ripper. A shock result with parity at idle and 2C under full load. It seems the 113 just couldn't get on level terms with it's bro and it looks mad. A 3 day reign is all that little chap was able to muster. It reluctantly takes off the crown and hands it to the 075 who dismissively waves it sibling away and places it's dainty base atop the throne of power. How fitting.
Conclusion
There is no ambiguity about the winner. The results are conclusive, with the 075 outperforming the 113 at every speed under 100% cpu usage. The idle figures are tied at each level of wattage but I think this has a lot to do with the fans they use. The copper is clearly a huge benefit to the unit even though it apparently does not extend all the way up. Whatever it's dimensions, the insert moves the heat away from the core and out to the fins more quickly than aluminium under load and this is what we all want. As a stock cooler, I can't fault the unit at all, as an overclocking cooler I still find it hard to fault. Buy it and strap a Delta on and you will lose it's appeal but probably gain a high performance unit. For people who wish to overclock within reason, I strongly recommend the purchase of the PCH 075, especially if it available at the price that Power Cooler have indicated.
The monetary loss we have suffered as a result of the lawsuit has not diminished our party spirit and so roll out the crack crystals.
The final ChillBlast rating is ********
Power Cooler's site can be found at www.powercooler.com.tw
Thanks go to Peter and Angel for their help and constant correspondence. They were both very kind and efficient.
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