Okay after recently putting together my new case and rheobus. I finally could install the Tornado I bought about a year ago without going deaf. The Vantec Tornado is rated at 5000RPM, 85CFM and 54dB (out of memory), my old Sunon 80mm is rated at 2800RPM, 32CFM and 32dB (out of memory again). Well, I decided to see what the Tornado will actually do for your temperatures.
All tests were done with a Thermalright SLK-800U on Arctic Silver Prototype.
Ambient Temperature in case was 36C (it was incredibly hot yesterday)
SLK-800U w/ Sunon 80mm
Idle 47C
Load 59C
SLK-800U w/ Vantec Tornado @ 5000RPM
Idle 45.5C
Load 57C
SLK-800U w/Vantec Tornado @ 2800RPM
Idle 46C
Load 58.5C
Conclusion:
The extra RPM and CFM do drop the temperatures lower, however, I began to see that it's probably not worth the tradeoff of noise and bulkiness. Though the extra control is a nice feature to have, the decrease in temperature when you want it loud seems a little meager. However, some good results are that the Tornado @ 2800RPM seems a little quieter than the Sunon AND it seems cools better by a slight margin. This was very nice because a question was asked around this forum about the performance of a low RPM, high output fan. I was pretty sure since the laws of physics play fair that it wouldn't make a difference if both fans were the same size and spun at the same RPM, but it seemed like the reduced Tornado did a nicer job. So, now I don't really see a reason to run my Tornado super high. It doesn't seem to do everything I thought it would.
This was without thermal break-in being in full effect. However, the TIM I used has no real documentation so I don't really know if it's a factor. Some of the tests might have had better results because they were done later in the "burn-in" process for the TIM, I can't be sure. I will do more tests tonight and give more results. Idle temps were recorded 10 minutes after the computer finished starting up. Load temperatures were recorded after 10 minutes of Prime95. RPM and temperature monitoring was with Winbond Hardware Doctor from Abit's site. See signature for system specifications.
All tests were done with a Thermalright SLK-800U on Arctic Silver Prototype.
Ambient Temperature in case was 36C (it was incredibly hot yesterday)
SLK-800U w/ Sunon 80mm
Idle 47C
Load 59C
SLK-800U w/ Vantec Tornado @ 5000RPM
Idle 45.5C
Load 57C
SLK-800U w/Vantec Tornado @ 2800RPM
Idle 46C
Load 58.5C
Conclusion:
The extra RPM and CFM do drop the temperatures lower, however, I began to see that it's probably not worth the tradeoff of noise and bulkiness. Though the extra control is a nice feature to have, the decrease in temperature when you want it loud seems a little meager. However, some good results are that the Tornado @ 2800RPM seems a little quieter than the Sunon AND it seems cools better by a slight margin. This was very nice because a question was asked around this forum about the performance of a low RPM, high output fan. I was pretty sure since the laws of physics play fair that it wouldn't make a difference if both fans were the same size and spun at the same RPM, but it seemed like the reduced Tornado did a nicer job. So, now I don't really see a reason to run my Tornado super high. It doesn't seem to do everything I thought it would.
This was without thermal break-in being in full effect. However, the TIM I used has no real documentation so I don't really know if it's a factor. Some of the tests might have had better results because they were done later in the "burn-in" process for the TIM, I can't be sure. I will do more tests tonight and give more results. Idle temps were recorded 10 minutes after the computer finished starting up. Load temperatures were recorded after 10 minutes of Prime95. RPM and temperature monitoring was with Winbond Hardware Doctor from Abit's site. See signature for system specifications.