Please explain why so many use Thermaltake Volcano coolers to me.

[WT]

I have a Volcano 7+ on my 1600+ at 36 C, 39 load. Its been no problem at all and I paid $26 for it, which at the time I was shopping I did not want to spend any more on a HSF than that. One thing about The Tt's, there were plenty of reviews and the SLK and Swiftech products that everyone now raves about were not available at my time of purchase. So when I bought mine, it was well reviewed and performed very well. I loved the ability to adjust the fan to whatever I wanted via a modded case to allow access to the fan control. The mounting clips may be more of a problem with your board than the clip itself .. I had no problems when comparing my setup to my friends Antec HSF (weird mounting setup with "L" clips on the block), which is HELLA loud compared to mine for the same price and also runs 2 C hotter than mine. I am a happy Volcano 7+ owner ... I would probably not be a happy owner of a 7 or a 9 series Tt HSF tho.

 

[Chrisdragon]

I am thinking of replacing my damaged Volcano9 (it's missing a fanblade and ppl say it's off-balanced, with vibration over the whole unit when fan goes over 2000 RPM) and pondering on replacing it with a Vantec Aeroflow, seeing it performs better than it. Opinions?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I love my P4 AeroFlow and you can pick up either the sktA or P4 model for $22.95+s&h shouldn't be more than 30-31$ to your door via UPS ground.

 

[MadTom]

Tried a Volcano 7+ on a P4, and it's way to loud compared to the Intel stock cooler. On the medium setting it was louder than the stock cooler, but cooled almost the same. On the fastest setting it was louder than my vacuum cleaner... Sold it to a guy with an XP 2000+ and he is happy with it... And the clipping mechanism for the P4 is way to complicated and harsh on the fingers...

 

[OatMan]

I've used Tt V9 twice now.
Its a decent cooler for the money. The reason I got it is because it was the best sub $20 cooler I could find on the sites I was ordering other stuff from. I'm not going to pay shipping just to get some specific cooler from another site. Keep in mind these are systems i build for family friends, so no OC. My system has a Alpha 8045.

Anyway, the older version V9 had a shitty clip that only used one CPU stump. This also had the "adjustable" fan that had a thermoses. Unfortunately the Thermo couple is barely protruding from the fan housing and is somewhat shielded from CPU heat. I doubt it ever funs full on.

The newer version of the V9 has a clip that uses all three cpu stumps. Its definitely better if not fantastic. Good enough, it is much more stable. The new fan now has a thermo sensor that can be mounted to the underside of the cpu, and has an analog rotating switch thing-a-ma-jig that allows manual fan speed setting. This is much nicer than the other version, but without the groovy blue color isn't as cool looking - I'm sure this will impact sales Anyway I stole the fan for my Alpha, and swapped it with a panaflo H1 40cfm. In theory I can leave it at low RPMs except when I OC for gaming or some other specific task. I like!

Well, for the money I think the V9's are decent mid priced coolers for OEM chips. Better IMO than the retail coolers. Probably not for OCing, but I have not found a sub $20 cooler (with fan) that?s better. Copper base (not the smoothest like CHiz said, but OK), 80 mm fan adjustable for 50+ cfm and sub 30 db(A) for $15 - $20 - I haven't found a better deal for the same money, and I haven't seen one mentioned here.

I can't speak for other Tt products tho, so this could be the exception.
- just my 2 bits

 

[DAPUNISHER]

OatMan, Thanx for the post where are you getting it that cheap and is that under 30db@50+ cfm? I would think that the sound would be based on the standard 3ft from the case to get that db level@50+cfm.

 

[Acanthus]

Thermaltake Xaser is an awsome line of cases... their heatsinks are absolutely terrible though, i HATE the clips.

 

[bsr]

So what is the best heatsink cooling wise ?

 

[clicknext]

i've read that the V11 is a V7+ heatsink with the improvements of the V9

Yeah, supposedly the heatsink of V7+ (all copper) and an 80mm variable speed fan.

 

[SinfulWeeper]

Don't know. The Alpha 8942 can be bought new for $29 though
Seems to me the Volcano's costed more the last time I checked.

 

[Zap]

I'll play devil's advocate here...

So what is the best heatsink cooling wise ?

Is that with unlimited funds? I think the point with a lot of the lower end Tt HSFs is that they are relatively inexpensive. Sure, something like the Thermalright SLK-800/900 would be better, but there's high cost involved, plus a fan - looking at $35-50 for such a setup. Same thing with using an Alpha, and even more with a Swiftech. Most people don't want to spend too much on a cooler. Heck, the $30 difference between the cheap Tt and more expensive units is an upgrade from an XP2100+ to XP2400+. Know what I mean, Vern?

Tt originally got a name for themselves with the Golden Orb cooler for socket 370. As I recall, it predated or was concurrent to the GlobalWin FOP32/38 heatsinks. It had "different" looks and since socket 370 processors weren't the heaters that Athlons are, so it did the job, was reasonably priced and looked sharp. It was also in a relatively uncrowded HSF aftermarket. Then, socket A processors came into being. Tt got a really bad reputation then because the "Gorb" often crushed the Athlon/Duron cores. They came out with the Copper Orb, but by then the competition passed them by. The dual-fan Super Orb was next, followed by the Dragon Orb. All aluminum plus combo aluminum/copper models became available. It was unfortunate that they stayed with the "Orb" design since I think that caused their reputation to drop even farther. The older Volcano series (commonly available as II, 5, 6, 6+) actually worked just fine for their price range. I don't think any of these units debuted at over $15. The Volcano 7 was actually pretty decent for its price, at under $20. It also looked pretty slick and didn't have a 7000RPM screamer.

Besides being a reasonable low-priced alternative, Tt offerings are easily available.

 

[touchmyichi]

It seems kind of foolish to buy a thermaltake if coolermasters have just as much retail availibility and are priced similarly. People often buy thermaltake because they look pretty damn sweet. I'll give them that.

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: MachFive
Yeah, Thermaltake's HSF have gone the same way as HP's printers - They've gotten so well renowned they no longer feel a need to improve the quality, since they can still move volume based on name recognition alone.

I'm with you on the HP printers. The quality bites.

About DAPUNISHER'S Volcano question: I used the Volcano 7 with a low RPM fan on my XP1700 and it worked great. Not the best option out there but it kept it in the 40's which was fine. It was cheap and it was quiet, BUT that was after I dropped the RPM. The clip could have been better but that was a no more than a 30 second hassle. Once it was on it held just fine. I have no serious complaints but I wouldn't swap it for the SLK800 that I have now. Then again it also didn't cost nearly as much either.

 

[Zap]

I wouldn't swap it for the SLK800 that I have now. Then again it also didn't cost nearly as much either.

I guess it comes down to price versus performance. Low price? Thermaltake. Low temperatures? Something more expensive. Besides that, people complain about their fans being noisier than they specify and putting out fewer CFM than specified. That's something to keep in mind, but I still think they are reasonable for the low price you pay. The way the newer ones look may or may not be a benefit depending on your personal tastes.

 

[Lorne]

Im the owner of a Volc 7+, And am pleased with it on top of my AXP2400+ 333 on med speed mounted on a SOYO KT400 UDP, Temps run 38-45c here in hot southern California.

1. Reason to get one, Its the best thing you can pick up at Fry's or corner puterstore, Alot of users cant or dont want to waste the time and money taking the chance getting a peace of junk by mail only to send it back.
Its cheap, easy and fast, And it works.

1.reason not, Inconsistancys in the parts used and quality, The HSF test on this site and many others show it isnt that good and I beg to differ but it may be just mine works ALOT better.

differences I read about.
1. clip sucks or has problems, The one on mine works great for easy placement or removel thought a very tight spring.
2. not a good design, It has the same design and mesurements as many of the top MFGs.
3. Fan burns out to quickly, Its to loud, doenst cool enough bla bla bla, This is the biggest problem and inconsistancy of all and its because they never use the same mfg or speed more then 2x it seems, The mfg of mine is not on the top of my head at this time but I know its not the same as the others, Speeds are low 4000, Med 5500 and high 6500, High speed is even quieter then the Volc 6+ I had previously and works alot better then the benchmarks of the Volc 8 or 9.

I am a overclocker or should say was, I started oc'ing since the day of the 486 and even made my own heatsinks and fan setups but just dont need to anymore.
There is a difference between overclocker and OCextreemist though a thin line, I needed it to work not to impress.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Lorne, nice to see someone who uses a volcano finally take a firm "I like it, and it's better than you guys say it is" stance I've never used one but have always seen them fail to beat comparably priced coolers in reviews and read posts by experienced overclockers (like the ones who posted in this thread ) who consider them junk. I guess I will just say more power to you but I'm certainly not interested in using one as I'm as happy with the ones I use as you are with yours'

 

[Zap]

have always seen them fail to beat comparably priced coolers in reviews

It seems that at the higher end ($20+) the Volcanos are compared to similar priced heatsinks without fan. Still, no matter. I have yet to see a Thermalright/Alpha/Swiftech heatsink in any retail store or at wholesalers in SoCal. Besides Thermaltake, I've only seen Zalman (at Fry's, of all places), GlobalWin and Coolermaster as the big names represented.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Do you not have a credit card Zap? Because that's the only reason I could see making retail availability an issue. BTW, I couldn't care less what's available@a retail or wholesale outlet B&M as I can always beat the deal by buying out of state with no sales tax and sometimes free s&h. I also plan builds for clients and myself in advance so I haven't yet had an emergency where I needed a cooler so desperately that I'd have to go get one local, not to mention I always have extra stuff because I believe in the axiom 'better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it"

 

[OatMan]

OatMan, Thanx for the post where are you getting it that cheap and is that under 30db@50+ cfm? I would think that the sound would be based on the standard 3ft from the case to get that db level@50+cfm.

[url]http://www.svc.com/thervol9cool.html[/url]

http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=167_274&products_id=735

sorry if i wasn't clear. The volvanoe9 comes with a variable speed fan its 17 dB(A) - 20.6cfm @ 1300rpm and 48dB(A) - 76cfm @ 4800rpm. At roughly the same airflow (using the ultra accurate cheek test its a bit louder than my 40 cfm panaflo H1As (@similar rpms) but with a more anoying higher pitch. Its probably not actually louder, just that our ear "hears" certain frequencies better than others, which is why you see dB(A) which i think is adjusted for the A curve of human ear frequencey perception, I think. Someone here will hopefully chime in with more accurate info, before I spread too many lies!

hope this helps.

 

[Zap]

Do you not have a credit card Zap? Because that's the only reason I could see making retail availability an issue. BTW, I couldn't care less what's available@a retail or wholesale outlet B&M as I can always beat the deal by buying out of state

Yes I have a credit card. I didn't say I actually buy stuff at local places (though I do on occasion), just what I've seen. I know you (and many others) do almost all your shopping mail order/online. That may be true of the "enthusiast" end users that hang out at hardware forums (myself included) but that's not true of the "general public" end users.

 

[loco21]

i just got my p4 spark 7 and is good real good but the fan make to much noisy they claim is about 17 db on 1300 rpm but i think thas more on that may be like 40 something db on low 1300 rpm so i toke the fan and change for the original fan from intel is more quiet and still a good temperature but i think is more and much better fan cooler out there with btter price too

 

[DAPUNISHER]

OatMan, Thanx for the links I should have known it was SVC as their cooler prices are excellent.

Zap, I'm with you but ask yourself how often a non-enthusiast even purchases and installs an after market CPU cooler

loco21, I've been hearing good things about the spark7 I'll have to check it out.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Any other Volcano users want to sound off or have we comprehensively covered the pros and cons of this cooling solution now?

 

[kadajawi]

the V9 CoolMod looks damn cool. Anyway, I decided to buy the SK-7. The V9 with CM costs 30? here. The SK-7 without fan 30? (SLK-800 50?!). I have an ok Papst (with a huge engine... -> only cools the borders of the cooler... need to get a better one). But the TTs are quite easy to get, the others not (or damn expensive).