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Vantec Aeroflow TMD CPU Cooler
Review Date: December 29, 2002
Reviewed by: Dwayne Sessom
Sponsored by: 1CoolPC.com
There are countless CPU coolers out there on the market today, each promising to be the best at keeping your processor cooler than any other. The problem is that most of the really good CPU coolers do such a good job because they have high RPM fans that move lots of air and they are generally very loud. If you are a PC enthusiast then you know exactly what I mean. A prime example of a loud fan that moves some major air would be the Vantec Tornado. They move 84.1 CFM, and noise is 55.2dB which sounds like a hair blow drier. By contrast, the last CPU cooler I tested was the Thermaltake Volcano7+ which rates at 49 CFM and 47 dB at it's highest setting.
The Vantec Aeroflow that we are looking at today incorporates a new type of fan - the "TMD" or Tip Magnetic Driving fan which is much quieter than standard fans while moving the same amount of air.
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Retail Package front and back. Click for larger view.
Features:
- AeroFlow Heat Sink Design.
- TMD (Tip Magnetic Driving) fan.
- Copper Core for superior heat dissipation.
- Fan Size: 70x70x15mm.
- Fan Speed: 5600 RPM.
- Air Flow: 35.5 CFM.
- Noise Level: 38.0 dBA.
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Fan Assembly - Click for larger view.
- Longer lifespan.
- Less expensive to build.
- Increased torque.
- Reduced noise.
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Heatsink Design - Click for larger view.
The heatsink is where this cooler gets it's name, AeroFlow. It is a totally unique design with a copper-core center to absorb heat faster away from the CPU, and 4 sided aluminum fins that slope inside the heatsink channeling the heat quickly from the center of heatsink. This is a fairly radical but effective design. The copper core moves heat quickly from the CPU and transfers it to the rest of the heatsink which is aluminum, making it lighter in weight and less expensive to manufacture.
Installation and Performance:
Aside from being a very tight fit on my Abit IT7 motherboard, it was the easiest CPU cooler I have installed for a socket 478 (Pentium4) system. The retention system consists of a bracket on each side of the heatsink, one side has two fixed "hooks" that hook into the plastic retention bracket on the motherboard from the indise and the opposite side has a handle with two more hooks that attach themselves to retention bracket from the outside when you push it down. This is very slick and well thought out.
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Installation - Click for larger view.
On the down side as I mentioned, it was a tight fit with clearance on each side being almost null. There is next to no room between the heatsink and capacitors on the left side, and on the right side the fan headers were completely covered although it was still possible to plug them in before installation.
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Clearance left and right - Click for larger view.
Test System:
- Abit IT7 MAX, Intel i845E Socket 478
- Pentium4 Northwood 2.4B Retail boxed o/c'ed to 2.8Ghz
- 1X 512MB PC2700 DDR CL2 Kingston ValueRam
- 2X Maxtor 40GB ATA100 7200RPM hard drives in RAID-0
- 1X Western Digital 120GB WD1200JB w/8MB cache
- Abit Siluro FeForce4 Ti4400
- 420 watt ATX 2.03 compliant PSU
- ioMagic 40x12x48 CD-RW
- Cisco Aeronet 340 Wireless LAN card
- WindowsXP Professional
- Motherboard Monitor version 5.2.0.0
- * Ambient room temp = 70*F
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Well now the big question: Does it do a good job of cooling?
You bet it does! Vantec designed this thing to cool your CPU efficiantly and quietly, and it does exactly that! The Vantec AeroFlow hits the mark in both areas. My overclocked P4 2.4 @ 2.8Ghz sits at a very cool 102*F at idle and just 116*F under a 100% CPU load with an ambient room temperature of 70*F. So in a nutshell, the Vantec AeroFlow cools just as well as the Thermaltake Volcano7+, but at a substantially reduced noise level. Your ears will thank you.
Conclusion:
Vantec is well known for innovation in PC cooling so it's no surprize that the AeroFlow continues that tradition. The new heatsink design looks impressive and performs it's job very well. Normally aluminum heatsinks cannot cool as well as a copper one, but this hybrid design takes the best qualities of both materials and the results speak for themself. The Tip Magnetic Driving fan adds to the quality of the overall design and performance making the AeroFlow quite possibly the quietest CPU cooler of this caliber on the market. The only drawback I could find was the size of this thing. Although it is only slightly larger than the Volcano7+, it leaves no room between the capicitors and heatsink and covers the fan headers on the opposite side on the IT7 motherboard that we tested on. Overall, the Vantec AeroFlow is an outstanding product but since it is such a tight fit we give it a 4X rating.
For more info, see 1CoolPC's product page.
On a more personal note...
I am a stickler when it comes to customer service. It seems like more and more businesses these days just don't care whether their customers are happy or not. Bart Lane from 1CoolPC is one of those rare people who actually go the extra mile to take care of his customers, and he actually offers a 30-day 100% refund policy if you are not satisfied with you purchase! If you have never bought anything from 1CoolPC, I highly recommend them for your next purchase of PC cooling gear. If you have, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.
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