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nPower TTIC NPH-K8-1 CPU Cooler Sponsored by 03/27/05
nPower is a cooling manufacturer that has many different models and designs. Today we are going to look at their NPH-K8-1 CPU heat pipe. nPower has everything from water cooling sinks and towers to your standard pipe tower. This is the first product I have encountered from nPower so let's see how well this cooler performs. If you'd like to know a bit more about the heat pipe technology and how nPower designs their products, here is a snippet from their site that explains their "TTIC" heat pipe technology a little better.
Please note that there is a P4 model of the NPH incase you are interested in the unit and use a Intel Chip.
Specs:
Please note specs taken from nPower website HERE
Alternate Fan Options & Compatibilities...
Price:
Installation: Installation is pretty easy there are only 6 screws to worry about. Four used in the 92mm fan installation and two used for the base to fasten the heat column over the CPU. The fan installation is a 1..2..3 step install. You will see four holes on the black frame, just put the fan lined up over the holes and screw in the fan. Make sure to take note as to the direction of the air flow, it's important to face the fan going into the direction of the exhaust fan to reduce heat build up and ambient temperature spikes. Also note you can install this cooler with an 80mm fan as well. The mount allows for both 92mm and 80mm units.
The base or cooler installation is just as easy. The hardest part would be making sure that the base is correct. Unfortunately, you can't use the stock base so the motherboard must be removed in order to install the base provided. Once that is done all you need to do is screw the two screws into the base with the springs on top of the aluminum mount.
Appearance: The overall appearance of the cooler is satisfactory. It is a solid copper column with copper fins surrounded by a black frame for attaching the cooling fan. The mounting base appears to be aluminum, very clean and nicely designed. The only thing I would add to this unit is some light but you can do that on your own by purchasing a LED fan to give the unit some extra flair.
Performance: We are going to test this unit on a 754 AMD 64bit CPU with a very high ambient external temp of over 40 degrees Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit. The reason for this is to put some stress on the unit and to see how well the Cooler does keeping this from overheating. Please note this is above any normal operating procedure and is used merely to test the limits of the cooler so our results will be different then most day to day temps of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. What we are going to do is take the temperature of the PC when Idle, or 0% CPU usage, over a 30 min period. Then run some load batch files to peg the CPU for 15 to 30 minutes of time then record the high temp. We will run this test three times to make sure our results are stable and consistent. Results First thing I wanted to just briefly mention is that this test was run with the fan averaging 3000 RPM's and the fan stayed right at that speed the entire time plus or minus 100 RPM's. This means if you have a fan that runs at higher RPM's or air flow you will probably have better results so the NPH-K8 will perform even better.
Above are screenshots of the Idle and Load runs. What we ended up finding was with a base temp in the case over 100 Fahrenheit or 40 Celsius the cooler kept the CPU right around 72 Degrees Celsius and when running the Load it only raised to 76 Celsius. The internal case temp did not appear to raise much at all, only 4 degrees. This is very good On a load test. I am used to seeing a larger jump, especially when in the A Zone or high risk temperatures like in our test. The most impressive part of the performance test was when turning off the load runs, within a matter of seconds the CPU temp dropped right back down to the 72 to 73 degree marker. This is something I haven't seen in any of the units tested on the 754 socket AMD CPU's Great job nPower, I am impressed..
Quality: The construction of the NPH cooler is awesome. All of the cuts and edges are perfectly machined. I can not say enough about nPowers quality. The pre lapped surface is well made and the thin plastic coating help protect the surface from any damage before installation. Another aspect of the construction I feel nPower went above and beyond with is the fins. They are made of copper rather then what most of the competitors use not to mention the increased performance when using a copper fin over an aluminum type. If this unit is any sign of how their other products are made then nPower will probably be on my favorites list for cooling units.
Pros: Easy to install. Very nice pre lapped surface. Excellent cooling capabilities. Great craftsmanship and machining. Copper Fins are a great performance enhancement when most are aluminum. Cons: The only thing I would add to this cooler is lighting to add flare. Not really an issue if you buy an aftermarket Fan. Conclusion: nPower does a wonderful job of making a quality cooling product. If you are in need of a cost effective cooler that performs as well or better then the competitors in its price range then this unit is probably the cooler for you. I am pleased to award nPower with our "Blue Ribbon Seal of Approval" for a great all around heat pipe...
Rating: 5 and 1/2 out of 6 Stars
Review Date: 03/27/05 Reviewer: pr101j (Paul)
Feel free to make comments concerning this review on our message board HERE.
Company Info:
Marns CDA By pr101j |
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