Conclusion
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Testing
Previously my 120gb WD SE hard drive was fastened directly to my aluminium case providing decent heat transfer. I used a separate thermal probe as well as the vortex�s own probe to conduct temperature measurements. Before using the cooler the temperature of the hard drive with average airflow in my case was 38�C. I installed the hard drive as above and mounted it in a spare 5.25� bay. The temperatures measured from my own separate thermal probe were always within 1�C of the vortex probe. I first measure the temperature with no fan, the fan on low and finally the fan on full speed. As I predicted the temperature when the fan was switch off was greater then when my hard drive was not in the vortex., the fan temperature showed up at 41�C. With the fan on low the temperature was reduced to 33�C and with the fan at full speed the temperature dropped to 29�C which was impressive, the cooler dropped the temperature of my hard drive by 11�C at full speed and 5�C at the low speed which is a good result.(All temperatures were taken after 20mins idle in windows xp)
Conclusion:
The cooler looks great and with the life span of a current hard drives (not very long) it�s a good idea to give one a go, an issue I noted is that the vortex doesn�t store your settings and when the computer is started the cooler starts with the fan off. Another issue is that the vortex causes the hard drive to heat up past the level without the vortex, this is due to the blue vibration dampeners.
Pros:
+ Looks great
+ Cools well with fan
+ Temperature sensor
+ Anti vibration
Cons:
- Doesn�t save settings(not a big issue)
- Raises temperature when fan is off.
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Pages: 1 2
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