Pentagram NXC 100-Cu

Performance

CPU:	AMD Athlon64 3000+ (S939; 1MB; Venice)
Clock speed:	9 x 200 MHz = 1800 MHz, Memory at DDR-400
Motherboard:	Sapphire PI-A9RX480 ATI RX480
Memory:	2x 1024MB G.SKILL PC-3200
Video Card:	ATI Radeon 9000 PCI
Harddisk:	WD Raptor 360GD 36GB
Power Supply:	Sansun Arctic 450W
Software:	Windows XP SP2, Catalyst 6.1

Temperature data was obtained by directly reading the Athlon64 thermal diode with a MAX6655 reader which offers an accuracy of 0.125°C. The CPU, cabling, diode reader setup has been calibrated in a water bath over a 0°C - 75°C range. Room temperature was kept at 20°C, data has been normalized if necessary.

Idle means Windows sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load is after 30 minutes of Prime95. The different clock/voltage settings are representative of an un-overclocked, medium overclocked and heavily overclocked system.


Cooling performance on all three load settings is quite weak. However, as long as the temperatures stay in an acceptable range and the system is stable at the high load setting, I see no reason to be worried about that. There is certainly room for improvement in new revisions of this cooler.


Using the included fan controller allows you to freely choose between cooling performance or silence. On the 50% setting, which we achieved by running the fan at 6V supplied by an external lab PSU the cooler is very quiet. Together with its rather low profile this might be a viable choice for a home entertainment system.