Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12
March 12, 2004
Manufacturer: Thermaltake
Introduction
Thermaltake has been known to produce high performance HSFs for the enthusiast market. Though one may think their cpu cooling offerings as targeted for entry level cooling due to their aggressive pricing, make no mistake; Thermaltake coolers are for overclockers who cannot be persuaded to buy hideously expensive heatsinks. Offering cheap alternative and making them look kick ass in the process has been tradition for this company.
Today we take a look at Thermaltake's latest socket A HSF offering, the Extreme Volcano 12. Designed for AMD socket A processors up to 3400+, the Extreme Volcano 12 has both performance and innovation to boast. Let's see if this cooler can continue Thermaltake's winning streak.
The Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12
Designed for overclockers, the Extreme Volcano 12's size alone shows the obvious that it was built with heavy duty cooling in mind. Armed with a powerful fan and made of high density copper, this cooler has got what it takes to push your system to the limit. With a fan controller to manually adjust the fan's speed setting and a sensor driven speed regulator, you've got a versatile cooler that you can control at will or leave on its own.
P/N | A1745 | Fan Speed | 2000 ±10% RPM at 20°C ~ |
5500 ±10% RPM at 55°C | |||
Fan Dimension | 80x80x32 mm | Max Air Flow | 26.50 CFM at 20°C |
72.92 CFM at 55°C | |||
Heatsink Dimension | 82x65.6x49 mm (66 fins) | Air Pressure | 3.29mmH2O at 20°C |
9.06mmH2O at 55°C | |||
Rated Voltage | 12V | Noise | 21 dBA at 2000 RPM |
48 dBA at 5500 RPM | |||
Started Voltage | 7V | Bearing Type | 2 Ball bearing |
Rated Current | 0.08 ~ 0.45A | Life Expectation | 80,000 hours |
Power Input | 0.96 ~ 5.40W | Connector | 4 PIN |
Weight | 708g |
Layout
The Extreme Volcano 12 is made of high density all copper heatsink and has 66 fins bonded directly to the base. The base, though not mirror finish, is smooth and flat and has no machining marks. It's got a huge surface area which is advantageous when cooling very hot processors.
The retaining mechanism uses the three lugs to hook itself to the socket. You will need the services of the handy screwdriver to hook the lugs. I would have preferred a tool-less clip on this one though.
It uses a triple blade "Smart" Fan with a two-ball bearing design for longer life. The triple blade design increases airflow and eliminates air turbulence. The powerful 80mm fan is rated at a maximum of 5500rpm delivering up to 73 CFM of airflow. The main feature of this fan is the "auto temperature control" and adjustable fan speed control. You can let the fan automatically decide the fan speed depending on the temperature. It monitors the case temp via a thermistor and adjusts its speed accordingly (see specs). Our major gripe is the lack of a fan grill here, as you really need one for safety reasons. The fan opening is fully exposed for those nice little fingers of yours, and the fan is powerful and spins fast. Watch out, or ouch.
The Extreme Volcano 12's external fan speed adjuster allows users to manually set the desired fan speed without opening the chassis. This can be done via the included PCI bracket control switch to be placed at the back of the case or via a 3.5" aluminum drive bay control switch in front of the case. Handy and looks good on aluminum cases.
Testing and Results
The Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12 was bench tested in a temperature controlled room where the thermostat is set at a constant 20°C. It was tested at both low (2000rpm) and high (5500rpm) settings. Idle and Full Load readings were taken. We ran Prime95 run for 30 minutes before recording full load temperatures and afterwards the computer was shut down and was given a 30 minute resting period before the next heatsink was tested. For comparison, we compared the Extreme Volcano 12 against the best socket A cooler at the moment (our opinion anyway), the Thermalright SLK900A. We used the same 80mm fan attached to the Extreme Volcano 12 on the SLK900A for a better comparison. The stock AMD cooler was also added in the mix.
| Test Setup |
| Asus A7N8X Deluxe |
| AMD AthlonXP 2400+ (2.0 GHz) |
| NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 256mb |
| Corsair TwinX XMS4000 Pro 1Gb |
| Enermax 550w PSU |
|
| Idle | Full Load |
| Extreme Volcano 12 (5500rpm) | 38 | 43 |
| Extreme Volcano 12 (2000rpm) | 42 | 49 |
| AMD Stock HSF (6000rpm) | 43 | 49 |
| Thermalright SLK900A (5500rpm) | 38 | 43 |
Conclusions
The results speak for itself. Thermaltake has once again produced a winner in the Extreme Volcano 12. Its performance matched that of the more expensive SLK900A using the same fan at full blast. This is remarkable considering the price difference between the two is quite huge. Over here, the current pricing for the Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12 is 25% cheaper than the Thermalright SLK900A (heatsink only). Add the price of a fan and the price gap gets even bigger. Overclockers on aircooling will again be the winners here.
As for the noise, at 5500rpm, it is noisy. That is the price you have to pay if you want extreme performance out of this heatsink. But if it doesn't bother you, this is the one for you. On the other hand, at 2000rpm, I can barely hear it on top of my system fans. Of course, performance at this speed drops dramatically but saying that though, it is still at par with the AMD stock HSF running full blast at 6000rpm. I guess with the fan controller, you get to tune it to your liking taking into consideration performance against noise. Now that's a feature that makes sense.
The Thermaltake Extreme Volcano 12 heatsink truly amazed us. We didn't expect it to be at the same level as the famous SLK900A due to its relatively cheaper price. Truly the best AMD Socket A heatsink ATM when it comes to price-performance ratio. They say, "you get what you pay for"; obviously with the Extreme Volcano 12 "you get more".
