- Joined
- Sep 1, 2001
- Location
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
As promised, here are the “Swiftech Mc-462 Versus the Akasa Silver Mountain” shootout results.
Let me start by saying that I learned quite a bit doing this test.
I learned that sometime Hype is just that, and nothing more.
The test system was configured in the following way.
AMD AYHJA 1.4 GHZ Thunderbird
ABIT KG7-RAID Bios Ver. 4J
Adaptec 2940U/W PCI SCSI
GEForce 2 PRO 64 Meg DDR
2X Nanya PC2100 CAS2 DDR 256 Meg memory sticks
Vcore 1.85 V
IO 2.67V
DDR 1.85 V
The first phase of the test was to get the room ambient temperature to a constant 78 Degrees F.
The Air conditioning was run for 4 hours prior to the test. A digital room thermometer kept track of the room temp.
My goal in this test was to compare these two coolers from the “Overclocker’s” point of view.
A high water mark of 50’C, as recorded by the CPU sensor on the motherboard, was deemed the cutoff point.
If the temp went over 50’C at 100% CPU, than that was to be considered the practical limit for the ability of the cooler to remove the heat from the CPU.
Programs used to get the system to 100% usage were Seti@home and the Sandra “Burn” utility.
Akasa Silver Mountain:
When I first opened the box for this cooler I was immediately impressed.
Plain and simple this thing looks like a Million Bucks.
The Box itself even looked High Quality.
The fan mounted on top of the heatsink is a 60mm fan that has a three-pin plug that ties directly to the fan header of the motherboard.
This fan ROCKS!!! At 7500 RPM!
It’s also LOUD…big time LOUD.
The fan is a Delta AFB0612EH. Plain and simple AKASA spared NO EXPENCE choosing this fan. 7500 RPM has got to be heard to be appreciated.
Under the fan there is an aluminum “Manifold” that the fan screws thread into. It would appear this also helps direct the air down into the core of the cooler.
The Heatsink is a copper base with copper “Prongs that have been “Crimped” into position on top of the copper plate.
The entire heatsink is then plated in Silver.
The only major weakness in the design would have to be the clip that holds the unit to the CPU.
It’s STIFF and difficult to use.
There is a potential to really damage the socket on your motherboard using that clip.
Take extra time installing. And especially when removing the fan from your CPU.
I’M NOT KIDDING HERE!!!!!
The Akasa comes with a tube of H/S compound, but I chose to use Arctic Silver II in these tests.
Performance:
The computer was booted to Windows ME and the CPU taken to 100% load for 5 Minutes.
The following results were recorded.
133 FSB *10.5 (1400 MHZ) CPU temp @ 45’ C System stable.
140 FSB *10.5 (1470 MHZ) CPU temp @ 45-47’ C System stable.
145 FSB *10.5 (1522 MHZ) CPU temp @ 47-48’ C System stable.
150 FSB *10.5 (1575 MHZ) CPU temp @ 48-50’ C System stable.
153 FSB *10.5 (1606 MHZ) CPU temp @ 50-52’ C System CRASH.
As you can see, at 1606 the temp went up to 50’ with peaks of 52’
This was seen as the Limit of the systems ability to remain stable.
That temperature was also one that I could not consider safe for un-monitored computing.
If the you plan on running your system 24 hours a day be prepared to find a burnt CPU if the room temp goes up very much.
All in all I was impressed with the performance of the silver mountain.
These Overclocking numbers were pretty good in my opinion.
I believe this has to be the limit of a 60mm setup. To go higher, new technology needs to be used.
That new technology could come in the form of water-cooling.
But if your anything like me you just can’t say no to the convenience of air-cooling.
Enter the world of the Swiftech MC-462.
Swiftech MC-462:
This cooler can be bought as a heatsink only, with a Sanyo Denki 109P0812A201 fan with 4-pin power and 3 pins for RPM monitoring, or a Delta 80mm 69 CFM 4 pin power 3pin rpm monitoring.
I bought mine with the Sanyo.
The cooler came in a non descript white box with a sticker on label that proudly mentioned “Made In The USA”.
That fact actually threw me for a loop!
When was the last time you found a computer product that was made in the USA????
For me, it was nice to see for a change.
OOPS #1:
The Sanyo fan was defective!
Right out of the box I noticed that the fan was warped by about 1/16 –1/8 of an inch!
NO WAY was I going to risk that thing shaking my CPU to an early GRAVE!
Note to Sanyo Denki: Wise up!!! If you want to offer a high performance fan…make an effort to control your quality FIRST! That thing, warped that much, spinning at 5000-7000 rpm with NO GUARD? Bad move, BAAAD Move!
SO, now I’m sitting here with a BEAUTIFUL heatsink and a garbage fan!
Boy was I glad I had ordered a DELTA “SHE” 69 CFM fan in addition to the MC-462!!!!
No I didn’t plan it that way…and the Fed EX man timed his delivery of the MC-462 to coincide with the good ‘ole USPS delivery of the extra fan!
(Both were bought from different vendors!!)
Off came the Sanyo and on went the Delta.
The MC-462 uses a new method of holding itself on the CPU!
I’ve never seen it done this way, but I like it!!!
It bolts thru 4 holes located around the CPU socket and uses springs to keep proper tension!
Problem is, the motherboard has to come out of the case to mount the 4 stud blocks through the 4 holes.
I also found that the 4 screws that were used to hold the Sanyo on the MC-462 were too short to hold down the delta, and required a quick trip to ACE hardware for 4 longer (6-32 X 3”) screws.
The MC-462 is the first in what I like to call the 80MM class of coolers.
Meaning it’s HUGE…and HEAVY…
Construction is a massive copper plate that has been drilled to receive a series of aluminum pins that are pressed into it’s top.
It looks, all the world, like the back of a porcupine!
I was initially worried that the pins being pressed in would lower the efficiency of heat transfer to the pins.
However, it appears that some kind of thermal “Glue” was used on the holes before the pins were pressed home (ala Loctite).
Installation of the heatsink and fan was finished and the computer was re-assembled.
Performance:
Fan rpm was measured at 5400 RPM. (That had me a bit worried given the Akasa ran at 7500)
The fan was HALF as loud as the Akasa as well!
The computer was booted to Windows ME and the CPU taken to 100% load for 5 Minutes. The following results were recorded.
133 FSB *10.5 (1400 MHZ) CPU temp @ 39’ C System stable.
140 FSB *10.5 (1470 MHZ) CPU temp @ 39-40’ C System stable.
145 FSB *10.5 (1522 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System stable.
150 FSB *10.5 (1575 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System stable.
153 FSB *10.5 (1606 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System STABLE
155 FSB *10.5 (1627 MHZ) CPU temp @ 41’ C System STABLE
158 FSB *10.5 (1659 MHZ) CPU temp @ 42’ C System CRASH.
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO
I reached 1659 MHZ at that point I was ONLY 42’ !!!!!!!!
I’d guess that it was my memory that gave out being only PC2100.
This has opened an entire NEW LEVEL of over clocking for me!!!
In order to go past this point I will need to do the voltage MOD on this KG7 motherboard to allow more than 1.85 volts!
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, (Yeah you Overclockers too!!) Lend Me Your Ears!!!
This cooler HAS NO PEERS!!!!
Forget the rest…if you plan on overclocking, than the MC-462 with the Delta 69 CFM fan, is the MUST HAVE SETUP!
I even doubt that water-cooling will perform much better than this!
And most certainly not unless the best and most efficient of systems is put together!
In Conclusion,
…….Aw Hell……you draw your own conclusions from here!!!!
I’ve rambled enough….
As Dr. Morsayavich said to Dr. Floyd (Roy Scheider) in the movie 2010……”You Are A Smart Man Dr. Floyd…..You’ll Know What To Do.”
Larry Quinn
Let me start by saying that I learned quite a bit doing this test.
I learned that sometime Hype is just that, and nothing more.
The test system was configured in the following way.
AMD AYHJA 1.4 GHZ Thunderbird
ABIT KG7-RAID Bios Ver. 4J
Adaptec 2940U/W PCI SCSI
GEForce 2 PRO 64 Meg DDR
2X Nanya PC2100 CAS2 DDR 256 Meg memory sticks
Vcore 1.85 V
IO 2.67V
DDR 1.85 V
The first phase of the test was to get the room ambient temperature to a constant 78 Degrees F.
The Air conditioning was run for 4 hours prior to the test. A digital room thermometer kept track of the room temp.
My goal in this test was to compare these two coolers from the “Overclocker’s” point of view.
A high water mark of 50’C, as recorded by the CPU sensor on the motherboard, was deemed the cutoff point.
If the temp went over 50’C at 100% CPU, than that was to be considered the practical limit for the ability of the cooler to remove the heat from the CPU.
Programs used to get the system to 100% usage were Seti@home and the Sandra “Burn” utility.
Akasa Silver Mountain:
When I first opened the box for this cooler I was immediately impressed.
Plain and simple this thing looks like a Million Bucks.
The Box itself even looked High Quality.
The fan mounted on top of the heatsink is a 60mm fan that has a three-pin plug that ties directly to the fan header of the motherboard.
This fan ROCKS!!! At 7500 RPM!
It’s also LOUD…big time LOUD.
The fan is a Delta AFB0612EH. Plain and simple AKASA spared NO EXPENCE choosing this fan. 7500 RPM has got to be heard to be appreciated.
Under the fan there is an aluminum “Manifold” that the fan screws thread into. It would appear this also helps direct the air down into the core of the cooler.
The Heatsink is a copper base with copper “Prongs that have been “Crimped” into position on top of the copper plate.
The entire heatsink is then plated in Silver.
The only major weakness in the design would have to be the clip that holds the unit to the CPU.
It’s STIFF and difficult to use.
There is a potential to really damage the socket on your motherboard using that clip.
Take extra time installing. And especially when removing the fan from your CPU.
I’M NOT KIDDING HERE!!!!!
The Akasa comes with a tube of H/S compound, but I chose to use Arctic Silver II in these tests.
Performance:
The computer was booted to Windows ME and the CPU taken to 100% load for 5 Minutes.
The following results were recorded.
133 FSB *10.5 (1400 MHZ) CPU temp @ 45’ C System stable.
140 FSB *10.5 (1470 MHZ) CPU temp @ 45-47’ C System stable.
145 FSB *10.5 (1522 MHZ) CPU temp @ 47-48’ C System stable.
150 FSB *10.5 (1575 MHZ) CPU temp @ 48-50’ C System stable.
153 FSB *10.5 (1606 MHZ) CPU temp @ 50-52’ C System CRASH.
As you can see, at 1606 the temp went up to 50’ with peaks of 52’
This was seen as the Limit of the systems ability to remain stable.
That temperature was also one that I could not consider safe for un-monitored computing.
If the you plan on running your system 24 hours a day be prepared to find a burnt CPU if the room temp goes up very much.
All in all I was impressed with the performance of the silver mountain.
These Overclocking numbers were pretty good in my opinion.
I believe this has to be the limit of a 60mm setup. To go higher, new technology needs to be used.
That new technology could come in the form of water-cooling.
But if your anything like me you just can’t say no to the convenience of air-cooling.
Enter the world of the Swiftech MC-462.
Swiftech MC-462:
This cooler can be bought as a heatsink only, with a Sanyo Denki 109P0812A201 fan with 4-pin power and 3 pins for RPM monitoring, or a Delta 80mm 69 CFM 4 pin power 3pin rpm monitoring.
I bought mine with the Sanyo.
The cooler came in a non descript white box with a sticker on label that proudly mentioned “Made In The USA”.
That fact actually threw me for a loop!
When was the last time you found a computer product that was made in the USA????
For me, it was nice to see for a change.
OOPS #1:
The Sanyo fan was defective!
Right out of the box I noticed that the fan was warped by about 1/16 –1/8 of an inch!
NO WAY was I going to risk that thing shaking my CPU to an early GRAVE!
Note to Sanyo Denki: Wise up!!! If you want to offer a high performance fan…make an effort to control your quality FIRST! That thing, warped that much, spinning at 5000-7000 rpm with NO GUARD? Bad move, BAAAD Move!
SO, now I’m sitting here with a BEAUTIFUL heatsink and a garbage fan!
Boy was I glad I had ordered a DELTA “SHE” 69 CFM fan in addition to the MC-462!!!!
No I didn’t plan it that way…and the Fed EX man timed his delivery of the MC-462 to coincide with the good ‘ole USPS delivery of the extra fan!
(Both were bought from different vendors!!)
Off came the Sanyo and on went the Delta.
The MC-462 uses a new method of holding itself on the CPU!
I’ve never seen it done this way, but I like it!!!
It bolts thru 4 holes located around the CPU socket and uses springs to keep proper tension!
Problem is, the motherboard has to come out of the case to mount the 4 stud blocks through the 4 holes.
I also found that the 4 screws that were used to hold the Sanyo on the MC-462 were too short to hold down the delta, and required a quick trip to ACE hardware for 4 longer (6-32 X 3”) screws.
The MC-462 is the first in what I like to call the 80MM class of coolers.
Meaning it’s HUGE…and HEAVY…
Construction is a massive copper plate that has been drilled to receive a series of aluminum pins that are pressed into it’s top.
It looks, all the world, like the back of a porcupine!
I was initially worried that the pins being pressed in would lower the efficiency of heat transfer to the pins.
However, it appears that some kind of thermal “Glue” was used on the holes before the pins were pressed home (ala Loctite).
Installation of the heatsink and fan was finished and the computer was re-assembled.
Performance:
Fan rpm was measured at 5400 RPM. (That had me a bit worried given the Akasa ran at 7500)
The fan was HALF as loud as the Akasa as well!
The computer was booted to Windows ME and the CPU taken to 100% load for 5 Minutes. The following results were recorded.
133 FSB *10.5 (1400 MHZ) CPU temp @ 39’ C System stable.
140 FSB *10.5 (1470 MHZ) CPU temp @ 39-40’ C System stable.
145 FSB *10.5 (1522 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System stable.
150 FSB *10.5 (1575 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System stable.
153 FSB *10.5 (1606 MHZ) CPU temp @ 40’ C System STABLE
155 FSB *10.5 (1627 MHZ) CPU temp @ 41’ C System STABLE
158 FSB *10.5 (1659 MHZ) CPU temp @ 42’ C System CRASH.
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWO
I reached 1659 MHZ at that point I was ONLY 42’ !!!!!!!!
I’d guess that it was my memory that gave out being only PC2100.
This has opened an entire NEW LEVEL of over clocking for me!!!
In order to go past this point I will need to do the voltage MOD on this KG7 motherboard to allow more than 1.85 volts!
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, (Yeah you Overclockers too!!) Lend Me Your Ears!!!
This cooler HAS NO PEERS!!!!
Forget the rest…if you plan on overclocking, than the MC-462 with the Delta 69 CFM fan, is the MUST HAVE SETUP!
I even doubt that water-cooling will perform much better than this!
And most certainly not unless the best and most efficient of systems is put together!
In Conclusion,
…….Aw Hell……you draw your own conclusions from here!!!!
I’ve rambled enough….
As Dr. Morsayavich said to Dr. Floyd (Roy Scheider) in the movie 2010……”You Are A Smart Man Dr. Floyd…..You’ll Know What To Do.”
Larry Quinn
