My new heatsink - Powercooler PCH237 - mini review

Bort · 26th March 2002, 4:27 PM

I just got a Powercooler PCH-237. According to Dan's Data, the heatsink part of it is identical to the OCZ Gladiator, and it has a slower fan than the OCZ. If you have a look at the link above, you'll see it has a rather spiffy clear, 70mm, 5500rpm fan. Quite a nice looking bit of gear.

Installation:
I had a bit of trouble mounting the sink as the lever on the CPU socket fouled it and meant it wouldn't sit flat. I had to move the HSF over slightly, and it now seems to be fitting OK. I'm thinking of getting a copper shim just to make sure it's sitting flat.
The clip is a bit of a prick to put on, but it is holding quite tightly with a lot of force. Having a slocket that refuses to come out of its slot does not make things easy, either.

Performance:
My previous heatsink setup was a Globalwin FKP-32, with a 4800rpm fan. I think there's a review of it in OCAU somewhere. I also had a 120mm fan blowing on the heatsink, drawing fresh air through a hole in the side of my case. The fan on the heatsink was flipped over to suck air through the heatsink, so the air coming through the side went straight into the fins and out the top.

Can anyone follow that above paragraph? Anyway, the fins on this new sink are lined up such that they run vertically, when installed on the slocket in my motherboard (P3V4X), so they don't get a breeze from that fan. So I didn't bother flipping the fan over; it is blowing air down through the fins.

Arctic silver was used on both sinks.

The CPU temps when running the previous FKP32 heatsink, under load running genome@home, were about 14-15 degrees above the motherboard temperature, which itself is 3 degrees above ambient room temperature.
This was with 108 cfm of help from the 120mm fan, too. Add a degree or two for the temp without the extra fan.

With the PCH237, temperatures stayed at 12-13 degrees above motherboard temperature. I ran it for half an hour or so with the 120mm fan, and again for another half hour without the fan. Temperatures, both CPU and Motherboard, were no different.

Conclusion:
This new sink runs about 2-3 degrees cooler than the FKP32, without needing the big, noisy 120mm fan helping it. It is also quite a bit shorter, and looks more funky too. It's interesting how far heatsink design has come in just a couple of years.
Its price was $49 from www.pccasegear.com.au .
I like it.

StOo_Burger · 26th March 2002, 4:39 PM

How loud do you judge the 50mm fan when it's running by itself?

Anarki · 26th March 2002, 5:04 PM

I love that fan - I want a fan like that for my WBK38!

I've never heard of the FKP32, hmm

Can you give us some exact temps please, and your system specs?

Joseph · 26th March 2002, 5:22 PM

lol my fan on the WBK38 blew up... and now im using some 4800 or 5000 rpm fan...

wats a good fan thats not loud and keeps the temp down?

DDsD · 26th March 2002, 5:40 PM

*hugs his PCH137*
*ouch..hot* hehe

I found the clip mechanism in mine worked _very_well so well it was more or less the entire reason why i bought it

It does hold with a bit of force, but it doesnt need to be really forced down, getting it off.. thats another story, but geting it on isnt a big drama..well wasnt for me..

Im interested by your temps, with my powercooler and 60cfm delta my cpu sits about 15/16 degrees above ambient, admiteddly thats with my XP @1600/1.85

Your runing this on your P3 i take it by your PCDB link?

Bort · 27th March 2002, 12:23 PM

StoOpyd: I'd say the fan is just a tad louder than the 60mm 4800rpm YS tech fan I was using previously. It's hard to judge; I've only run it in the case with the other fans going as well. The fan has an interesting design with the blades - it is like two thin fans stacked on top of each other, slightly offset. It's hard to see on the photos on the powercooler website, but unfortunaltely I don't have a digital camera.

Anarki & DDsD: Here is a review of the FKP32 done by Agg.

The exact temps on Monday when I installed the fan:
Room ~24 (C)
Motherboard 27
CPU 40

Last night was cooler, and the temps were as follows, if I remember correctly:
Room 20
M/B 23
CPU 35

These temps were obtained by running genome@home, and are what is reported by Motherboard monitor.

Yes, sorry, I should have made it clearer in the first post that I am running it on my P3-700@910, at 1.85V. The rest of my system specs: have a look at the "Bort's PC stats" PCDB link in my sig. If you have sigs turned off, just do a search for "Bort" in the PCDB and you'll find it.

So your temps for the XP1600 look pretty good, it must be the Delta you have on it DDsD.

DDsD · 27th March 2002, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bort
So your temps for the XP1600 look pretty good, it must be the Delta you have on it DDsD.

Not to mention the 5x 80mm intakes and 3 x 80/1x120mm exhausts as well...

the temps fell about 5 degrees when using the 60cfm delta as opposed to the 40cfm enermax i was using before.

Temps have droped an additional degree after i mounted a fan next to the cpu blowing air into the PSU, it seems to be stopping the air from recircuilating into the heatsink again.

im a bit cautious cos its stuck on with blu-tak.. but eh, its doin orrite

26th March 2002, 4:27 PM	#1
Bort Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,325	My new heatsink - Powercooler PCH237 - mini review I just got a Powercooler PCH-237. According to Dan's Data, the heatsink part of it is identical to the OCZ Gladiator, and it has a slower fan than the OCZ. If you have a look at the link above, you'll see it has a rather spiffy clear, 70mm, 5500rpm fan. Quite a nice looking bit of gear. Installation: I had a bit of trouble mounting the sink as the lever on the CPU socket fouled it and meant it wouldn't sit flat. I had to move the HSF over slightly, and it now seems to be fitting OK. I'm thinking of getting a copper shim just to make sure it's sitting flat. The clip is a bit of a prick to put on, but it is holding quite tightly with a lot of force. Having a slocket that refuses to come out of its slot does not make things easy, either. Performance: My previous heatsink setup was a Globalwin FKP-32, with a 4800rpm fan. I think there's a review of it in OCAU somewhere. I also had a 120mm fan blowing on the heatsink, drawing fresh air through a hole in the side of my case. The fan on the heatsink was flipped over to suck air through the heatsink, so the air coming through the side went straight into the fins and out the top. Can anyone follow that above paragraph? Anyway, the fins on this new sink are lined up such that they run vertically, when installed on the slocket in my motherboard (P3V4X), so they don't get a breeze from that fan. So I didn't bother flipping the fan over; it is blowing air down through the fins. Arctic silver was used on both sinks. The CPU temps when running the previous FKP32 heatsink, under load running genome@home, were about 14-15 degrees above the motherboard temperature, which itself is 3 degrees above ambient room temperature. This was with 108 cfm of help from the 120mm fan, too. Add a degree or two for the temp without the extra fan. With the PCH237, temperatures stayed at 12-13 degrees above motherboard temperature. I ran it for half an hour or so with the 120mm fan, and again for another half hour without the fan. Temperatures, both CPU and Motherboard, were no different. Conclusion: This new sink runs about 2-3 degrees cooler than the FKP32, without needing the big, noisy 120mm fan helping it. It is also quite a bit shorter, and looks more funky too. It's interesting how far heatsink design has come in just a couple of years. Its price was $49 from www.pccasegear.com.au . I like it. __________________ Steve's Ubuntu Tweaks \|\| Flickr Intel i7-3770K \| ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M \| 8GB G.Skill 1600 \| Gigabyte GTX 560 \| Samsung 830 120GB SSD \| Seagate 2TB HDD

26th March 2002, 4:39 PM	#2
StOo_Burger Ex-Admin Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Brisbane, QLD Posts: 1,997	How loud do you judge the 50mm fan when it's running by itself? __________________ ¤ Computer Repairs Brisbane ¤ \| ¤ QuarkIT ¤ \| ¤ ElementaryCreative ¤ ¤ Supporting small business ¤

26th March 2002, 5:04 PM	#3
Anarki Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,262	I love that fan - I want a fan like that for my WBK38! I've never heard of the FKP32, hmm Can you give us some exact temps please, and your system specs? __________________ ______________________ __________________________ ______________________ __________________

26th March 2002, 5:22 PM	#4
Joseph Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 2,392	lol my fan on the WBK38 blew up... and now im using some 4800 or 5000 rpm fan... wats a good fan thats not loud and keeps the temp down? __________________ Successful trades: search! too many to list

27th March 2002, 12:23 PM	#6
Bort Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,325	StoOpyd: I'd say the fan is just a tad louder than the 60mm 4800rpm YS tech fan I was using previously. It's hard to judge; I've only run it in the case with the other fans going as well. The fan has an interesting design with the blades - it is like two thin fans stacked on top of each other, slightly offset. It's hard to see on the photos on the powercooler website, but unfortunaltely I don't have a digital camera. Anarki & DDsD: Here is a review of the FKP32 done by Agg. The exact temps on Monday when I installed the fan: Room ~24 (C) Motherboard 27 CPU 40 Last night was cooler, and the temps were as follows, if I remember correctly: Room 20 M/B 23 CPU 35 These temps were obtained by running genome@home, and are what is reported by Motherboard monitor. Yes, sorry, I should have made it clearer in the first post that I am running it on my P3-700@910, at 1.85V. The rest of my system specs: have a look at the "Bort's PC stats" PCDB link in my sig. If you have sigs turned off, just do a search for "Bort" in the PCDB and you'll find it. So your temps for the XP1600 look pretty good, it must be the Delta you have on it DDsD. __________________ Steve's Ubuntu Tweaks \|\| Flickr Intel i7-3770K \| ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M \| 8GB G.Skill 1600 \| Gigabyte GTX 560 \| Samsung 830 120GB SSD \| Seagate 2TB HDD