February 15th, 2011

Reeven RCCT

Testing

Test Rig

Processor	Intel C2D E8400 @ 3.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus P5K Premium
Graphics Card	Vivikoo 9500GT
RAM	2GB Geil Black Widow
PSU	Antec NeoPower 550W
OS	Windows XP Pro 32bit

Methodology

To test CPU coolers we boot the PC up with a freshly installed copy of Windows XP and measure temperatures under idle and load states. The onboard temperature sensor is disregarded and instead the CPU’s own diode is used.

For idle testing, we simply let the rig sit doing absolutely nothing for 30 minutes and take the most representative temperature of the last 10 minutes. The same is used for the load testing, but instead of letting the PC do nothing; we load both cores to 100%.

All testing was carried out with the 3pin motherboard connector being used.

The thermal paste used on all the coolers was Arctic Silver 5.

All of the testing was carried out with the side panels on and with one front 120mm fan and one rear 120mm fan attached. Ambient temperatures were at 20 degrees C. The processor was loaded using two processes of CPU Burn-In.

Speedfan was used to take all temperatures.

For comparison purposes, the stock Intel cooler (copper base version) was also tested.

Results

Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3

From the results, it’s clear to say the Reeven RCCT-0901SP absolutely floored the Intel in terms of performance. Its load temperature is nearly the same as the Intel’s idle!

Noise

Now this is where the Reeven is a disappointment. It’s probably one of the loudest CPU Coolers I’ve ever witnessed. However, when looking at Speedfan, I noticed the fan on this cooler spinning at a whopping 2575 rpm; that’s incredibly fast compared to the Intel’s 1402 rpm. Both these coolers used PWM connectivity, so it seems odd why it was spinning this quick. Therefore, I got out my trusty fan controller and lowered the rpm slightly. What a difference! The Reeven was then slightly quieter than the Intel. I still wouldn’t go as far as saying its mulnaz or silent though.

Cost

The Reeven RCCT-0901SP retails at a reasonable £29.99 at QuietPC.com. As far as I’m aware, there aren’t many more retailers stocking this cooler. For this price, the Reeven is definitely worthy of a purchase, its performance is truly awesome.