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Aerocool Deep Impact DP-101 Rev2: The heat pipe is something many manufacturers are integrating into their coolers. What we are about to look at today is something similar but expands on the idea somewhat.

Date: October 6, 2003
Manufacturer:
Written By:
Price:
 



The usual test methods were employed here. The supplied Stars thermal compound was tested with this unit, as was Artic Silver 2. After testing both I decided to go with the Artic Silver 2 simply because that's what I tested the majority of other HSF's with and helps me to maintain consistency. For the record there was no difference in temperatures between the Stars and the Artic Silver 2.

Testing was done with the cooler horizontally, however testing the Deep Impact vertically produced no significant differences in recorded temperatures, as the Supertube relies on capillary action rather than gravity.

The test system is as follows:-
AthlonXP 1900+ (supplied by ) @ XP2000 1.75v 166FSB
Abit AT7 Max
Skyhawk Midtower with 2x Intake, 1x Exhaust, with all fans including the PSU fans set to low.
Windows XP (SP1)

As comparison coolers I've used the Coolermaster Aero7 and the Swiftech MCX462 with an 80mm 3000rpm CoolerMaster fan. I've also thrown into the ring temperatures from the Deep Impact using a Delta 60mm Screamer just to help us see the efficiency of the Deep Impact's Supertube technology. For idle settings, Windows was booted up and left for 15 minutes and a reading taken.

For load settings Folding@Home was left running for at least an hour and readings taken. This was done 3 times and the average temperature taken for each. Room temperature was maintained at 26C and the case side was left off.

 

Temperatures in celcius, lower is better

The Swiftech is an older HSF which has served me well in the past, and in relative silence. The Aero7 scores shown here are with the fan at its top speed of 4500 rpm which is not quiet at all. Now the big selling point of the Deep Impact cooler is good performance without the noise, and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Under load with the supplied fan, the Deep impact comes pretty close to the Aero7 scores, but what you also have to remember here is that the Deep Impact's supplied fan is only 24dB, virtually silent, and will certainly be drowned out by any other system fans.

Indeed my GeForce 4 Ti4600 fan can be heard over the Deep Impact. Looking at the scores with the Delta fan we can see that there is only a 2C difference under load. This surprised me as I expected a much bigger difference with the Delta pushing out almost three times as much air. Now this could be down to the fact that the fan is cooling one side of the Deep Impact only whilst the cooling fins surround the entire cooler. But perhaps that's not the case. Perhaps it's just due to the efficiency of the Supertube that a faster fan isn't going to have that big an impact on temperatures.

I had to know just how efficient it was so I went a little crazy and decided to shut the fan off. I powered down, removed the fan from the motherboard header and after allowing the CPU to cool for 15 minutes powered up the computer and went straight to the bios. The CPU was at 37C when I got the health status screen and I sat there and watched the temperature rise. 45C came and went quite quickly but when we reached 55C a funny thing happened. The climb in temperature slowed down. After about 10 minutes the temperature finally levelled out at 61C.

Too high to be of any use but still impressive none the less. I left it like that for about half an hour and the temperature remained at 61C. Now that scared the crap out of me but I was very surprised that I had no lock ups or problems at all. At this point I figured what the hell, and exited the bios to boot windows. Unfortunately we locked up midway through the boot process. Relaxing the overclock didn't help with us still locking up during boot, but the machine posted every time and was happy to sit in the bios. Impressive.

Final Words

have gone back to the drawing board and designed this cooler with silent performance in mind. The cooler utilizes a Superconductor style tube to transfer heat from the CPU in an efficient manner in virtual silence. Overall quality of manufacture has imporved this second time around and there's no denying that performance is excellent, with it being close to useable as a passive cooler.

It isn't going to win any awards for good looks but it was never intended to; performance above aesthetics. The overall package is good, with simple instructions, some decent and easy to use thermal paste and only minor assembly. This is a tall cooler, being twice the height of your average HSF and you'll have to keep this in mind before buying. Testing the cooler vertically and horizontally didn't alter the temperatures in any significant way thanks to the capillary action of the Supertube's contents.

Performance is great, and all in virtual silence. Load temperatures never exceeded 46C, which for a quiet cooler is pretty damn good. Hell, I can even boot into the bios with no fan at all, though Windows locked up the PC before it was loaded.

When I first looked at this cooler I was pretty let down by the clipping mechanism which seemed to me to be a simple and cheap, poorly implemented idea. Aerocool have shown themselves to be a company that listens by going back and redesigning the clip, and even inculding extra functinality with the finger application of the clip. This second time around, the overall quaility of the cooler is higher in regards to the manufacturing process, and this can go quite a way when it comes to first impressions in the looks department.

This is an excellently performing cooler, quiet and with a very unique look and technology. You can buy this cooler from our friends at .

Pros: Virtually silent cooling, Good performance even with a low CFM fan, It booted into the bios with no fan! Good overall package with decent thermal paste included, Simple instructions, Unique look, Finger application of clip

Cons: Fan shroud should have another 2 screws

Bottom Line: Silent cooling with performance in mind, the Deep Impact wont disappoint. It isn't a looker, but it'll certainly raise questions from your friends. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to discuss this in our Forums.

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