Thermaltake Volcano II Review

Author: phil middleton
Editor: Howard Ha
Publish Date: Tuesday, June 19th, 2001
Originally Published on Neoseeker (http://www.neoseeker.com)
Article Link: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/volcanoii/
Copyright Neo Era Media, Inc. - please do not redistribute or use for commercial purposes.

The Volcano II is the latest addition to Thermaltake's line of CPU coolers: with a simple but catching design and great performance, the Volcano II looks to be a worth addition to the Thermaltake line.

Specs

Fan Dimension60x60x25 mm
Rated Voltage12V
Started Voltage7V
Rated Current0.22A(max)
Power Input2.64W
FAN Speed4500±10% RPM
Air Pressure5.3mm- H2O
Max. Air Flow36CFM
Noise31.5dBa
Bearing Type2 Ball Bearing
Lift Time50,000 Hours
Connector3Pin
Thermal resistanceja=0.64 C/W

What I noticed off the bat was that the Volcano II had an excellent new fan design: instead of directly attaching the 60mm fan to the heatsink, Thermaltake has included a removable fan clip so you can slide the fan out and replace it easily. The fan itself is a 4500 RPM unit, but it still pumps out 36CFM.It's also very quiet; barely louder than the stock HSF that came with my Duron in fact, and is far quieter than any other current Thermaltake product.

Installation

The Volcano II has an unusual clip design; the screwdriver slot is angled instead of being straight up and is also slightly recessed, making you insert your screwdriver at an angle. This is a mixed blessing; when installing the HSF you push straight down which is great for tight spaces, and would be great on a taller HSF, but when removing the unit I found that the angle made it a tight fit because of my small case. I also like the change because it's impossible for your screwdriver to slip out and do fatal damage to your motherboard even if you're holding your screwdriver at an angle.

NAMEFANHeat (C°)
Above Ambient
NoiseRPMCFMIdleFull
Mini Copper Orb29550023.11217
Mini Super Orb32/345500/500025.5/17.31317
Volcano II 31.5 4500 361115
Default? 4500 ? 1619

Test System

CPU:AMD Duron 700MHz
Mobo(s):MSI KT7 Pro2-A
RAM:128MB Micron PC133 RAM
Video Card:Hercules 3d Prophet 2 MX
HDD:30 GB IBM Deskstar 75 GXP, Ultra ATA-100
CD-ROM:Generic 32x CD-ROM

The Volcano II performed excellently, easily beating out all of our other heatsinks by two degrees. This speaks well for the larger fan Thermaltake included in this unit, and an overall quality design.

Conclusion

The VolcanoII is a great Heatsink, featuring all the best qualities one would look for in a heatsink.

Installation: 86%

Easy, the new clip protects your capacitors.

Noise: 90%

Barely louder than the stock fan, quietest Thermaltake HSF yet.

Performance: 89%

Great performance.

Overall Score: 89%

The Volcano II is an excellent heatsink.

»Neoseeker.com

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