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nMedia Icetank


Date
: 06/28/06 – 04:28:50 AM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
nMedia Systems Inc.

Price:
$47.81 CDN (NCIX.com)

The term HTPC is referred to more often than overclocking amongst the pimple-faced kids hanging out at local computer stores across the world these days. Middle aged men wander into friendly neighborhood stores off the street asking about Windows MCE and how it may benefit them because they heard some kids talking about an HTPC. Computers have evolved to the point that multiple single purpose machines get built as a second computer in homes every day. One of those is, of course, the HTPC, Home Theater Personal Computer. With that being said, it is no wonder companies like nMedia Systems have their focus aimed directly at the HTPC market

A relative newcomer and a name new to me, nMedia has a goal of fully embracing the Windows MCE movement and to provide consumers with "media PC components to enable our clients to integrate various home Audio/Video functions and performance computing into one easy-to-use unit". Has anyone else noticed the correlation our lives are mirroring to the business world? Integrate, streamline, and make everything accessible at all times seems to be the plan, and nMedia is looking to make that happen in the den.

Today, I will debut the nMedia name at Overclockers Online with their Icetank low noise CPU cooler. The 4 large heatpipes are designed to remove heat from the CPU without excessive noise from high flying fans. This type of cooler is perfect for HTPCs which need to be strong yet quiet. As always, we start our review with some looks at the package that the Icetank showed up in.

Page 2 : Package

Everything has a package and at some point it has a job. Whether it is to inform potential customers of what's inside, protect what's inside, or just to ease shipping, packages play an important role in any computer component. That is why we try to take a look at packages of everything that comes through Overclockers Online.

There is nothing really exciting about the Icetank's package and not a lot to it. From this angle we can see the bottom sort of purging on it and even at this point I would venture to say that there is no interior packaging. The window provides evidence for that assumption.

On the far right side the compatibility chart is listed showing a universal fit for everything from S-478 to AMD S-754 to the new AM2 socket. When I first saw the tanker truck I was confused but then the name, Ice "tank", appeared and the connection started to come into focus.

The package is not made of a thick cardboard and it feels quite thin-walled, to be honest. The end piece contains the specifications of the cooler as well as compatibility again. nMedia's web site is also listed here.

Seeing installation instructions on the package indicate that there will be nothing inside as far as install manuals go. With the standard two clip retention system though, installation is pretty simple and should not require a large process or instruction set to complete.

This end of the package provides an open window to show the heatpipes. These four pipes will be responsible for removing the heat from the processor from underneath. This heatpipe type cooling setup is almost standard fare these days in any mid-range to high-end system. That about completes our look at the exterior of the package. I will now list the specifications found for the nMedia Icetank and then we will have a look at the cooler itself.

Page 3 : Specifications

This section is going to be as scarce as the movie theater opening night of a Tom Green flick. CPU coolers don't normally have a lot of specifications or information to them, they are very simple devices in the end. Here is what nMedia has to say about their philosophy with cooling:

nMedia offers a few really good photos of the Icetank on their web site and then goes on to list the specifications:

From the list above, we can see a 90mm fan comes standard with the Icetank that is capable of up to 2200RPM at 25dBA. The compatibility is impressive with every socket in the last 3 years listed, including the new AM2. This likely means that no backing plate will be required for installation and a retention module like the stock unit is probably present. So far, this is as good as the photos get of the actual unit. That is about to change though as I open the box and let the camera take over.

Page 4 : Package Contents

We will now open the package and take a closer look at the Icetank CPU cooler in all of its heatpipe-wielding glory.

The lid of the fragile box opens to reveal two compartments, the first containing the mounting hardware for Pentium S-478/LGA775 processors. There is also a small tube of included thermal paste.

The other compartment is where our cooler resides. The package is setup to keep the two sections separate but I really was disappointed to see the cooler just sitting on the bottom of the package and not on some sort of styrofoam base.

Pulling out the contents of the package reveals not only mounting hardware for the Pentium 4 sockets but also a fan controller which is a nice touch. Most coolers from smaller companies like nMedia will not come with the little extras like a fan controller.

The pins and installation of the retention brackets for the P4 uses the same mounting method as the stock Intel cooler and should lead to a very simple install without the need for removing the motherboard if you are a P4 owner.

Our first full length look at the nMedia Icetank reveals quite the attractive CPU cooler. The rounded "head" of the unit where the fins cool the heatpipes gives it a unique look. The size doesn't look to be too big yet at the same time it appears rather substantial.

The four heatpipes shown here cross the base at the bottom of the cooler and loop up into the cooling fins. There they get cooled by the fresh air moving over the fins that dissipate the heat. From back here, the base is clearly copper underneath and sandwiching the pipes in is an aluminum heatsink that acts as the base for the cooling fins up top.

From the front of cooler the retention method is clearly just a simple two-tab design that passes over the middle of the cooler to apply pressure right in the middle on the CPU core. This has to be one of the easiest and most efficient retention designs.

This close-up reveals a simple hinge-type setup that will allow this tab to lock to the stock retention plate of any AMD system out there. The tabs look to be a bit underneath the fins which might be a bit tough but the installation and removal should be a piece of cake. Also notice that there appears to be two settings on the clip, perhaps for the different mounts.

This profile photo shows that despite some less-than-optimal packaging, the cooling fins appear to be in perfect shape. The quality of the construction is quite good actually. I assumed some of the fins would be banged up pretty good after the ride it went through but that clearly isn't the case.

The base doesn't appear to require any refinishing after the road trip and looks to be nice and smooth. The finish isn't the shiniest I have seen and the reflection isn't that clear, but a mirror finish doesn't always equate to good contact and a dull finish doesn't equal poor contact. We will now move on to installation and get to testing this little unit.

Page 5 : Installation

We just saw in the photos of the Icetank that the method for attaching this cooler is really no different from mounting the stock CPU cooler that comes with boxed coolers for all three AMD sockets, 754/939/AM2. That equates to a ridiculously easy installation. The only thing I want to check for is whether or not the heatpipes or cooling fins interfere with any chipset or misfit coolers on a variety of 939 and AM2 motherboards.

I start with the Foxconn NF4SK8AA-8EKRS which was a bit bothersome for the XP-120 that limits me to one orientation. The Icetank too has that issue not allowing it to mount in both directions. The important thing is that it fits in one direction and that is really all anyone needs.

Next up on the list is the motherboard that has become my constant companion over the last few months, my DFI LanParty UT Ultra-D. It appears that the cooler cannot mount in this direction with memory in the first slot. If I were running BH5s in the yellow slots then yes, I could mount this way but with pretty much any other memory I will have to go the other way, which is better anyway. That is two boards for two that will work with this cooler in some fashion.

Turned the other way we see no issues whatsoever. I also mentioned that this way is better and that is simply because then there will be some air moving over the memory from the CPU fan. The Icetank doesn't hang as far over the memory as the XP-120 but it also takes up less space heading down the board towards the PCI-E slots which it doesn't come close to. The 939 boards are doing well so far, how about AM2?

Asus has a readily available motherboard in the M2N32SLI-Deluxe and the Icetank fits that like a glove, again, only in one direction.

In this orientation it fits neatly tucked in-between the heatsinks which I think is the idea Asus had. It is rather tight with the memory and the heatpipes but a standard module fits there fine so any standard heatspreader should as well. Perhaps a Corsair Pro wouldn't but any cooler of this type will have issues with those tall beasts.

I also seem to recall the Foxconn WinFast 6150-8EKRS having some capacitors playing games with large CPU coolers in the past too so I put that little monster into the TJ-08 and attempted to mount the Icetank. Nothing on the motherboard caused an issue but the hard drive did. The TJ-08 is very tight and the SATA connection would not allow the cooler to mount in this direction.

Like every other motherboard, we switch it around and everything comes together. I was even able to remove the motherboard tray without having to remove a single component. The height of the Icetank doesn't make it a candidate for headaches but if you are running a desktop or HTPC case then you want to make sure there is room for a taller standing CPU cooler. In the TJ-08 above, there is more than enough room and all kinds of fresh air will be passing through the case. It should provide a nice consistent testing setup so lets get started on that.

Page 6 : Performance & Testing

As mentioned, I said I would be running tests in two setups. One setup will consist of a test bench setup with everything spread out across my desk. The motherboard will lay flat and the CPU coolers will stand up straight, perpendicular to the floor. The second setup will have the coolers in the SilverStone TJ-08 for a real-world test. This second setup will have the CPU cooler parallel with the floor. I will not be using the fan controller as the fan is very quiet when plugged into a motherboard header running on high so it will be like that for all of testing. Here is the list of hardware used for testing in both setups:

This is how testing will break down… each HSF will get mounted on a cold, clean, CPU surface with the included thermal paste as there is enough for all the testing. Once each cooler is mounted, the machine will be turned on and left to idle in the BIOS while temps are checked to ensure good contact. From there, I will boot into windows and run StressPrime 04 on a custom torture test blend for 4 hours. The temperatures will be recorded at the end of the four hour period. SpeedFan will be used for temperature monitoring for all sensors on the charts. Case temperature was recorded by a thermal probe placed at the top of the case just in front of the power supply and ambient temperature was recorded from the same thermal probe poking up from the surface of the desk next to the system. Here are the results while in the TJ-08:

TJ-08

With all components mounted in the TJ-08 the results between the XP-120 and the stock cooler are about the same. The Icetank seems to drop behind by a degree or two in most every situation but is right there. The stock cooler on the other hand not only had the highest temperatures as we expected, but it actually couldn't complete the 4 hours of StressPrime 04 and failed after 2 1/2 hours. The temperature was taken at that time.

Bench Setup

Once removed from the clutches of the micro ATX case the Icetank again almost keeps up with the XP-120 although the gap seems to be marginally wider. The stock cooler failed after 3 hours this time and portrayed about the same temps during testing on the bench. At this point I would have to call the XP-120 the winner in the performance department but it would be a split decision if this were boxing and we went to the score cards, the nMedia Icetank performed quite admirably.

Page 7 : Conclusion

The nMedia Icetank started off well with an easy first mount and ended well with solid performance, easily competing with a recognized great in the world of air cooling. The size of the Icetank is smaller and lighter than some but it stills requires a little finesse when mounting in some motherboards. Being Socket 754/939/AM2/478/775 ready out of the box is also a nice touch that many cannot achieve, the Icetank does.

The fan is a very acceptable on high and I found no reason to turn it down using the included controller but if you needed a completely silent cooling solution for your CPU then the Icetank on the lowest fan setting would certainly fit the requirements. The performance alone speaks for itself and this cooler should have no problem keeping up with any of the big boys in the CPU cooling arena.

The only disappointment I had with the nMedia Icetank was the packaging. The package needs work and the protection inside for the cooler absolutely needs an update. At the very least, nMedia needs to put something underneath the cooler to protect the base from damage. Overall though, I think nMedia has made a good impression on us here at O² with their first review and I hope to see some more innovative solutions from them in the future.

Advantages:

• Quiet included 90mm fan with controller
• Very good performance, in and out of a case
• Straight forward mounting method for easy install

  Disadvantages:

• Poor packaging could damage cooler in transit
• Like similar designs, mount orientation is limited on most MBs

  Overclockers Online would like to thank nMedia for providing this sample for review.