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Titan Amanda


Date
: 09/12/06 – 02:32:44 AM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Titan Computer

Price
: N/A

Titan Computer is a name we haven't seen at
Overclockers Online
in many months. While we had checked out a few CPU coolers, VGA coolers and water cooled cases, what I present is a first for Titan and a type of product we haven't seen in our labs in a very long time.

The Titan Amanda by name doesn't mean a whole lot. As a matter of fact, many of the names Titan comes up with don't mean much. However, it makes it a lot easier to remember when you're at the store. Just don't confuse Amanda with an actual friend.

The Amanda we're talking about is a high powered cooler utilizing a 50W TEC. It sports two 92mm fans, a few heatpipes transferring the heat from the TEC to the heatsink. The TEC has its advantages and disadvantages and we'll be going over that shortly.

Page 2 : Package

Much like some of our previous packages by Titan Computer, the box Amanda resides in is quite picture friendly with a large number of pictures and details that'll help educate you as you make the tough decision of what third party cooler to buy.

While the package is slightly damaged, the far corner is not something I'll be worried about. Looking at the package we see a picture of the cooler, a plastic window showing the product label and a few words about the cooler. Consistent with a majority of Titan Computer products is the female warrior figure.

The specifications are provided in great detail by Titan. One thing we notice is how this cooler has been designed only for Intel 775 machines and not for AMD K8 machines. I personally think this is quite a shame.

The advantage of universal coolers is quite important in this day and age as I wouldn't be surprised to see people jumping from an AMD X2 to an Intel 775 Conroe while wishing to maintain use of the cooler the dropped a bill on.

The remaining specifications look quite good with partial loading on the TEC and low speed fans. The TEC and low speed fans equate to a powerful cooling design as shown by the thermal resistance comparison on the side of the box.

On one side of the package Titan explains what features keep your processor cool.

While a picture means a thousand words, I'll let the charts of hours of testing do the real talking.

The last thing on the package is a simple handle on the top of the box making it easy to carry Amanda home.

Let's move onto the specifications page before opening up the package any further.

Page 3 : Specifications

The Titan Computer website provides a fair bit of information on the Amanda cooler. Here's a link to the product page.

We'll start the run down with the cooler specifications:

Judging by the specifications, the cooler sounds pretty sweet. There's a lot of material dedicated for the fins, two low speed fans and a small TEC that'll aid in cooling.

In order to control the TEC, Titan has included a PCI card to control and provide system feedback.

Here are some additional features that Titan has made available to you:

Let's move away from the specification and open up the package so we can start the real evaluation.

Page 4 : Package Contents

The first thing to do is open up the lid and lift everything out. Titan has molded a plastic form that holds the heatsink and slots in the box of accessories so it doesn't move around during shipment.

Inside the box are the manual, PCI controller card and various mounting and powering accessories.

Titan has done a very good job in keeping the package very clean and organized. I personally hate it when I have to dig around and sort out all my cables.

The heatsink, TEC and fan equates to a large package; Much larger than I had anticipated.

Printed along the shroud are a few pictures of the female figure Titan has selected to represent this cooler. One can only assume her name would be Amanda.

Titan has selected what appears to be an aluminum seven blade fan.

We see that there are four rubber/silicon washers used to dampen any vibrations caused by that fan that could resonate through the heatsink.

The fan ROHS certified and bares a TFD-9232LL12Z model number.

Moving towards the base of the heatsink we see the TEC is sandwiched between two pieces of aluminum.

The base is protected by a sticker and peeling it back reveals a smooth base that's been slightly polished.

Bundled together with some very short wire are the power cables. I personally would have liked to see an extra inch of give on these wires just so they can be moved around without pulling on the heatsink.

These cables will eventually marry up with the PCI expansion card used to power the fans and TEC.

The backside of the expansion card sports 3 LEDs that indicate the status of the cooler. Before we test the cooler, I'll document the installation procedure with my Foxconn 975X7AA.

Page 5 : Installation

Due to the shear size of the Titan Amanda, a backplate is absolutely required. This means you need to remove your motherboard from your case. While tedious and annoying at times, I would never trust the stock push tabs to hold this monstrosity.

Once the motherboard has been removed, you need to place the heatsink CPU side up and place the motherboard over it. Yes, that's right. Place the motherboard over the heatsink and thread the screws through.

It's a delicate task balancing the motherboard so it remains level while trying to line up the holes and placing a bolt in to the hold everything together. The whole process took me about 15 minutes out in the sun.

Don't forget to add your thermal paste before setting the motherboard on top of the heatsink.

With the cooler in place, the next step is to install the PCI Controller Card or put the motherboard back into the case. A removable motherboard tray would be exceptionally handy at this point in time.

The PCI Controller Card is a simple install and literally takes no effort at all. With it in place, you need to grab the provided cables and connect the heatsink unit to the Controller Card.

With the heatsink unit ties into the controller card that's powered by a 4-pin molex cable. All that's left is securing the unit to the case. Since it weighs over a pound, Titan has provided some ties that will allow the top of a standard case to support some of the weight. This is done by two little cables. One end attaches onto the fan.

The other end is supposed to be threaded through the rib of your top panel. If you happen to be using the cooler such that the motherboard is parallel to the floor, you won't need any of these tools.

Now that the cooler is completely installed and ready for operations, it's time we go over our testing procedures and see how well the cooler works.

Page 6 : Performance

The testing of a CPU cooler is pretty simple. I'll first leave you with the system details:

I started the test out by going into the BIOS and monitoring the temperatures for five minutes after the cooler was installed. This was to make sure the unit was properly mounted. Once that was done, I booted into Windows and stressed the system using two instances Stress Prime 2004. I let this run for 12 hours and then turned off the computer for another 12. After that, I loaded up an instance of the Asus system monitoring software for temperature readings and fired up another two instances of Stress Prime. After three hours of testing, I took the CPU and motherboard temperatures. I shut off Stress Prime and let the system idle for three hours before taking the readings again. I followed this procedure three times over three days and averaged the results afterwards. The room temperature was a balmy 25C for all tests.

As an added bonus, I ran the system at 50% load, one instance of Prime 2004, with the Amanda. This allowed me to get a temperature reading for when the TEC is set to 28W.

Here are the results:

The motherboard temperatures aren't very impressive, but the CPU results are quite amazing. Under both idle and full conditions, we see a seven degree differential between the Amanda and the next leading performer. This is quite amazing and something I didn't expect.

During all the load scenarios, the rated fan speed was hovering around 1700 RPM. This is a little faster than what Titan had specified but not by a lot. While I doubt the fans are actually 20dB, they are incredibly quiet. Without proper equipment I can't say what the deviation is. The fan noise is not an annoying sound and one that will be masked by loud case coolers and stock chipset and GPU coolers.

Page 7 : Conclusion

I was thoroughly surprised when I saw the load temperatures drop by such a significant factor. While I knew exactly how a TEC worked and what the overall results would be, I didn't think 50Watts was enough. This is certainly not the case. I would be interested in seeing what an 80W TEC would be capable of.

Thermo-electric-coolers are generally feared by most people. They're extremely hot on one side and draw a significant amount of current from your power supply. Titan may have very well alleviated the fears from system builders by providing a low power Peltier with a PCI controller card. Despite bearing a slightly different installation procedure than most of us are use to, this cooler turned out to be quite a performer. It dropped load temperatures by over 10C when compared to the stock cooler. The only fault is the high price tag Titan can be known for. This cooler has been spotted for around 100USD! Cost aside, this cooler will be a good fit for anyone looking for high performance without having to get their foot wet in the water.

Advantages

Great performance
Reasonable noise level, not overly loud

Disadvantages

Expensive
Heavy

Overclockers Online would like to thank Titan for making this review possible.

Sept 13 2006 Edit

Following our review, Titan has agreed to release the Titan Amanda with a universal mount allowing owners to switch between the S939 and S775 mounts. The new cooler should be out in October 2006.