Gigabyte Volar Cooler

Here we get a closer view of the heatpipes themselves and their attachment to the base.  The plate you see in the picture below is the AMD mounting plate.  Two screws on opposing sides of the Volar's base allow this plate to be quickly and easily exchanged for the LGA775 mounting brackets you saw pictured earlier.

  

In the first shot below are the two screws that secure the mounting plate.  The base itself is constructed of copper and measures five millimeters thick.  The base showed no visible imperfections to the eye or touch but did not have the ultra shine of high end lap job. 

  

Installation

Dropping the Volar into our LGA775 test bed was as easy as that of a standard LGA775 cooler.  All four mounting push pins synonymous with the LGA775 were easily accessible for both installation and removal.  No special concerns presented themselves that would lead us to believe crowding would be a problem in the least.  Let me also point out, no motherboard removal is necessary here.  Always a big big plus.

Performance

Our comparison cooler for testing is the trusty Tt MaxOrb with its fan speed set to low.  By our using the same comparison cooler in all our heatsink reviews you can extrapolate one cooler review to another here at the OC Cafe'.  Both coolers will be installed and run five times by placing our Core 2 Duo processor cores at 100% load by way of SiSoft Sandra's XI Burn In Module for 30 minutes with a final temperature reading taken at the end.  The highest and lowest results will be thrown out and the remaining three will be averaged and graphed.  ThermalRight Chill Factor Thermal Paste will be used in all tests.   Ambient room temperature at time of testing remained within one half a degree of 23.5 degrees C.  For our testing graphed below, the Gigabyte Volar's fan is operating at 2000 RPM.

NOTE: Testing in this review is done with our system mounted in a case instead of the open rack set up we usually use.

Results

Our performance graph shows the Gigabyte Volar operating at 2000 RPM.  We also tested the unit with the Fan Speed Control Cable which brought the RPM's down to 1500 RPM.  Performance at the 1500 RPM mark showed a 1.5 degree (C) rise in temperature but a significant drop in sound level.  With the case closed up, the 2000 RPM setting could be heard if one focused on listening where the 1500 RPM setting was undetectable in the context of a system under power.

Conclusion

The Gigabyte Volar does a nice job on several levels.  First and foremost is raw cooling performance.  At both the 2000 and 1500 RPM settings, we were able to achieve acceptable performance far superior to OEM cooling.  This also applies to fan noise which will be of interest to you HTPC builders out there.  Another nice point is that with the Volar's elevated and angled fan, we get the added benefit of circulating air over part of the motherboard and it's likewise warm components.  That little extra bit of cooling on motherboard components can make all the difference in the world to system stability as we all know.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the Fan Speed Control Cable.  While I didn't dislike it outright, I was indifferent to it.  A small rheostat on the cooler itself or elsewhere would have been preferable.

The Volar shines in the end with its ability to bring good performance, sound levels and its other features to market with a street price of $40.  Doing a price search online, I was able to find this little gem at one e-tailer for $36.  At this price point, the Gigabyte offers a lot of value to the end user.  Even at $10 more, the Gigabyte would be a purchase that wouldn't be regretted.  Thanks again go out to Gigabyte for sponsoring this review.

Pros

• Good performance

• Good value

• AMD and Intel application

• Functional design

• Clean and quick installation

• Cools mainboard components

• Aesthetically pleasing

Cons

• Fan speed control

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