CyberTron ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Panel Removed
TEST APPLICATIONS
Prime95
SuperPi
Unreal Tournament 2004, Primeval demo
The latest version of Gigabyte's EasyTune does not work properly with my motherboard and neither does Motherboard Monitor 5. However, I found that SiSoftware's Sandra 2004 temperature reporting to be as accurate as the temperature reported in the BIOS. At stock speeds, this "just bought" setup performs as well as my previous configuration, which was an Athlon 64 3000+ based on the Socket 754 Newcastle core. But after finishing the five-day burn-in period for the Arctic Silver 5, it was time to see what I could do with this premium cooling solution.
Keep in mind that there are two "x-factors" to my temperature reporting. The first is that directly under the CPU is one of the hottest running graphics cards ever made - the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra. The second is that the case side panel was removed. The CyberTron case lacks a side fan, but is equipped with an 80mm fan in the front and another in the rear.
Three CPU intensive applications were used to test the effectiveness of the SilenX iXtrema. The Unreal Tournament 2004 Primeval demo is terribly CPU dependent and can push any system to the breaking point. I ran that test at 1600x1200 with 2XAA and 4X AF with the video card slightly overclocked at 520MHz/1.05GHz. This positively put a large amount of stress on my system, but my next combination was even more torturous. I decided to run SuperPi and Prime95 at the same time! These are generally known as stability/torture tests, as both are extremely heavy on math functions. All tempertaures are reported in degrees Celsius.
Test Results
My test results were obviously impressive as 2.5GHz was an amazing improvement over the stock CPU frequency. The SilenX iXtrema is certainly an effective cooling fan and is far superior to other products I have used. Even as I approached the overclocking limits of various system components, the SilenX iXtrema wasn't being pushed to its full potential and the fan noise could not be distinguished over the 80mm Zalman and PSU fans. This setup is definitely recommended for those looking to squeeze every last drop of performance from their system.
I'd like to thank SilenX and 3DCool for supplying nV News with this review sample. It is a remarkable piece of equipment for any enthusiast looking for the best that air cooling has to offer.
