OCZ Gladiator 3 and Thermaltake Volcano 12 Heatsinks Review Author: Alan Wong Date Posted: December 26th, 2003 OCZ Gladiator 3 (Black Fan Version) SLRating: OCZ Gladiator 3 (LED Fan Version) SLRating: Thermaltake Volcano 12 Heatsinks SLRating: Bottom Line: With lots of cooling fans to choose from its important to get it right as CPU’s demand better cooling to keep up with the excess temperature from overclocking. We evaluated cooling fans from OCZ and Thermaltake, performance varied and so did noise, read on to discover what we found in our official review........ Article Navigation Introduction Thermaltake Volcano 12 OCZ Gladiator 3 Test Setup Performance Noise Conclusions Thermaltake Volcano 12 OCZ Gladiator 3 Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> Discuss This Article

Conclusion

The Thermaltake Volcano 12 performed exceptionally well due in part to its numerous fins and big fan. It cooled the best (set at 5500RPM – maximum setting) when compared to the Gladiator 3 and CoolerMaster Aero 7 Lite. The only drawback when it was running at its maximum RPM was the loud noise that was produced, which made a very annoying and irritating loud hum.. At its medium setting of 3500RPM, the Volcano 12 was quiet and even though it did not provide as much cooling as it did at 5500RPM, it provided more than enough adequate cooling and did not hurt the ears, making it the ideal RPM setting for the Volcano 12. When set at its minimum of 2000RPM, the Volcano 12 dragged behind and did not provide that adequate an amount of cooling. I’d also like to note that that the Volcano 12 @ 3500RPM did not produce much more noise than it did @ 2000RPM and since the Volcano 12 cooled much better at 3500RPM, I highly recommend not running the Volcano 12 @ 2000RPM. The Volcano 12 gives a lot of head room for overclockers since the fan speed can always be adjusted when the CPU is heating up very badly. It is also ideal for the people who have the flexibility to control the noise of their heatsinks.

The OCZ Gladiator 3 performed very well when using the LED fan and was tied in performance with the Volcano 12 @3500RPM. Both the LED Fan version and Black silent fan version of the Gladiator 3 were very quiet however the black fan version of the Gladiator was quieter than the LED fan, but by just a little. It is recommended that when users plan to buy this heatsink, they should choose the LED fan version since it cools much better and does not produce much more sound than that of the black fan version. The LED version of the Gladiator 3 cooled exceptionally well however the cooling of the black fan version was lacking.

Pros:

• Cools very well
• Includes knob for controlling fan speed/noise (can be either mounted on a 3.5" bay or expansion slot)
• 66 fins allow for superior cooling performance
• Not Expensive

Cons:

• Loud when set at maximum fan speed
• Somewhat hard to install due to its large size and structure

SLRating: 9.5/10

Pros:

• Cooling is adequate
• Very quiet
• Easy to install
• LED lights are solid and strong
• Very well priced

Cons:

• Fan speed can’t be adjusted
• Tri-colored LED lights might look weird amongst mods in case
• No Instructions included

SLRating: 9/10

Pros:

• Silent
• Well priced
• Easy to install

Cons:

• Cooling is lacking
• No instructions included

SLRating: 7/10

Introduction

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Article Navigation Introduction Thermaltake Volcano 12 OCZ Gladiator 3 Test Setup Performance/Noise Conclusions

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