Cooler Xtreme : Coolers
: Cpu Cooler : Vantec FCE-6030D
Vantec FCE-6030D
The FCE-6030D looks like a thin-fin
copper cooler transmuted into aluminium. It's got the same noisy Delta fan
as the 6035D, and a clip that's almost as easy to use, but it's the metalwork
that's really interesting.
The 6030D heat sink uses a
straightforward enough design - thin aluminium fins, and lots of 'em. The
fan mounts on a bent sheet-aluminium hutch over the top of the fragile fins.
The fan on my review 6030D, though,
had a bearing problem, and vibrated badly. It still spun at full speed,
but it'd make the whole computer buzz if it were installed on a normal motherboard.
And a buzzing bearing won't last long.
With the stock fan buzzing away
on top of it, though, the 6030D scored a very impressive 0.58°C/W. Considering
the inaccuracies of my test rig, a score like that puts this all-aluminium
cooler on a par with the best of the all-copper models.
I was, therefore, suspicious.
Perhaps the madly vibrating fan
was freaking out the test rig, somehow. Rampant vibration's how various
people have convinced themselves, and gullible investors, that gimcrack
anti-gravity machines work - put something that jumps around like crazy
on top of a scale and it'll seem to weigh less when it's running than when
it's sitting there still. Perhaps something in my test gear was vibration-sensitive,
too.
So I took the stock fan off and
replaced it with my even louder, but vibration-free, YS Tech unit.
And I'll be darned if the cooler
didn't get the same excellent score.
So this thin-fin design is definitely
working. Made out of copper, it might work even better. But even as it stands,
the 6030D is a super performer. And it ought to sell for noticeably less
money than all-copper coolers with performance no better, or worse; I note
that CrazyPC
have it for a mere $USD21.95 as I write this. Which makes it a bargain buy.
If you don't get one with a defective fan, that is.
Delta are not in the habit of making
fans with dud bearings, so I presume my review cooler was a rare lemon.
I wouldn't be worried about buying one of these things mail order; I doubt
you'd be likely to have the same problem I did.
If you don't need a street-machine
polished copper look-at-me CPU cooler, check the 6030D out. It rocks.
