Posted on: 12.05.2007 01:00:00
For the purpose of this review I will be installing the Nexus NHP-2200 into the following system.
CPU | C2D 4300 @ 3Ghz |
CPU Cooling | Zalman CNPS9500 LED |
Motherboard | Asus P5B E+ |
GFX Card | Inno 3D 7300gt. |
Sound | On Board |
Main Memory | 2gb CellShock |
Non-removable Disks | Samsung 160Gb. Maxtor 160Gb. Maxtor 80Gb. |
Removable Disks | None. |
Optical Drives | DVD-RW. |
Case | |
PSU | |
On Review | Nexus NHP-2200 |
To test the Nexus NHP-2200 I will run the above system at idle and full load (running Orthos dual prime) for approx an hour to let the temperatures settle with the stock Northbridge cooler fitted then rerun the tests with the Nexus NHP-2200 fitted. All temperature readings will be taken using Everest Ultimate edition.
After the temperature readings were taken with the stock cooler I set about fitting the Nexus NHP-2200. First up I had to attach the appropriate fittings to the cooler for my motherboard. This was a relatively easy job but a bit fiddly as the necessary screws are a bit small.
Once this was done I could set about fitting it to the motherboard
It was going to be a bit of a tight fit as the gap between the CPU cooler and the graphics card was barely enough to get my fist in as the CPU cooler I have it a bit large but I was confident the Nexus NHP-2200 would fit. The stock cooler was also fitted with a cooling paste that resembled chewing gum and that was a bit of a pain to clean off too.
I didn’t realise quite how tight a fit it was going to be though and trying to clip the spring-loaded arms into the eyelets on the motherboard was a real nightmare. After many profanities I gave up and removed the CPU cooler. This made it easier to fit however I still had to position the mounting brackets in just the right position to fit in between the other components on the motherboard but eventually I had it mounted and I refitted the CPU cooler which was a VERY snug fit.
Once the CPU cooler was fitted everything booted up fine and set about rerunning the temperature tests.
All in all not a bad result, I’m not entirely surprised the idle temps are the same as I expect it is sitting around the internal ambient temperature, this is a media case after all so emphasis is low noise rather than low temperatures, and it’s the load temperatures that really count. The 2-degree improvement over the stock cooler on load is a nice improvement and makes the rather awkward fitting worthwhile. Add a silent cooling solution (or better case airflow and the results are even better)
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