OCZ Vendetta 2 Mini Review

[Branjo]

Well I have been using the Vendetta 2 for a couple of days now and I can tell you I'm quite impressed with its cooling capabilities. Its not all good though so read on.

 

Some views from the OCZ product page

 

 

The packaging was very good, no chance of the cooler getting bumped or dented while in the foam surrounding, but the top fins where kinda pushed against the others so you have to straighten them out before you begin.

 

I started out by putting the little rubber fan mounts through the fan holes. All I did was thread it through and grab the end with a pair of small snipe nosed pliers and rotate the pliers to roll it up and it pulled the rest through. The rubber is surprisingly strong and does take a lot of pressure.

 

Next I attached the push pins to the heat sink, they are fixed by one screw each in the edges of the heat sink, pretty basic but still effective.

 

Then I removed the plastic cover from the business end of the heat sink namely the contact area. The first time you see the HDT (Heatpipe Direct Touch) it does give the appearance of an unfinished surface, the machined surface was quite flat and not that rough, but it could use a little lapping to improve it.

 

Next I cleaned both my CPU and the contact area of the heat sink with alcohol so there was nothing left from the plastic sticker to interfere with the contact between CPU and heat sink.

 

The thermal compound I used was OCZ Freeze, apparently it does not require any "cure" time that Arctic Silver 5 (AS5) needs so the contact you get first is the most important.

I did the usual application that most of us use, the BB size in the center of the heat sink.

 

Setup

 

Gigabyte P35 DS3R rev 1.0

Intel Q6600 G0 2.40Ghz @ 1.26v / 3.00Ghz @ 1.275v / 3.3Ghz @ 1.34v / 3.6Ghz @ 1.4375v

2 x 1Gb Firestix ( Slot 1 and 3)

Antec P182

 

The push pin design means that you do not need to remove your motherboard from the case in order to install the Vendetta 2, This however posed the first problem for me, there is adequate clearance on all sides of the heatsink and from the Northbridge heat sink of the DS3R (at least 1cm) so no problems here. The number 1 RAM slot has also enough clearance for you to remove the stick if you need to. The problem is that although you have at least an inch to spare on all sides of the heatsink there is no way to get your hands down to push the pins.

 

 

You can slide your fingers around it to get at the pins but (and this was my 2nd problem) the force you need to apply to these pins is immense and several times I thought I had stressed the board.

So I decided to stop right there and remove the motherboard. This was proof that the amount of pressure that is needed to get the pins to "click" is way more that you should put on your board.

Even with my fingers on the other side of the removed motherboard directly behind the push pins and pushing with the other hand it was quite a pressure. So do your self a huge favor and remove your motherboard first.

 

So after all this I decided to put the fan on, this method of attaching the fan is said to be really good from other reviewers. Not to me, again there is quite a lot of pressure needed to install the fan. when you get the 2 mounts in correctly on one side you quite literally have to drag the fan stretching the rubber mounts until you can pop them in on the other side. You of course have to counter the weight but again this should be done outside of the case as you don't want to stress the contact between the CPU and the heat sink.

 

Ok so everything is in and the system is turned on and I press Delete to go into the BIOS and check the temps just to give myself something to go by before I boot into windows. That was my third problem, the temps where 40C, worse than the Arctic Freezer I was using before, not happy with this I decided to remove the heat sink and check the contact. When I removed the Vendetta 2 the contact seemed to be limited to just the center pipe and the majority of the OCZ freeze hadn't made it across to the other 2 pipes because of the channels between them. So I cleaned both the CPU and Vendetta 2 with alcohol again and this time I put a smaller BB size on each of the 3 pipes and spread it over them as best I could. The Freeze compound seems to dry very quickly so you have to be fast.

 

Ok I reinstalled it and back to where I was and while in the BIOS the CPU reported temps had dropped from 40 down to 30 Celsius which was far more acceptable.

 

The HSF I had before was the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro and is dwarfed by the Vendetta 2 so I was hopping for some really good results.

 

For reference the Arctic running the Q6600 @ stock speeds and Vcore were 33,33,32,35 I took these as the average temps the day before I received the Vendetta 2.

The highest I had the Vcore when using the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro was 1.41v and this gave me a load temp of 70C which I immediately backed off as this was for me a risky temp to even benchmark at let alone run the Q6600 24/7. My 24/7 overclock of 3.3Ghz was tested the day before I recieved the Vendetta 2 and the load temps were 65,62,64,66 acceptable but still quite high and close to the danger zone, this overclock I had to back off as the ambient temps have been rising due to the fore coming summer.

 

The Vendetta 2 running same speed and Vcore was 28,28,26,32 Already a huge difference at least 5C cooler on most cores. This however doesn't really tell me anything as Idle temps are nice but no indication how the heatsink will perform under load.

 

Ok for testing under load, I will use OCCT at 15min tests under each stage of overclock. I have checked OCCT against RealTemp and Everest and they all read the same with a TJMax of 100C for the Q6600 G0.

 

The ambient room temp was taken at 23C or 73 F. The side of the case was kept on and the case fans all set to full speed.

 

First I set the Q6600 at its stock speed of 2.4Ghz and a Vcore of 1.2625 (VID) and ran OCCT infinite CPU only test which has no idle period, it goes as fast to 100% CPU load as it can. I took the screen shot after 15Mins, the temps had been the same for the last 10 mins prior to taking the

reading.

 

 

Next I set the CPU at an FSB of 334 and with the default multiplier of 9. The Vcore was raised to 1.2750v and the test was ran again after an idle period of 15 mins.

 

 

Then I set the FSB to 413 and used a multiplier of 8 in order to reach an overclock of 3.3Ghz. This was an overclock I have used in the past and found to be stable, plus it was saved in my BIOS so it was quicker to load it.

 

 

Here the FSB was raised to 400 and the Vcore was raised to 1.4375v and on a multiplier of 9, test was ran after idle for 15 mins.

 

 

My Own Conclusion.

 

The Vendetta 2 is an excellent cooler and all these temp readings were taken without the cooler being lapped to a smooth finish. I was able to reach 3.6Ghz with an acceptable temp.

For my own everyday overclock of 3.3Ghz the temps stayed at 58C where the Arctic I had before had reached 66C. Where I could only get to 1.41v on the Arctic I was able to reach 1.4375v at 4 degrees C less with the Vendetta.The only down side of the Vendetta 2 is both the motherboard mounting system and the fan mounting system.

 

The pins are far to hard to push in until you hear that "Click" this does make it very stable though but I found for safety sake its better to remove the motherboard anyway as some damage could occur due to stressing your board. The same with the rubber pins that mount the fan, although they hold the fan securely they are very annoying to attach to the fan and very risky if you tried it while the motherboard was still in the case. I would say if you are getting this cooler invest in a good bolt through kit.

 

Pros:

Good price compared to competitors

Excellent cooling with supplied fan.

Quiet at 1500rpm

 

Cons:

Push pins require too much pressure for "incase" installation

Rubber fan mounts place unneeded pressure when installing the fan.

No bolt through kit supplied.

 

Cooling 10/10

installation 6/10

 

If a bolt through kit was supplied this would easily be a 9/10 cooler

But as things stand I'm going to have to go with 8 out of 10.

[red930]

can i consider this as a userrevieuw?

and or are you a vip? if both are yes, the jank it in the lounge too, if no meet me in vent

[Branjo]

Yup, its yours to do with as you please if you feel its good enough that is.

[Prospector]

I dislike the push pins so much I ordered a TR 775 bolt-thru kit and I'm glad I did.Works great.

[Branjo]

I dislike the push pins so much I ordered a TR 775 bolt-thru kit and I'm glad I did.Works great.

 

I think I'm going to get one too, I didn't mind the pins as much with the Arctic as it only cost me $20, but for a $50 cooler you expect a little more.

[wevsspot]

Thanks for the review Branjo. I've been considering this exact cooler as a future replacement for my H20 so I can make enough room in my case to run Crossfire. This is certainly one I will consider based on your findings.

 

Wev

[Prospector]

On various builds Iv'e assembled Iv'e used a TR XP-120,TT Silent Tower,

and TT Big Typhoon.So far this Vendetta 2 beats them all.:cool:

 

Edit: Oh yeah my Coolit Systems Eliminator is back in it's box,I like the Vendetta 2 better.

[mousekin]

I dislike the push pins so much I ordered a TR 775 bolt-thru kit and I'm glad I did.Works great.

 

Prospector,

 

Do you have any pictures you would be willing to share? URLs for the purchase?

 

Are all kits the same?

 

http://www.cbcnz.com/product_info.php/products_id/126839

 

Thanks in advance.

[Prospector]

http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright-LGA77...it-pr-3605.html

[mousekin]

According to this review the OCZ design is based off the Xigmatek HDT-S1283

 

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...=1&limitstart=4

 

Jab-Tech has it for $36.95

 

http://www.jab-tech.com/product.php?productid=4097

 

This product is also based on the same design and only $31.99 + $5.99 shipping.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835124019

 

Now I have to decide which one to buy. :confused:

[wevsspot]

mousekin,

 

being based on doesn't always equate to "as good as". i'm in no position to compare one with the other, but I can assure you that at least with the OCZ unit you will get outstanding customer support and warranty service if you ever need it.

 

if it were me I'd spend the little extra and get the one from OCZ. just my humble opinion.

[Branjo]

Yes the design was taken from Xigmatek, but those little dimples on the OCZ seem to cause that little extra air turbulence between the fins which improves the cooling. Its all about perfecting the design and I think the Vendetta has done just that and gained a little bit of an edge. All that aside though its only a 1 or 2 degree difference but you still get great temps from either coolers. As wev said, sometimes its worth the extra to buy from a trustworthy site like newegg and the support you receive from OCZ.