The Heat Sink And Fans, Detailed
This Hardware Isn't For The Faint Of Heart
As mentioned, this cooler sells as the EKL Peter in Germany and the Deepcool Dracula elsewhere; the two are identical except for their names. We’re using the EKL Peter 79XX Edition for this article.
The Peter is an imposing piece of hardware, monopolizing three slots for the heat sink and two slots for the fans. If that sounds like a ridiculous amount of space for a cooler, that’s because it is a ridiculous amount of space. The EKL Peter will have to prove that its performance is capable of living up to what its size seems to suggest.
On paper, at least, the Peter's specifications are impressive.
| Technical Specifications: EKL Peter 79XX Edition | |
|---|---|
| Cooler Size: | 253.8 mm Length44 mm Depth (Measured from the Top of the Copper Plate)100 mm Height |
| Total Size: | 270 mm Length (From Back Plate)50 mm Depth120 mm Height (From Top of Card) |
| Materials: | Base: CopperHeat Pipes: Nickel-Plated Copper, 12 x 6 mmFins: Aluminium |
| Weight: | Approx. 590 g |
| Fans (Optional): | 4x 140 / 120 / 92 / 80 mm |
| Compatibility | AMD Radeon (Reference Design) X1600 HD 2600 HD 3450 / 3650 / 3690 / 3850 / 3870 HD 4650 / 4670 / 4750 / 4830 / 4850 / 4860 / 4870 HD 5670 / 5750 / 5770 / 5830 / 5850 / 5870 HD 6950 / 6970 HD 7950 / 7970Nvidia GeForce (Reference Design) 6600 Series (Except AGP) 7300 / 7400 / 7600 / 7800 GT/GTX / 7900 GS/GT/GTX 8400 / 8500 / 8600 / 8800 GT/GTS(G92)/GTX/Ultra 9600 GT / 9800 GT/GTX/GTX+ GT 210 / 220 / 240 GTS 250 GTX 200 Series GTX 460 / 470 / 480 GTX 560 / 570 / 580 |
| Price Without Fan: | Approx. $80 |
Fans
The EKL Peter 79XX Edition can accommodate up to four fans. We're only using two because that's already more than enough for our Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition. A pair of Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro PL2 coolers spinning at 1400 RPM handle the job for us, yielding 96 m³/h of volume.
One big advantage these fans enjoy is that they run well at 5 and 7 V. Two of them are barely audible at 5 V. You could conceivably operate them at 12 V, but then they generate acoustics similar to one of AMD's add-in board partners leveraging an aftermarket cooling setup. Although we'd get much better cooling performance from our heat sink and fan combination, we'd really like to cut noise.
| Technical Specifications: Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro Fan PL2 | |
|---|---|
| Size: | 120 x 120 x 25 mm |
| Weight: | 120 g |
| Materials: | Plastic |
| Noise Level: | 20 dB(A) |
| RPM: | 1400 RPM |
| Airflow: | 96 m³/h |
| Air Pressure: | 1269 mm-H2O |
| Start-Up Voltage: | 4.5 V |
| In-Use Voltage: | 4-13.8 V |
| Power: | 1.92 W / 0.16 A |
| Connector: | Three-Pin (20 + 50 cm Cable) |
| Miscellaneous: | MTBF: 160 000 HoursWarranty: Six Years |
| Price: | Approx. $20 |
You can also buy a 900 RPM version of this fan if you want to get even more aggressive about noise, and don't care about overclocking as much. We chose this particular model for its versatility, since it allows us to go for performance or quiet operation without breaking the bank.
