Introduction

This time we tested Titan Skalli, a tower design CPU cooler with two 8 mm heatpipes and a 100 mm fan. Let's see if it performs better than other similar coolers.

Skalli box is made of thin cardboard paper, with a window in the front that allows you to see the fan.

click to enlarge
Figure 1: Box.

Inside the box we found the cooler with the fan, user manual, installation hardware and a tube of white thermal compound.

click to enlarge
Figure 2: Box contents.

Figure 3 gives you an idea of what the Skalli looks like.

click to enlarge
Figure 3: Titan Skalli.

Titan Skalli

click to enlarge
Figure 4: Front view.

click to enlarge
Figure 5: Side view.

 

click to enlarge
Figure 6: Rear view.

Titan Skalli (Cont'd)

In Figure 7 we see the top side of the cooler. The four heatpipes tips are covered by metallic caps.

click to enlarge
Figure 7: Top view.

click to enlarge
Figure 8: Fan detail.

On the base, the heatpipes made direct contact to the CPU. This system has proven to be very efficient, eliminating one extra thermal resistance layer. The base is very smooth, almost mirror-finished, as you can check in Figure 9.

click to enlarge
Figure 9: Base.

Installation

The Titan Skalli comes with three holding clip sets. The first clip set comes screwed to the cooler base and fits sockets 1156 and 1366. Second set, shown in Figure 10, fits socket 775 CPUs. There is also a third clip for use with AMD processors.

click to enlarge
Figure 10: Clips.

click to enlarge
Figure 11: Installed into case.

How We Tested

We are adopting the following methodology for our CPU cooler reviews.

First, we chose the CPU with the highest TDP (Thermal Design Power) we had available, a Core 2 Extreme QX6850, which has a 130 W TDP. The choice for a CPU with a high TDP is obvious. To measure the efficiency of the tested cooler, we need a processor that gets very hot. This CPU works by default at 3.0 GHz, but we overclocked it to 3.33 GHz, in order to heat it as much as possible.

We took noise and temperature measurements with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to achieve 100% CPU load on the four processing cores we ran Prime95 with the "In-place Large FFTs" option, and three instances of the StressCPU program, all at the same time.

We also compared the reviewed cooler to the Intel stock cooler (with copper base), which comes with the processor we used, and also with some other coolers we have tested using the same methodology.

Temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer, with the sensor touching the base of the cooler, and also with the core temperature reading (given by the CPU thermal sensor) from the from the SpeedFan program, using an arithmetic average of the four core temperature readings.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the video board cooler so it wouldn't interfere with the results, but this measurement is only for comparative purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Core 2 Extreme QX6850
• Motherboard: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
• Memory: 2 GB Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX G (DDR2-800/PC2-6400 with timings 4-4-4-12), running at 800 MHz
• Hard drive: 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (ST3500320AS, SATA-300, 7200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video card: PNY Verto Geforce 9600 GT
• Video resolution: 1680x1050
• Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
• Power supply required: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
• Case: 3RSystem K100
  

Software Configuration

• Windows XP Professional installed on FAT32 partition
• Service Pack 3
• Intel Inf driver version: 8.3.1.1009
• NVIDIA video driver version: 182.08

Software Used

• Prime95
• StressCPU
• SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2 ^oC error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 2 ^oC are considered irrelevant.

Our Tests

On the tables below you can see our results. We ran the same tests with the coolers shown on below tables. Each test ran with the CPU idle and the with the CPU fully loaded. On BigTyp 14Pro, TMG IA1, NH-U12P and ISGC-300 the tests were done with the fan at full speed and at minimum speed. The other coolers were connected directly to the motherboard and it controls the fan speed based on CPU load level and temperature on PWM models. ISGC-400 and iCEAGE Prima Boss were tested at minimum speed on idle test and at maximum speed on full load test.

The next graph will give you an idea on how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during the tests, in idle.

The next graph will give you an idea on how many degrees Celsius the CPU core was hotter than room temperature during the tests, under full load.

 

Main Specifications

Titan Skalli main features are:

• Application: Sockets 1366, 1156, 775, AM3, AM2+, AM2, 939 and 754 processors.
• Fins: Aluminum.
• Base: Aluminum, with heatpipes in direct contact to the CPU.
• Heat-pipes: Two U-shape 8 mm copper heat-pipes.
• Fan: 100 mm.
• Nominal fan speed: 800 to 1,500 rpm.
• Fan air flow: 46.58 cfm.
• Maximum power consumption: 1.68 W.
• Nominal noise level: 29 dBA.
• Weight: not informed.
• More information: http://www.titan-cd.com
• Suggested price in the US*: USD 30.00

Conclusions

Titan Skalli is a good cooler. Its performance was, by the error margin we adopted, practically the same of Evercool Buffalo and Cooler Master Hyper TX3, two coolers with very similar design.

Its noise level is also good. Skalli is a very quiet cooler even with the CPU under full load. The installation is quite simple and, besides some users hating the Intel standard cooler holding mechanism, it is not a heavy cooler so don't be worried about it unlocking from the motherboard holes.

The big problem with Skalli is its cost/benefit ratio. There are some cooler with similar design and performance, like Evercool Buffalo and Cooler Master Hyper TX3, with a lower price point. But Skalli price can change in the future, since the market laws of offer and demand are still valid.