In English :
For this particular part, Alphacool did ask me if I could trasnlate the results for them. As I’m OK with a bit of challenge, here’s a summary of the french tests and results.
The cooler came in a little black box with a few Alphacool logos on it, as usual. Inside, you can find the manual and the pieces in a little zip bag. Bundle consist of 8 little clip, two aluminium plate, one 1mm thick thermal pad, and two 0,5mm thick thermal pads.
The mounting is pretty easy. You need to figure out if your drive have memory modules only on one side or on both. If it’s one side, you should use the 1mm thick pad on the PCB side and one 0,5mm thick one on the memory modules side. If it’s memory on both side, use the two 0,5mm pads.
Fit the needed pads (here I have memory only on one side) and press the clip where you think it looks best. There’s no better placement than another exept for the look, so you just need to make sure that the cooler is making good contact everywhere and doesn’t bloc the screw socket or the connector.
Once fitted on the disk, you need to install it on the motherboard. You have to make sure you don’t use a flat socket because it wouldn’t fit. Just put the disk in the connector far enough, and screw it down, like any other M.2 drive.
Configuration :
- carte mère : Asus Z97 Pro-Gamer
- carte graphique : PNY GTX 1080 w/ Alphacool XPX
- processeur : Intel i7 5775c w/ Alphacool Eisblock
- mémoire : 4x4Go PNY Anarchy 1600 Mhz
- SSD : Western Digital Black 512Go M.2
- alimentation : Corsair RM1000
I made my benchs with CrystalDiskMark on my Western Digital Black 512Gb Drive, temperatures were read by NZXT CAM and HWMonitor. The Conquer case I used is a semi-open chassis, with little to no airflow going on the drive. As the GPU and CPU are watercooled, they didn’t interfer much with the temp in that case; but I still did a bench with a looped custom 3DMark Time Spy on the back.
The end result show a nice 13°C of difference in the CrystalDiskMark bench, and 12°C when you add some heat over the GPU and CPU.
At the end, this cooler is a nice addition to any system. It will help both the cooling and the look of your SSD. Conditions for it fittings aren’t bad, due to the little height of the cooler, so it can fit under any PCIe slot and graphic card. The almost flat surface can be prepared and painted easily, a plus for the modders. If we consider the price of an M.2 SSD, and the performances it can save, the HDX price sounds good too.
Thanks to Alphcaool for providing this test sample.
