C
ooler Master says that the word Susurro means “silent” in Latin. And we
believe it, based on this cooler’s sound profile (and the fact that we looked
the word up). The Susurro specs list the noise output at 16dbA, and that sounds
about right. Unfortunately, while this cooler is quiet and easy to mount, its cool-
ing performance is lacking.
It should be noted right up front that this cooler is intended for
AMD processors exclusively, so Intel fanboys should skip this review. The
Susurro mounts using the AMD backplate and is compatible with Socket
939, 940, and 754 CPUs. Cooler Master claims the cooler will also work
with Socket M2—AMD’s upcoming socket which will replace Socket 939.
The M2 socket (rumored to be named Socket F) is supposed to launch in
mid-2006, so while it’s nice to know that the Susurro will work with the
future socket design, it would seem that any Socket 939 cooler will also be
compatible with Socket M2, because
this cooler mounts using the basic
AMD backplate. If that’s true, this
“compatibility” isn’t an especially
noteworthy feature.
Installation of the Susurro is
simple: Just drop it onto the back-
plate, secure a tension arm, and
you’re done.The cooler uses a massive copper heatsink that weighs 685 grams, which
is astonishing given its “low profile” stature. Usually heatsinks this size weigh
half as much. The Susurro sports a 9.2cm fan that spins at an inaudible 800rpm
at idle. Under load it cranks up to 2800rpm, making a bit more noise, but noth-
ing we could hear over our test system’s case fans.
As the benchmarks show, the Susurro wasn’t as cool as the stock AMD
FX-55 reference cooler during our testing. Granted, its temperatures are
perfectly acceptable and the unit is certainly quiet, but with performance
this close to the stock unit (which is also relatively quiet), it’s diffi-
cult to recommend the Susurro.
—JOSH NOREMCooler Master Susurro
Silent, but not cool enough for our tastes
N
ow that GPU temperatures are exceeding CPU temps, water-cooling has
become a much more appealing way to deliver exceptional cooling to your
videocard without a lot of noise. The problem is, no one has built stand-alone
GPU water-cooling kits—until now. Thermaltake’s Tide Water is an innovative
product that indeed succeeds at cooling your GPU in silence. Trouble is, the
omission of RAM heatsinks means that while your GPU will be chillin’, the rest
of your videocard will be suitable for grillin’.
Installation is relatively easy. You install two posts to whatever card you
have (the kit fits both ATI and nVidia cards). Then you place the water-block
on top of the GPU core and secure it with two screws that attach to adjustable
arms. While this isn’t the best design, the straightforward directions, if followed,
will prevent you from causing any damage to your GPU.
Next, you attach the radiator/fan assembly to two empty PCI slot covers.
The cooling unit is rather large, but it’s well-designed and includes a massive
copper heatsink, a central fan that sucks air out of the fins and then exhausts
it from your case. The last step is to select whether you want the cooler to
operate in “quiet” or “normal” mode by
toggling a small switch. The Tide Water
comes prefilled with coolant, so
you needn’t mess with that aspect,
and a water-level indicator lets you
monitor the coolant level.
As stated previously, the
Tide Water’s GPU cooling perfor-
mance is exceptional, registering46 C at idle and 57 C under full load. These results are considerably better
than the stock cooling apparatus achieves on our 6800 Ultra test card.
The absence of any heatsinks for the board’s RAM, however, is a major
problem. Our card’s capacitors and memory chips became so hot during
testing we feared for the safety of our board. Running your card at these
temperatures for prolonged periods is sure to decrease its life span. Thus,
we cannot recommend this product unless you use aftermarket heatsinks
for the memory chips.
As it stands, the Tide Water is a decent way to water-cool your GPU,
but it costs twice as much as the Zalman VF700, but performs
worse, so we’re not big fans.
—JOSH NOREMThermaltake Tide Water
A good idea, but very poorly implemented
MA XIMUMPC MARCH 2006
reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED
The Tide Water gets kudos for its innovation, and anti-kudos for
its lack of RAM cooling.THERMALTAKE TIDE WATER
$90, http://www.thermaltake .com8
COOLER MASTER SUSURRO
$25, http://www.coolermaster.comThe Susurro is a decent cooler in every way, but not quite
“maximum” enough for our tastes.BENCHMARKS
SUSURRO STOCK COOLER
IDLE (C) 45 40
100% LOAD (C) 55 54
Best scores are bolded. Temps were recorded using the
Asus AI utility. Idle scores were determined after 30 minutes
of inactivity. Full-load temps were achieved running CPU
Burn-in for one hour.BENCHMARKS
TIDE WATER STOCK COOLER
IDLE (C) 46 47
100% LOAD (C) 57 67
Best scores are bolded. Temps were recorded using the
Asus AI utility. Idle scores were determined after 30 minutes
of inactivity. Full-load temps were achieved running CPU
Burn-in for one hour.