First Impressions
As mentioned, the CoolerMaster V8 sports eight heatpipes hence the V8 designation. They extend up from the copper baseplate to the four seperate aluminum heatsink panels.
These heatpipes then extend into the four aluminum finned heatsink panels (two on each side) that resemble automotive radiators. No doubt done on purpose to perpetuate the V8 motor design angle.
Sandwiched between the two pairs of aluminum finned heatsinks is a 120mm fan. The fan spins from 800 – 1800 RPM and is controlled by a precision fan controller, offering you the opportunity to set it to your liking within the RPM range.
Finally, the CoolerMaster V8 is nicely finished off with a machined copper base. The based is definitely smooth, but does show evidence of machining marks. I really would have liked to have seen a totally flat surface but don’t suspect that it will affect overall performance too much. Those that are anal may resort to lapping it glass smooth. Just don’t forget to remove the protecive plastic sheet before starting.
System Setup
In order to test out the performance of the CoolerMaster V8, we put together a system with the following components:
- AMD Phenom 9900E 2.6GHz Quad Core CPU (Provided by AMD)
- Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP 790FX Motherboard (Provided by ASUS)
- CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB DDR2-800 Memory Kit (Provided by CORSAIR)
- Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000GLFS Hard Drive (Provided by Western Digital)
- HighSpeedPC Top Deck Tech Station (Provided by HighSpeedPC)
- ANTEC Quattro 1000 Watt Power Supply (Provided by ANTEC)
Our operating system of choice was Windows Vista Premium 64 bit. All tests will be run with a healthy dose of Prime 95 toasting up the four cores of our engineering sample AMD CPU that has a propensity to get quite toasty at moderate loads. It’s not an overclocker and just likes to get hot so its perfect for testing the muscular V8 cooler. Let’s run through some of the setup points and then go on to BBQ’ing this thing.
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