Eight months ago AMD introduced their 2nd generation of Phenom 2 X4 Processors that was designed to use the AM3 socket while remaining backwards compatible with previous AM2/AM2+ motherboards. Although the Phenom II X4 965 was AMD’s flagship desktop processor, it wasn’t the performance that glued users on to it but rather the value for money it brought to the table. Alongwith processors like X 2 550/555 which could be unlocked to 4 cores depending upon the combination of chip and motherboard. Whether your allegiance lies with AMD or Intel, there is no denying the fact that competition is a good thing for us the consumers. Now you would ask, why should Intel affiniatos be happy about AMD’s hexa-core processor launch. Intel has a hexa-core Processor, the i7 980X aka gulftown but it retails for 1000$ and out of reach for majority of the enthusiast who are in their sane minds and without any roadmap for launching an affordable hexa-core CPU. We will find out in the next few pages whether the new hexa-core processor from AMD 1090T Black Edition pressurises the competition enough that Intel would be forced to do price cuts or maybe new product launches.

The new Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition that we are benchmarking today operates at 3.2GHz with a 16x clock multiplier (200Mhz slower than the 965) but with a turbo speed of 3.6Ghz which should make non-overclockers very happy because when using single thread applications it means free performance. This new Phenom is based on the new new Thuban architecture and features 9MB L3 cache, with each core having its own dedicated 512KB of L2 cache (3MB total L2 cache).

And before we forget its not just X6 1090T which is getting launched today but there are other processors as well. Do find the basic specs of the processors listed below.

1090T Featureset

Lets have a quick look at the die picture of the 1090T. We wont waste your time with blabbering on the conclusions drawn from the picture.

*Die Picture

• True Six Core Processing

• AMD Turbo CORE Technology

• L1 Cache: 128KB (64KB Instruction + 64KB Data) x6(six-core)

• L2 Cache: 512KB x6(six-core)

• L3 Cache: 6MB Shared L3

• 45-nanometer SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology

• HyperTransport™ 3.0 16-bit/16-bit link at up to 4000MT/s full duplex; or up to 16.0GB/s I/O bandwidth

• Up to 21GB/sec dual channel memory bandwidth

• Support for unregistered DIMMs up to PC2 8500 (DDR2-1066MHz) and PC3 10600

• Direct Connect Architecture

• AMD Balanced Smart Cache

• AMD Dedicated Multi-cache

• AMD Virtualization™ (AMD-V™)Technology

• AMD PowerNow™ 3.0 Technology

• AMD Dynamic Power Management

• Multi-Point Thermal Control

• AMD CoolCore™ Technology

In AMD’s words – “AMD Phenom™ II X6 Processors were designed for extreme megatasking, multi-threaded applications, and entertainment. To enable you to do more than you’ve ever imagined: create, edit, render, encode/decode and transfer dense HD content while watching HD content, burning CDs or DVDs while downloading music and video.” We certainly will see in the upcoming pages if they have been successful in their endeavor or not. But first lets look at the difference between the various new chipsets AMD has come out with.

New AMD Chipset comparison and architecture

And before we move on just so that you get to know a bit more about the 890FX chipset, do check the architecture of 890FX below.

System Specs and Benchmark List

Due to shortage of time, there is only a limited amount of setups that we have for comparison. But I guess this should be enough to see where does 1090T stands when compared to its existing product line and the target competition.

We would be comparing the setups with below mentioned benchmarks

Multithreaded 2d Benchmarks

Wprime

Everest CPU Queen

Winrar

Main Concept Encoding

PCMark Vantage

Memory Bandwidth Benchmark

Sisoft Sandra

3d Synthetic Benchmarks

3dMark06

3dMarkVantage

Cinebench

Games

Crysis Warhead

FarCry 2

Turbo CORE

Lets talk about the new feature in the x6 series of CPU, in my understanding Turbo CORE is something which plays with CPU’s TDP headroom when three or more cores are idle by automatically boosting the remaining three cores and throttling down the idle cores. On the Phenom II X6 1090T, 3.2 GHz CPU it can boost the CPU up to 400Mhz and put the final speed to 3.6Ghz. Quite impressive if you ask me.

Unfortunately it seems to me this is simply a marketing gimmick or fail engineering. I tried running a couple of single threaded programs like super-pi and pi-fast at stock speeds of 3.2Ghz but at no point of time any of the cores jumped to 3.6Ghz. At the max one of the cores jumped over to 3.4Ghz only to fall back on 3.2Ghz and at no point of time did any of the cores throttle down.

Though I should also add, that I was not using a 890FX board but I dont think Turbo Core is chipset restricted or atleast it simply should not be. On another thought it might be bios dependent and needs a motherboard bios update??? We will wait for the verdict to come out on this in the next couple of weeks.

Overclocking

This is the section which excites me the most, afterall I write reviews so that I can have access to the latest hardware(whoops!!! spilled the secret out). Lets then push it to the limits, ofcourse only on air. But there is more to come, LN2 results should be out in a week or two.

Before we begin let me tell you that the sample we have is a retail unit so though we would expect other processors to reach to the same level or better but many factors come into play when overclocking. First off we tried with the stock cooler which has seen some improvement from the 965’s stock cooler. Hold on to your breath, we were able to reach speeds of upto 4.4Ghz which was only 2d stable though. 4.2Ghz was 3d stable on stock cooler under an airconditioned room. Hugely impressed with the initial overclock on the stock cooler we slapped on a sample of CoolerMaster V10 cooler that we had. Though temperatures decreased but our overclock didnt improve. So next was disabling cores (remember this wont give much performance boost to most users, but can be done just to get maybe a second faster time in superpi). With the Gigabyte motherboard we had we were able to disable all but 2 of the cores from Bios. And with vCore pushed to 1.6V we were able to achieve 4.6Ghz which was stable enough to run superpi. Afterall things said and done, now the reviewer can go to sleep in peace.

Our retail review sample was able to reach 4.6Ghz with only 2 cores and 1.6V, but for 24/7 setup we were able to achieve 4.2Ghz at 1.55V. This is certainly good news since in our opinion 1090T would have a higher overclocking headroom than the 965BE processors out there judging by our retail review sample while adding 2 extra cores to it.

WPrime

We will be starting our tests with this multi-threaded benchmark application which gains from both higher frequency speeds and more cores as well. We will be running 1024m tests for this one.

The stock 1090T packs a great punch at stock clocks when compared to the Intel offering, however when both the processors are overclocked to 4.2Ghz, timings are almost neck to neck, with Intel i7 920 having a slight edge.

Winrar

Next up in the benchmark is the universal compression tool Winrar. We are not going ahead with its synthetic benchmark but we would be compressing a 500MB folder in each of the system and measure the time it takes to compress the folder. Lesser the time better the performance.

Winrar – Compression 500MB Folder

Looks like 920’s HT paying off here, Intel has a healthy lead here both at stock and when overclocked.

Sandra

SiSoftware Sandra is one of the most popular synthetic memory benchmark utilities. Sisoftware Sandra (System ANalyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) that you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices.

Here we see Read and write speeds of the memory which is set at 1600Mhz Cl8-8-8-24.

Intel with its triple channel memory has a huge lead here as expected both at read and write speeds. And 1090T sees gain over the 965. No surprises here.

EVEREST

Lavalys EVEREST is a system diagnostics and benchmarking utility that provides system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities, including tests for the memory subsystem. It also includes various CPU benchmarks, one of them is CPU Queen which is what we are going to use today. This particular test is sensitive to both frequency and active number of cores.

Everest CPU Queen

Another synthetitic benchmark, but here 1090T takes a huge lead over Intel i7 and the amount of lead is surprising for sure. If only in real life applications we could have seen such leads by 1090T.

PCMark Vantage

PCMark Vantage is a PC benchmark suite designed for Windows Vista and now Windows 7 offering one-click simplicity for casual users and detailed, professional grade testing for industry, press and enthusiasts.

A PCMark score is a measure of your computer’s performance across a variety of common tasks such as viewing and editing photos, video, music and other media, gaming, communications, productivity and security.

PCMark Vantage

Once again we see Intel scoring a huge lead over the hexa-cores even at stock clocks.

Main Concept

Main Concept is a multi-threaded video encoding application. We used a downloaded MPEG-2 file and converted it to H.264 format on all our systems.

Main Concept Encoding MPEG-2 to H.264

AMD 1090T outperforms i7 920 easily on stock clocks. But when matched clock to clock 920 takes a small lead. As usual we see much better performance from 1090T when compared to 965BE.

3dMARK06

Although this benchmark is a couple of years old, it still hasn’t lost its sheen. 3DMark06 is a PC benchmark suite designed to test the DirectX9 performance of your graphics card. A 3DMark score is an overall measure of your system’s 3D gaming capabilities, based on comprehensive real-time 3D graphics and processor tests. We ran only the CPU Test to measure the performance of our CPU’s.

3dMark06 – CPU Test

We already knew that 3dMark 06 favors Intel CPU a lot. Though at stock clocks 1090T soared ahead of i7 920 but again when compared clock to clock at 4.2Ghz, i7 920 took the lead back. 965BE as expected is at the bottom of the table.

3dMark Vantage

The latest installment (some say the big brother of 3DMark 06) of the famous 3D benchmark. This version added support for DX 10. This pushes the graphics sub system a lot harder than its younger brother and gives an idea of how your machine would perform under stressful games:

3dMarkVantage – CPU Test

Its Intel all along. i7 920 takes the lead even at stock clocks, which is almost 600 Mhz lower than the clocks of 1090T and further increases the lead when running at 4.2Ghz. 965BE retains its bottom most position.

Cinebench

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms.

Cinebench

This is where 1090T really shines. At stock clocks 1090T has a healthy lead. Though when compared at 4.2Ghz, i7 920 reduces the lead quite a bit but still the leader is 1090T.

Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead

We see a marginal improvement after overclocking the CPU. But not much difference to pick between Intel and AMD. Pick any and you will be satisfied as far as your gaming needs are concerned.

FarCry 2

Far Cry 2

Pretty clear that Far Cry 2 is not CPU limited but GPU limited atleast in our case. If gaming is your concern then you can pick any one of them and you will certainly not be disappointed.

Price and Conclusion

1090T and 1055T are the first real hexa-cores which is in reach of 99% enthusiasts, since Intel’s 980X retails for around 1000$(more than Rs. 55000 in Indian retail market), though if you are looking at purely performance numbers then I am sure 980X has simply no competition. We will have a 980X as well for comparison very soon, so stay glued to Erodov, :p. As of now 1090T is selling for around Rs. 15000 and 1055T for Rs. 10100 from SMC International and other retailers in India.

Though 1090T is impressive but which group of enthusiast should really be looking forward to upgrade?. I will say anyone involved in video work, photoshop, rendering would be my first target group. AMD’s new flagship processor is easily able to keep up with the Intel’s 920 and in some test better it. Gamers I would say would not really see much benefit from either going to Intel or AMD’s hexacore just now. There is really no benefit of having extra cores when they are not being used for gaming. If you are a gamer and want more performance out of your C2D or Phenom 2 computer then will suggest a SSD as an upgrade for sure, specially if you play multiplayer games. Ofcourse if you are a overclocker at heart and would like to buy a future proof system for the next 2-3 years then 1090T has plenty to offer. Our system was able to do 4.6Ghz for a very small fraction of time for some 2d benchmarking, 4.4Ghz for benchmarking all cores with 2d benchmarking softwares like wprime, and 4.2Ghz for all our benchmarking suite. It will be interesting to see how much it can do under Liquid Nitrogen which we will be doing most probably this weekend. We have been told that these hexacore’s better overclocking headroom is mostly because of GlobalFoundrie’s addition of low-k dielectric in their 45nm manufacturing process, because of which these chips leaks less current, drawing less power and outputting less heat. Just uptill a few months ago, AMD had a 140W quad core and today they are delivering an hexacore within a 125W power envelope. Thats quite a feat if you ask me.

In the end, we are at a crossroad where 1090T has brought AMD much closer to Intel than they have ever been in recent times. Its pretty hard to clearly announce a winner and to recommend one company over the other but whichever company you choose to build your rendering/gaming/enthusiast system, you’re probably not going to regret it.

We would like to thank Mr. Saini from SMC International and AMD for providing us with the review sample.

Also be sure to check out TestFreaks for more reviews on the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T or Intel Core i7 920.

We’ve seen most major memory manufacturers releasing new products optimized for the LGA1366 platform. Reaching speeds above 2000MHz at 1.65v is testament to how far things have come since hitting 1250MHz at 2.3v on our DDR2 sticks was reason for enthusiasts to brag. Now with Bloomfield we all know that we cannot simply push more voltages, provide moving air to the modules and hope we end up with a winning kit. That’s simply not the case. There is now a limit of 1.65v which one shouldn’t cross, to ensure the longevity of one’s processor. Now how does one get top notch performance and timings while not giving up on value as well?

On the topic of value and performance, we’re looking at a set of G.Skill Trident 6GB DDR3 F3-12800CL6T-6GBTD modules that are designed for use in the LGA1366 (Bloomfield/Core i7) platform. We’ve seen in the past that G.Skill modules typically deliver great performance at excellent prices, particularly in the more “mainstream” market, so let’s find out if G.Skill has produced another winner with this Trident kit.

First, a little background:

G. SKILL, established in 1989 by enthusiasts, is a leading memory module Manufacturer based in Taipei, Taiwan. G. SKILL strives to achieve the highest and most advanced quality from the initial design, through manufacturing solder-paste printing, through surface mounting, to on-line visual inspection, system compatibility testing, packaging and finally to safely and reliably shipping our products to customers. At G. SKILL, we apply a top priority to quality standards. All of its products are put through a series of rigorous tests and strict quality control procedures. In addition to commissioning qualified IC testing houses to test our products, they are hand test 100% twice in factory and office, to ensure the highest product yield and quality.

Specification and Packaging

* Speed: DDR3-1600 (PC3 12800)

* CAS Latency: 6-7-6-18

* Capacity: 6GB (2GB x 3)

* Voltage: 1.65 Volts

* PCB: 6 Layers

* Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered

* Error Checking: Non-ECC

* Type: 240-pin DIMM

* Warranty: Lifetime

G.Skill packaging is still the same. The memory comes in a clear blister pack lined up above each other and can be inspected without having to open the package. The back lists a few marketing words with the details of the specification and intended settings of the kit. The packaging seems a bit lacking for a high-end kit but that’s hardly a problem, because once the RAM is installed no one really cares about the packing.

Test Setup

CPU Intel Core i7 950

Motherboard MSI x58 Pro-E

Case Open Air

Memory G skill Trident 1600MHz

Video Card EVGA GTX295

Hard Drives 2 x Seagate 3.5″ HDD’s 500GB

Optical Drive Samsung Sata1 DVD Burner

Power Supply Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W

Type Of Coolers Used Cooler Master V10

CPU Speeds Used 3.2Ghz, 167.5 x 24 = 4021 Mhz

Operating System Used Microsoft Windows Vista x86

Type of Software Used During Testing Super PI, wPrime, Everest, Sisoft.

We tested this kit with the CPU running at 3.2 Ghz and 4 Ghz with varying speed/latency combinations as follows:

1. 1333 MHz CL9

2. 1600 MHz CL9

3. 1600 MHz CL6 (stock speed)

4. 1866 MHz CL8

5. 2000 MHz CL8

Note:

When running the memory at 2000 MHz, the lowest speed that we could run the CPU at was 3.3 GHz instead of the 3.2 GHz used for the other tests. Please keep this in mind when viewing the benchmark results.

Also, 1866 MHz cannot be run with standard settings when the CPU is at 4 GHz, hence that particular frequency has been left out at higher speeds.

Super PI

First set of utility we are testing is Super PI, which is essentially a CPU benchmark. However, the 32M test shows sensitivities to memory subsystem tweaks and total bandwidth hence it has been included in the test suite. Here we calculate pi to 32 million digits and record the time it takes to complete the run. Lower time to completion is better.

*lower is better

Result: As can be clearly seen, this is one test which is effected both by higher frequencies and lower latencies. But as you can see when CPU is running at 4Ghz, 1600Mhz CL6 and 2000Mhz CL8 returns exactly the same time which tells us the importance of tighter timings. So this is one test where a clear frequency winner cannot be pronounced. Take your own pick, lower frequency with tighter timings or higher frequency with loose timings.

WPrime

In hindsight, WPrime should not have been included to benchmark RAM. While it scales fairly linearly with CPU speed, it shows little reaction to increased memory speed or tighter timings. We haven’t removed WPrime from the benchmarks just to show that the memory has been stable enough even at 2000Mhz CL8.

*lower is better

Results : In our tests there was no definitive way this benchmark reacted to memory frequency and timings but still 2000Mhz CL8 is the winner.

Sisoft Sandra

Now we will be testing the modules with SiSoftware Sandra, one of the most popular synthetic memory benchmark utilities. Sisoftware Sandra (System ANalyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) that you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices.

First we tested the integer and float bandwidth available to the system at different frequencies with the CPU running at 3.2 GHz. Higher is better.

*higher is better

Then we tested again, this time with the CPU at 4 GHz.

*higher is better

Results : As was expected higher frequencies give higher bandwidth. But note that 2000Mhz tests were omitted here because even after repeated testing at 2000 MHz, the total bandwidth available was dropping drastically which cannot be explained, other than by the assumption that perhaps the motherboard was not up to the task and was bottlenecking somewhere.

Below are the SiSoft Memory Latency Test results:

*lower is better

Result : Again there is no competition when these sticks are running @ 2000Mhz CL8. Though performance @ stock 1600Mhz CL6 is pretty good as well.

EVEREST

Lavalys EVEREST is a system diagnostics and benchmarking utility that provides system and overclock information, advanced hardware monitoring and diagnostics capabilities, including tests for the memory subsystem. It also tests the actual read and write speeds of your memory giving a fairly accurate look of true memory performance. Here we ran the benchmark to record the read and write bandwidths, as well as the latency.

*higher is better

CPU running at 4 Ghz.

*higher is better

Result : Just like the Sandra test at 2000Mhz CL8, memory read/write performance takes a huge performance hit without an explanation, since the system is completely stable at those speeds. However, memory copy does scale with speed as expected.

Below is the Everest Memory Latency Test:

*lower is better

Result: As was expected with higher memory speed and then combined with overclocked CPU, latency dropped by quite a margin. And 2000Mhz CL8 is the clear winner in the latency test.

Overclocking

We have already seen in the past few pages that the memory kit successfully and stably did 2000 MHz CL8-9-8-24. But hold on to your horses, because that is not the highest stable speed that the kit can do! In our tests it was able to do 2100 MHz CL8-9-8-24 1T at 1.7v which is simply an amazing feat for a set of modules that G.Skill doesn’t even claim to be its highest end set. The reason we were unable to add the 2100 MHz results in the tests is because to get to those speeds we had to run our CPU much higher too.

Pricing and Conclusion

We were impressed with the level of performance of these modules. These certainly give a huge improvement over 1333 MHz kits, even at its stock speed of 1600 MHz CL6-7-6-18. But an an absolute overclocking limit of 2100Mhz CL8-9-8-24 is simply an amazing feat. To get the most benefit from this kit though, I would certainly recommend the CPU to be overclocked as well.

This kit is pretty cheap at Rs. 11,500 from SMC International, as far as extreme performance kits go. Though for people looking to save on some money there is another kit which can be recommended and that is the G.Skill Trident 2000Mhz CL9. Though it doesn’t have much overclocking headroom, it’s stock speed should be enough for most users.

Pros :

- Good Looking heatspreaders

- Stock performance

- Good overclocking Headroom

- Lifetime warranty

- Price

Cons :

- None!

Keeping in mind these really excellent results and the fact that these modules lived up to all our expectations. Its only fair to give the kit a 5/5. Congratulations to G.Skill for bringing out such an awesome kit at a fairly affordable price.

Thanks to Mr. Saini from SMC International, India for providing the review sample.

I have been using the Thermalright’s earlier flagship cooler Ultra Extreme for almost the last 3 years since it first launched. Though I have tested a few air coolers in between but none were able to beat this cooler sans the Megahalam and D14 which didnt grant an upgrade for the miniscule improvement they were bringing to the table. And when after so many years Thermalright announced a new flagship cooler, I was sure to test them out even if after buying them. So as soon as they were available in retail ordered them and here we finally have the review of the Venomous X pitted against TRUE and CoolerMasters V10.

Venom Packaging and Accessories

Thermalright was never known to have flashy boxart but with Venomous X we have new packaging and though it might not be as flashy as Razer boxart but its a damn nice improvement over those bland brown boxes earlier Thermalright Products used to ship out with.

Out of the box.

All the accessories the cooler comes with, sadly the cooler is compatible with only LGA775/1156 and 1366 sockets. AMD users have to buy a separate bolt through kit to make the Venom Compatible with their socket.

Bad photography but as can be seen pretty shiny.

And over here finally we can see the pure nickel plated copper base with ultra-shine mirrored surface.

Cooler Specifications

Thermalright Venomous X

Features :

* All new patented multiple support pressure vault bracket system means users can add pressure (40~80lbs) for a more efficient and secure mounting (1366 / 1156 / 775).
* Mirrored copper base increases the quality and performance of the heatsink.
* Special bent winglet design allows hot air to pass through the heatsink more rapidly.
* The heatsink is nickel plated to prevent oxidation, ensuring longer useage and continued quality performance.
* Soldered heatpipes, copper base and fins ensure the best thermal conducting efficiency.
* Six sintered design.
* Includes 2 sets of 120 x 25mm fan clips and Chill factor II thermal paste.
* Convex copper base design for highest thermal conducting efficiency between cpu and heatsink.

Specifications :

* Model: Thermalright Venomous X CPU Heatsink
* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775
* Dimension: 158 x 160 x 125 mm
* Weight: 1.75 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: C1100 pure nickel plated copper base with ultra-shine mirrored surface, 48 pieces of AL fin, 12 heatpipes
* Fan : Delta AFB1212HHE 120CFM

Cooler Master v10

V10 has two 120×25 mm 4-pin PWM fans that are capable of moving air to 90CFM. Cooler Master has ensured great compatibility with a number of sockets, with mounting hardware for LGA 1366 & 775, as well as AMD 754, 939, 940, AM2+, and AM3 sockets.

* Model: RR-B2P-UV10-GP
* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775, AMD 754/939/940/AM2+/AM3
* Dimension: (L) 9.32 x (W) 5.11 x (H) 6.36 inches or 236.5 x 129.6 x 161.3 mm
* Weight: 2.65 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: Cu base, AL fin, 10 heatpipes
* Heat Pipes Dimensions: 6mm
* Fan Dimension: (L) 4.73 x (W) 1.00 x (H) 4.73 inches or 120 x 25 x120 mm
* Fan Speed: 800~2400 R.P.M
* Fan Airflow: 90 CFM (max)
* Fan Air Pressure: 2.94mm-H2O
* Bearing Type: Rifle Bearing
* Fan Life Expectancy: 40,000 hours @ 25 oC
* Fan Noise Level (dB-A): 17 dB-A (min)
* Connector: 4-Pin
* Fan Control: PWM
* Operation Temperature: 25 ~ 70 o
* Power: 70W (max)
* Rated Current: 9.8A (max)

Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120

Since it doesnt come with any included fan hence there are no specifications for the fan but we will ofcourse add the detail in our test bed details. Thermalright claims that the stack of 48 pieces of aluminum fins are the most over any other heatsinks in the market and they can be covered entirely by a 120mm fan to absorb all in-coming air flow which gives superior performance over their competitors.

* CPU Socket: Intel LGA1366 & 775, AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3
* Dimension: (L) 63.44 x (W) 132 x (H) 160.5 mm
* Weight: 1.74 lbs
* Heat Sink Material: Nickel plated base, 48 pieces of AL fin, 10 heatpipes

Testing Methodology and Setup

Before we start I will like to explain our Testing Methodology, so our forum members/readers can understand what steps we took to reach to the temperatures and conclusion. Our test bed is running all components outside on a open bench table. While this ends up not exactly depicting the real temperatures inside a case but it doesnt affect the comparison between different heatsinks and is certainly far easier to change and mount the heatsinks back during the testing phase. We will be measuring our maximum temperature of the core by running a burn in test for 10 minutes, then allowing the system to cool for 20 minutes. The test room will be at 17 degrees Celsius. All the heatsinks will be using the same thermal interface material that is MX2. Before we mount the heatsink, we will be cleaning both the processor and heatsink surface with Isopropyl Alcohol. and to keep things interesting and fair TRUE and Venomous X will be tested with a Delta 120CFM fan.

To properly test all these coolers we will be monitoring the processor’s temperature with Core Temp. For stress testing, the software we will be using is Orthos, which loads the core only 50% which is a more realistic and practical load. For 100% Load test we will be using the Blend test in Prime95 and run it on all four cores and the four Hyper Threading cores for 10 minutes since our previous testing has shown us that the temperatures more or less remain constant after the first 10-15 minutes. We will break the temperatures up into five different tests.

The first test is going to be done at stock settings and at idle, which will have little to no CPU usage but to keep things consistent we will manually put CPU volts to 1.14V.
The second test will have the processor at stock settings and at 50% CPU usage.
The third test will have the processor at stock settings and at 100% CPU usage.

The fourth test will have the processor overclocked to 4Ghz @ 1.25V and at idle.
The fifth test will have the processor at 50% CPU usage.
The sixth test will have the processor at 100% CPU usage.

The seventh test will have the processor overclocked to 4.4Ghz @ 1.45 and at idle.
The eight will have the processor at 50% CPU usage.
The ninth test will have the processor at 100% CPU usage. This is the real test which shows how much heat a heatsink is capable to remove.

This will be our standard Test Bed for any CPU cooler testing in the near future.

* Processor: Intel i7 950
* Motherboard: MSI Pro-E
* Memory:G.Skill Trident 1600Mhz Cas6
* Video Card: Nvidia Geforce GTX 295
* Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W
* Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB Sata
* Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD-RW
* Case: Open Bench Table
* OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x86
* Ambient Temperature: 17° Celsius

Testing Results

Do check out the Testing Methodology before checking out the results to get a better understanding of the charts below, also do post any improvements or shortcomings of the mehtodology.

So here we have idle temperature. There is nothing much to differentiate here between the coolers, disappointing eh???

*lower is better

So here we have load temps on Orthos. Venom doesnt disappoint but is not worth an upgrade for sure. CoolerMaster V10 is left behind by a big margin in few tests.

*lower is better

But I did not buy the Venom to run my i7 on 4Ghz. Any cooler can do that, this is where we test our extreme overclocks with Prime 95 and see if the coolers can handle 100% load on all cores and give out respectable temps. Now this is where Venom really shines and comes out victorious with almost a 7C lead against TRUE @ 4.4Ghz and lets not even talk about the lead against V10.

*lower is better

CONCLUSION

If we ever thought there was no way aircoolers could be improved upon the performance beyond the 1-2C without increasing the size of the cooler by a huge margin then Thermalright has proved us wrong. Thermalright saw the enthusiast segment using lapped TRUE with pressure mod to improve upon the performance of TRUE and refined the design of the TRUE to squeeze out every little bit of performance it can. and named it Venomous-X. Ofcourse the winglet design may have added onto the results since our TRUE sample had the pressure mod as well with a flat surface. All in all we are happy to report that not only new buyers but even existing TRUE users need not think twice about getting the Venomous-X if they are after improvement under high volts and load.

Though we have not tested the Noctua D14 but seeing the improvement it offers over TRUE we can safely claim that Thermalright has taken back the crown of King of aircoolers with the Venomous-X emphatically.

Pros :

• Best performance among all air coolers.

• Very good Price vs Performance ratio.

• Selection of our own fan depending upon the need of silence or performance.

• New bolt through kit.

Cons :

• Doesnt come with AMD retention kit in the package.

• Nada

SCREENSHOTS

Screenshots of TRUE temperature :

TRUE Orthos at 4Ghz

TRUE Prime at 4Ghz

TRUE Orthos at 4.4Ghz

TRUE Prime at 4.4Ghz

Screenshots of Venom Temperature :

Venom Orthos at 4Ghz

Venom Orthos at 4.4Ghz

Venom Prime at 4Ghz

Venom Prime at 4.4Ghz

Cooler Master has always been known to produce some of the best computer cases, power supplies, accessories and some not-so-great coolers. They established their reputation with the ‘Stacker’ series of cases, which are some of the best performing cases out there in India/the world.

Cooler Master has always been known to produce some of the best computer cases, power supplies, accessories and some not-so-great coolers. They established their reputation with the ‘Stacker’ series of cases, which are some of the best performing cases out there in India/the world.

More recently, they have launched a gamer-specific line of products known as ‘CM Storm’. This brand has been getting a lot of attention around the tournament circuits with their gaming chassis, the Sniper and Scout, and now they have made their first ever foray into the gaming mouse market with the “Sentinel Advance” gaming mouse, Cooler Master spent two years on research and development for this mouse, so do read on to decide whether those years were complete waste or not.

At the center of this very nimble mouse is a dual laser sensor, that delivers an impressive 5600 dpi resolution, as well as the 1000 Hz Ultrapolling technology with a 1ms response time. This mouse is pretty large but perfect ergonomically and also has a thumb rest which is a boon for long hours of gaming. Sadly, however, it is not ambidextrous, left hand gamers are out in the cold. It’s all black as can be seen in the pictures, with 64kb memory and ASIC which allows gamers to store profile, macros and scripts. The Sentinel also comes with 5 removable weights, each weighing 4.5g for a total weight of 22.5g, but its biggest attraction is the OLED screen which is a first for any mouse.

With the introduction of this revolutionary mouse complete, let’s move on to the official specification page…

Specifications

Specifications:

• 5600 DPI Storm Tactical Twin laser Sensor
• 64KB Sentinel-X Memory
• OLED DPI Management System
• OLED Team Logo Personalization
• 8 Programmable Buttons
• Rapid Fire Tactical Mode
• 1000z Polling/ 1ms Response Time
• Max Speed of 235 Inches Per Second
• Max Acceleration 50G
• 1mm Lift-off Distance
• Right-hand Ergonomic design
• Gold-plated USB Connector
• 5 x 4.5g Adjustable Weight System
• Full-Speed USB

Honestly that’s a great feature set coming from a company which is a brand new entrant to the gaming mouse segment. But, as any gamer would tell you, it’s not just fancy features which make a great mouse but a host of other basics that if not done right would ruin any out-of-the-world features that it may have.

Let’s take a look at the unpacking and get some nice pictures of the mouse.

Unpacking and Pics

So here we go with the pictures. First up is the front of the clamshell-type box which shows all the features of the mouse on the right hand side.

Not too many accessories come in the package. There is of course, the Cooler master Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse itself, Software DVD and the odd-looking expansion slot cover that is actually an anti-theft device called the “Storm Guard”.

We see braided cord, which hopefully will mean no accidental cord tearing as has been seen to happen in some Razer products, and a longer life in general. The mouse has a golden USB connector but that’s more of a marketing gimmick rather than any serious addition to the features.

Some More Photos

Some more eye candy for your viewing pleasure (Pictures courtesy Cooler Master).

Software

Installation of the mouse was a breeze. Everything works out of the box, but for scripts, macros, color and part of dpi management, the included software is needed. There are a plethora of options available. Button assignment and dpi sensitivity settings for up to 5 profiles is as easy as hitting select and apply. Do note that X and Y axis can be programmed independently for different dpi settings. This is useful for those gamers who use more than 1 monitor, and where in they choose the option to stretch the screen to 2nd monitor. You can change the polling rate as well, if you are not comfortable with the default 1000 Hz. Personally, for daily use I have it set at 500Hz.

The second tab ‘Color Control’ lets you configure the colors that will be switched between when pressing the configured mouse button. Also you can make the mouse emit a different LED color from its dual headlights and a different color on the center.

Another amazing feature that can be controlled from here is the LED Style. There are 4 styles in all. Default is Full LED, Breathing, Rapid Fire + On Mouse Click and Disable(so even if you are not the flashy type, and don’t need the LEDs, you can still enjoy the other features of the mouse).

Also did I mention you can upload your clan logo to be displayed on the OLED screen? Only condition is that it needs to be 32 x 32 pixels and black & white. Pretty soon the bland Cooler Master logo is gonna be replaced by… Oh noes! I need to find a clan first, , since mine is disbanded.

This is where you can configure macros.

And for scripts.

And this is the support section which has a link to CoolerMaster Storm webpage and a button to update the firmware of the mouse.

With the introduction, specifications and features looked into, we move on…

Testing and Performance

Testing a mouse is a very subjective thing to do as everybody has different needs, experiences and requirements. But let me cover some of the points that are essential to gamers.

Weight and Grip

As mentioned in the Introduction, Sentinel Advance comes with 5 weights each of 4.5g. I tried removing and adding back the weight and got the perfect feel with the full 22.5grams of weight inside the mouse. Though one apparent con of the mouse is that it doesn’t come with any additional pouch or case to keep the weights once removed. This can be a concern for those who would get a better feel with a lighter mouse removed but would not like to lose the extra weights

One thing I have noticed over the years is that even if a mouse has perfect tracking, it is your grip that decides your level of satisfaction and grant you amazing game performance. The Sentinel Advance has a rubberized finish, which allows for less slippage, and is bulky (almost as big as the Microsoft Sidewinder and the Ikari Optical), which is perfect for me. Distances between all the buttons are even and none of the button are out of the reach in the heat of gaming. It has a thumb rest for long gaming hours and the grip is simply perfect, so nothing to complain about here. The shape and the feel gets a thumbs up from me.

Tracking
The Philips twin Doppler laser sensor used in the Sentinel is designed with precision hardware used for medical applications. What does that mean to us, the average gamer? Basically the laser sensor is more accurate than what we see on an average mouse, and should give better gaming performance. Now before putting that to test, first off we go into the mouse settings and turn off mouse acceleration and then use the CPL_mouse_fix registry patch. A test of the Direct Input Mouse Rate puts the Sentinel at an average of 0.98ms and 1020Hz. To put that to the test I cranked the dpi all the way up to 5600 (I normally use 1800) and jumped into a few UT3 games. With the sensitivity turned up so high I was able to tell right away that the Sentinel is very accurate, though I was not able to control the crosshair at such a high dpi and had to turn it down to 3800 dpi. Then I tried UT3 again along with COD4 and Crysis. Also do note that instead of have 4 feet as is common with other gaming mice, the Sentinel has a complete layer of pads called ‘Battle Pads’ which helps in having complete control over the mouse. After a week of testing, I’d say the results were very satisfactory. In fact, I’ll put my money where my mouth is and say the results were downright awesome. It is more accurate than my current mouse, the Steel Series Ikari Optical and maybe even the Razer Deathadder.

Scripts and Macros
I rarely use mouse keys for anything other than game specific mouse binds, but I ran the Sentinel Advance through some scripts and programmed all five profiles (the four programmable and the default Storm profile) to different settings and the mouse worked as good as the scripts were. The biggest advantage of the mouse is that the scripts are loaded on to the inbuilt 64Kb ASIC chip, so you can take the mouse to a LAN, connect it to a different computer and it will not need any software or driver to load up the scripts(mind you I am not promoting script or hacks but only the feature of the mouse).

Pricing and Conclusion

Price

Cooler Master Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse will be selling for Rs. 5,000 (US 54$ from Amazon) in stores which is one hell of a deal considering all of the features this mouse has, grab one of these fast before they are all sold out.

Verdict

In my tests it performed beyond my expectations and better than just about every other gaming mouse I have ever tested. There are a plethora of features and a top-end resolution of 5600 dpi. The mouse tracks superbly and stops exactly where you want it to.

The CM Storm Sentinel Advance Laser Gaming Mouse has everything one would yearn for in a high end gaming mouse. It also has many things you would have never thought of. The Sentinel Advance has 8 programmable buttons, which is plenty for almost any gamer’s needs. It also boasts a complex GUI that takes the control of the mouse to the next level. The color schemes on the Sentinel Advance are just down right amazing, and with the weights in the bottom, one can customize it pretty much any way they like. CM has paid attention to every detail of the mouse and it does show.

We nerds are the lazy type, so here goes the Pros and Cons of the mouse for those who have more important work than reading 6 pages of a boring review.

Pros :

• Fully programmable 8 buttons
• 64KB Onboard memory for driver-less working
• Multiple profiles which can be changed through software or mouse button
• Comfortable design for long gaming hours or daily usage
• Can switch between 6 colors
• Adjustable weights
• Braided cord for longer life.
• Extensive software to configure/load scripts and macros.

Cons :

• No pouch to keep removable weights.

And thats the only problem that I can think about it, I guess that says a lot about how we felt about the mouse. So were the 2 Years spent on research and development of the mouse well spent?? Hell Yeah, they were and CM sure do have a winner in hand. Overall Cooler Master Sentinel Advance Gaming mouse gets a big thumbs up from us and a full 5 on 5.

Thanks to Mr. Avinash from Cooler Master and Mr. Saini from SMC International for providing the review sample.