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PHO



3DfxCool Pentium High Output (PHO)

The 3DfxCool PHO overall unit is 2" tall and believe me, it is MASSIVE. This is the biggest fan/heatsink for Socket 7 CPUs that is available today (along with the GlobalWin 25601-16, which is an identical unit). The fan is a large 60mm item featuring a dual ball bearing motor. The aluminum heatsink is simply expansive and has a Thermal Resistance of 0.5° c/w. It is a bit more expensive than the GlobalWin unit, but has a lifetime guarantee against noise or any problems for that matter. Also, if you have a motherboard with a "Smart Fan" three wire connector such as an Asus TX97 then you can get the PHO with this option - it is $8 more.

Size/Practicality 50%
Efficiency 95%
Noise 50%
Ease of Install/Removal 50%
Price 85%

Size/Practicality: The PHO is a MONSTER (it's dimensions are 60 x 60 x 49 mm [LWH])! To even get it into my mid-tower case, I had to saw off a piece of my internal hard disk bracket. Make sure you have plenty of room in your case before installing this thing. Also, if there are any objects, such as capacitors, directly around the Socket-7, this unit may touch them, or simply not fit in.

Efficiency: As you can see by the test results, the 3DfxCool PHO (along with the GlobalWin 25602-16 - which is an identical unit) is pretty much the best heatsink/fan cooling unit available today for Socket-7 CPUs. It'll easily cool any overclocked Pentium (MMX), 6x86MX, or AMD K6.

Noise: With the high performance of this cooling unit comes a lot of noise. If you already have a few chassis fans inside your case, and you want the coolest possible computer, go ahead and get this. However, if you like to use your computer without using ear-plugs, try something else (okay, maybe it's not that loud, but it's definitely the loudest of the bunch. It's not too annoying once you get used to it).

Ease of Install/Removal: Because of the size of this unit, installation may be somewhat of a hassel. One of the capacitors on my ASUS TX97-E was getting in the way a bit, however, I finally managed to get the unit on. Also, as I've written above, to get this thing into my case, I had to saw off a bit of it. Getting it off is another hard task - with my thick (thicker than the Pentium, or Pentium MMX) 6x86 P166+, I had quite a hard time getting this thing off, and nearly broke off that capacitor I was talking about.

Price: This unit costs $26 + $2.50 shipping and handling, from 3DfxCool. It is slightly more expensive than the GlobalWin 25602-16, but comes with a lifetime guarantee against noise, or any problems for that matter. This unit is definitely worth the money, in terms of performance. My opinion: if you are a serious overclocker, and prefer the extra guarantee with this unit, get this. If you're anything else, go for something a bit less extreme.

OVERALL SCORE: 85%

Places to Buy: 3DfxCool - http://www.3dfxcool.com/


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