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The Volcano 9 is the latest offering from Thermaltake , the 80x80mm heatsink has a 45mm dia copper disk inserted into the base to improve thermal conductivity ( improve cooling ) and is fitted with a very serious 80mm fan capable of pumping some 75CFM of air through the heatsink at max RPM .( Cant wait for Thermaltake to make this cooler in %100 copper ) The Volcano 9 comes with a thermal sensor , as well a adjustable speed switch , which allows you to dial in any speed you desire between 1200rpm and 5400rpm ( well thats what I got on mine ) .

My xp1700 is doing 11x166fsb or 1.83ghz @ 1.75volts , and I will be running the Volcano 9 up against 2 of its Cousins , the Volcano 6CU and Volcano 7+ , and to heat up the cpu I will be running 3Dmark2001 for 30 minutes . Room temp is 19deg C and here are the results :

The Volcano 9 comes in right between the Volcano 6CU and Volcano 7+ , which is about what I expected , but for outright cooling power the Volcano 7+ is still the king of the hill over at Thermaltake .

FEATURES A PLENTY :

Thermaltake have again gone over and above the call of duty to bring us another fine product , first I love the thermal sensor , this looks like the same thermal sensor that's used on the hardcano's , slip this in where you want on your cpu and then plug it into the fan , and you have a temp controlled variable speed fan , working of the temp of the cpu rather than the internal case temp . Second , Thermaltake have given us a adjustable fan speed controller so that you can manually adjust the speed of the fan , dial in the speed you want , and live happily ever after . Or if you like just leave out the plug ins and run the fan at full speed or do what I did , and use the Thermaltake 3 speed switch which comes with the Volcano 7+ or purchased separately . In anyway , Thermaltake   have gone to great lengths to bring us a cooler that is all things to all people , and once again they have succeeded , Ok its not the best cooler on the planet for overclockers , but we overclockers are a minority group , and there must be 100 of thousands of people out there looking for a better mouse trap , to replace there stock cooler with  . The thermal sensor was unable to keep my cpu at a temp I like , doing around 45 to 47deg Celsius , which is around 10deg C more than the Volcano 7+ that I normally use these days , still for stock use the Thermaltake would make a seriously excellent choice for a prospective new purchaser . I honestly can't fault this cooler , everything worked just fine , its well made and the only thing I can say in the way of being negative about this cooler is that due to its dimensions it can be a little tricky to clip this cooler in place in tight spaces , well thats it for me racking this cooler over the coals , another fine product from Thermaltake , and one that I can recommend to anyone looking to replace there stock cooler . 10 out of 10 Thermaltake .

Matt Korhonen