Sparkle just wants to be different!
Graphics card heatsinks can be pretty imaginative things at the best of times, and while the form factor for expansion cards hasn't changed radically in some years that doesn't mean there isn't room left for some innovation.
Sparkle, itself a manufacturer of NVIDIA-based cards, has taken the idea of a heatsink and applied their own custom tweaks to it; but none of them seem to be particularly worthwhile.
Designed as a slightly elongated peanut and named the Intelligent Dual Fly, heatpipes leave the copper base and curl into two distinct circles bristling with 0.2mm aluminium fins, each circle receiving their own fan (much like Thermaltake's DuOrb).
Where this heatsink sets itself apart is the motor that the two fans are attached to; that raises or lowers the fans according to temperatures across the heatsink, pointing airflow around automatically.
The silly thing about it is that a motor generates heat when running, adding to the graphic card's heat as well as drawing more power from the 4-pin molex.
While this design might cost a lot more to make, at least someone is still trying to make a new design out there - even if it doesn't make too much sense.
Head over to Fudzilla to read some more on the Intelligent Dual Fly, post below with your musings on this odd design.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012