Nathan Davis engages in some home cooking.
That's right, folks; this, apparently, does not need a fan. It supports the Intel Socket 478 platform by default, with the standard four-point retention mechanism. It can also be popped onto a K8 mobo, only it must use the same retention clip, so this requires the replacement of the standard plastic K8 heatsink retention bay. This process feels weird. Kinda like forced crossbreeding and as a bonus, it is a strange sideways implementation of the clip. Getting it on is a little annoying, but it's tight. Like a tiger.
Now, instead of continuing on with the thermal-dynamics lecture involving ‘how stupid it is to expect actively heated ions to magically go all chilly because if any heatsink is going to work at all without the aid of liquid nitrogen or helium, there needs to be air movement', we thought, ‘screw it'. So we let it perform the honours.
After smearing on a thin layer of thermal goop, we slapped the aluminium copper beast onto the Intel-equipped Chernobyl and dialled her up to the usual 80W in 25.5°C ambient. We're pretty damn sure we were close to witnessing the first ever heatsink to become an electron accelerator. We only let its ever increasingly time-space-separating-self up to 120°C, though. We thought it best to flick the poor tortured Chernobyl off before it scorched through the Lab's testing bench.
Even with a 120mm 35.2CFM fan blowing directly over it, this dropped to a still mighty unimpressive 73°C. Given this breeze was more direct than the pre-heated air movement from a couple of case fans, this temperature would rise in a case.
Plus, if the fins were bent up on a 45° angle, it has the potential to make an all-in-one cheese grater and melter.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012