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AMD and Intel Heatsink Roundup 2006

We compare a whole bunch of CPU coolers which fit on AMD/Intel latest platforms and compare them on two hot running systems; which one will keep your CPU the coolest, how quiet can it get? Find out in this last HSF roundup of 2006.

Author	jmke
Editor	jmke
Date	2006-12-04
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Introduction

Today we present you all the heatsink results we gathered in the last year, tested on our Athlon 64 setup, the complete list consists of 36 units which were compared to each other and the stock aluminum AMD heatsink.

Second part of the roundup consists of inaugurating our new Intel S775 test setup, we do this by re-testing the acclaimed Scythe Ninja and compare it to 6 newcomers.

37 Heatsinks Compared

These were the heatsinks tested on the Athlon 64 setup:

Madshrimps (c)

For those having trouble identifying the collection of copper/aluminum above we made this list, if you want more information about a particular heatsink please visit our HSF Overview.

AMD Stock Cooling

AMD 4 Heat pipe Stock cooling

Aerocool Dominator

Arctic Cooling Alpine 64

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro

Asus Silent Square

Asus X-Mars

Coolermaster Susurro

MACS Triumph TEC

Noctua NH-U 12

Noctua NH-U 9

Sharkoon Red Shock

Silverstone NT02

Silverstone NT06

Scythe Infinity

Scythe Katana CU

Scythe Mine

Scythe NCU-2000

Scythe Ninja

Scythe Samurai Z

Scythe Shogun

Spire DiamondCool II

Spire VertiCool II

Thermalright XP-90C

Thermalright XP-90

Thermalright XP-120

Thermalright HR-01

Thermalright SI-120

Thermalright Ultra-90

Thermalright Ultra-120

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Thermaltake Mini Typhoon

Titan Tower TTC-NK32TZ

TTIC NPH

Tuniq Tower 120

Zalman CNPS9500CU

AMD Test Setup and Methodology

All heatsinks except one (MACS TEC) were tested with the case in the exact same environment, with ambient noise levels consistent. The MACS noise level was tested with higher ambient and at a different angle/distance. It can not be directly compared to the other results, and thus its noise levels will be left out the comparison chart on the next page.

Athlon 64 Setup
CPU	Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2400 @ 1.7v vcore
Mainboard	DFI NF3 Lanparty
Memory	1 * 256Mb PC3700 OCZ
Other	Antec Sonata II AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with soft-mounts) ATI R9000 Passive Cooling Silverstone EFN-300 300W Passive Cooled PSU Maxtor 120GB IDE HDD

in-take temperature was measured at 22°C for all tests, but temp fluctuations, different mounting and user error can account up to 1-3°C of inaccuracy in the obtained results. Please keep this in mind when looking at the results. Each heatsink was tested repeatedly; if we got questionable results the test was restarted.

Noise level of each HSF combo was recorded with SmartSensor SL4001A, the sensor was placed ~50cm away from the case. The lowest dBA reading in the test room was 32.5dBA with everything turned off! Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 34dBA @ 50cm

System was stressed by running K7 CPU Burn for 30min (after Thermal Compound's burn-in); this application pushes the temperature higher then any other application or game we've yet encountered. Speedfan was used to log maximum obtained temperatures.

Arctic Silver kindly send us their ?Lumière? thermal testing compound which has the same colour as Ceramique, but only a break in time of 30min!

Arctic Silver's ArctiClean was used to clean off thermal paste of the CPU and heatsink between tests

Fans used for comparison

To eliminate as much variables in the tests we test each heatsink with a "reference" fan if it can be mounted.

Delta NFB0912L 92mm: 42CFM

Papst 120mm 4412 F/2GLL: 40CFM

CPU Speed and Noise Measurement

Since we’re only using an Athlon 3200+, it would be interesting to overclock the CPU so its maximum heat output increases and it can simulate a higher clocked Athlon 64.

We recently purchased a power meter similar to this. Doing a few basic measurements with the test system gave these results for full system wattage usage.

Athlon S754 3200+ @ 2200Mhz - 1.5v: idle: 67Watt / Load: 125Watt

Athlon S754 3200+ @ 2420Mhz - 1.7v: idle: 78Watt / Load: 165Watt

In the days of the Athlon XP an increase of 0.1v vcore would result in 4-6°C higher CPU temp, so without much surprise the temperature results in this roundup with the 1.7v Athlon 64 will be much higher.

Noise was recorded approx. 50cm away from the case at an angle, here's a (very bad) drawing of how the dBA meter was position opposite the case and the test-room.

Madshrimps (c)

Green box = Sonata II # White Dot = dBA meter

What was measured?

The CPU temperature was measured with SpeedFan and highest value recorded

PWM temperature through SpeedFan, this represent the area around the CPU socket, the power management caps which you see on a motherboard, they are there to make sure the power which is fed into the motherboard coming from the PSU is filtered and delivered the CPU and other components. Too high temperature will cause Vcore fluctuations which in turn causes system instability.

Onto the test results for the Athlon 64 Setup ->

| Next ->>

More reviews in this category can be found below:

All Heatsink Tests Done By Madshrimps In One Place
CPU Cooler Roundup - 23 Heatsinks for Intel/AMD Reviewed
Thermalright Ultra Extreme 1366 CPU Cooler Preview
Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler Review
Auras TwinW SMF660 Intel CPU Cooler Review
Scythe Zipang 140mm CPU Cooler Review
OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler Review
Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU Cooler Review
Passive CPU Coolers ShoutOut: CM Z600 vs Scythe Ninja CU
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and Red Scorpion CPU Coolers Review

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