Swiftech MCX478-V:

This Swiftech has been around for some time now and has been regarded upon for its fine balance between noise and performance.

Specifications:

This heatsink can be installed on:



* Big copper base, alu fins soldered in, flower design
* 80 and 92mm fan support
* 620gr without fan


Construction:



A very thick copper base with a perfect base finish, the small helicoid pins point outwards in a flower pattern. Workmanship on this heatsink is excellent.

Installation:



2 Clips secure this heatsink in the Intel retention bracket, you have to apply quite some pressure to hear them go “click”, you have to watch out not to bend any of the helicoid pins in the process as the one of the side tend to break of easily. Overall thumbs up for this tool less installation method.

Problems and issues:

I encountered no issues with the Swiftech MCX-478 whatsoever!

Performance:



Swiftech recommends the use of an 80mm fan on this heatsink for performance as the 92mm sized fan has to cope with a larger dead spot in the middle. This can be witnessed as the Ultra Loud 92mm Papst is only able to keep up with the smaller 80mm at High speed. When setting the 80mm to “low” not enough fresh air passes to the pins to keep the CPU from passing critical temperature. The normal 92mm Papst is fairly quiet, even at 12V, with this fan the MCX478-V is able to keep the temperature below 60°C and provide a more ear-friendly HSF combo.