Intel P4 Aircooling - Heatsink Roundup Q1 2005

Cooling/CPU Cooling by jmke @ 2005-03-01

In part two of our roundup we compare 11 different P4 heatsinks made by Thermalright, Spire, Primecooler, Zalman, Evercool, Vantec and Titan. Using different fans at low and high speed we try to find the best bang for the buck, best performer and most silent HSF combo out there.

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Titan Siberia

Titan Siberia P4 S478:
Supplied by: Titan

Increasing effectiveness of a cooler can be achieved in 2 ways, either increasing the complexity of the heatsink (by use of copper and heatpipes) or by increasing the fan size and speed. The Titan Siberia features a massive 120mm fan with quite a genius mounting method, the heatsink however remains quite small, made out of aluminum with a copper insert it'll be interesting to see how it performs.

Specifications :

This heatsink can be installed on:

Madshrimps (c)


Other versions are available for Socket 462 and Socket 754/939/940, and a S775 one coming soon.

* Small aluminum heatsink with round copper insert
* 120mm fan support (fan included: 1400-2900rpm @ 27-45dBA)
* FAN controller included (can be mounted in 3.5" bay or spare PCI slot)

Full specifications at product's webpage.

In the Box

Inside you'll find mounting material for the P4 S478, a small tube of thermal compound and a fan controller which can be mounted in a free 3.5" bay or at the back of the PC by using the PCI slot cover. There is no paper manual included; the installation process is explained at the backside of the box on a piece of cardboard.

Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)



Construction :

The small aluminum heatsink with a round copper insert looks very plain, not much different from a standard Intel retail HSF, the base of the heatsink is smooth, with visible traces of machine lapping.

The fan cage can be mounted on top facing different direction, only a small section of the 120mm is actually covering the heatsink, the rest will blow cool air onto the motherboard.

Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)
Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)


Installation :

The Siberia uses the Intel retention bracket making installation a snap, 2 small clips keep the heatsink in its place; the large 120mm fan cage is clamped against the base of the heatsink by a genius system, it's very easy to work with.


Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)


As an additional test I swapped out the 120mm fan with a smaller 80mm Delta

Performance and Noise :

For comparison I've added the Thermalright XP-120 which also supports 120mm fans;

Madshrimps (c)


Surprisingly it seems that the Siberia performs better with a smaller (less noisy) 80mm fan, then with the stock 120mm fan. This fan makes quite some noise and pushes a lot of air, unfortunately however, turning down its speeds results in overheating of the CPU, passing the stable operating temperature of the CPU. The Papst 120mm pushes less air at High speed then the Siberia at Low speed, this results again in a system crash.

The selling advantage of the Siberia should come from the 120mm fan which can be positioned to hover over a part of the main board, thereby cooling the components beneath and prolonging the life span of the motherboard's capacitors (link), but with performance numbers which are not too comforting and a very high noise level it'll be hard to recommend the unit to any silence loving or high performance seeking user.
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