Swiftech MCX775-V
Supplied by: Swiftech USA

Swiftech has long had a reputation as the heatsink manufacturer among overclockers. Sure, other companies challenge the designs and products of Swiftech, but very few can match or better them. I have enjoyed Swiftech products for many years and was looking forward to using their newest addition into socket 775 cooling with their MCX775-V. Using Swiftech's tried and true helicoil pin design and 1/2 inch copper base, the heatsink promises to repeat past successes in previous similar designs. The MCX775-V requires the addition of an 80mm fan, of the user's choice.



Installation requires the removal of the motherboard and 4 studs are placed in the holes surrounding the CPU socket. This is fairly straightforward and should not take too long to accomplish. Once the studs are in place, the heatsink can be screwed down with the nylon screws that are attached to the heatsink via the supplied Allen wrench. After the heatsink if firmly in place, the fan is then installed using the 4 plastic fan snaps. Big hands need not apply here as this is somewhat tedious work, but with time and patience is doable. I choose a Thermaltake variable speed 80mm fan to show varying performance with different fan speeds.




Evercool PT01A & HPC 925
Supplied by: Evercool

First is the Evercool PT01A

Similar to a stock Intel cooler in the basic aluminum/copper hybrid orb construction, this cooler is definitely "beefier", with a taller heatsink unit and a much larger fan unit. To improve the retention process Evercool uses a screw on retention system that should provide more consistent results. At first when I saw the fan, I was concerned about the noise level. While not a "quiet" heatsink/fan combo, I was surprised that even with full fan speeds, the noise was more than tolerable.



One very minor annoyance with this unit was after removal of the plastic base guard, was the residue left on the base of the heatsink. While I applaud Evercool for putting a protective layer on the base to prevent nicks and scratches from marring the base in shipping or distribution, this residue is a pain to get off. I was able to remove it with Artic Clean in short order, but I am concerned with other end users that may have apply a little more elbow grease than I did.



The second cooler Evercool sent is the HPC 925 and at first struck me as somewhat of a gimmick. I must confess, I was never a fan of the newer "tower" type coolers and this heatsink certainly seemed to be in the mold of "looks better than it performs". One thing I did like is the Heatsink is universal to most computing platforms covering Athlon XP, Pentium 4 socket 478 and 775, as well as Athlon 64. I have to hand it to Evercool to design a product that can accommodate so many different socket types.



Like the PT01A, the HPC 925 uses a retention bracket to screw the heatsink down onto the CPU and motherboard. The base of the unit as seen above is somewhat roughly machined, which may or may not impact performance, we shall see. One 92mm variable speed fan with control knob is supplied, there is accommodation for addition of 2nd fan on the opposite side should the user find this necessary.

One problem I did encounter during installation was I ended up getting the unit on backwards and had clearance issues with some capacitors on my motherboard. This was totally user error and once corrected everything fit fine. The unit overall was very light, so my question as to performance remained.