Heatsink Roundup Q4 2005 Holiday Edition

Cooling/CPU Cooling by jmke @ 2005-12-24

We are proud to present you with our last heatsink roundup of 2005. Featuring the latest offerings from Arctic, Scythe, Silverstone, Sharkoon and newcomer Noctua. We compare them to the best out there in 3 different test setups.

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Pure Performance

Pure Performance

When you don’t care about how noisy your system gets, and you just want to know which heatsink will keep your CPU running as cool as possible, these charts are for you !




For easiness of reference I’ll include the test system full specs, and details on each test setup. I won’t comment much on these results as the numbers speak for themselves. Do take into account inaccuracies of 1-2°C (and that’s thinking positive) in these results due to mounting differences and overall accuracy of my test material.





Results Test Setup 1

  • Antec Sonata II + Silverstone Passive PSU
  • AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with Acousti Fan Gasket)
  • Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2400 – 1.7v vcore
  • nVidia TNT2 Passive cooled video card
  • Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 34dBA @ 50cm

    Madshrimps (c)
    In a low noise test setup, it’s no surprise that those heatsinks equipped with high speed fans take the lead.




    Results Test Setup 2

  • Antec Sonata II + Antec SmartBlue PSU
  • AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 7.5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with Acousti Fan Gasket)
  • Antec Sonata II’s 120mm fan in front @ 7v (mounted with Acousti Fan-Mounts)
  • Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2400 – 1.7v vcore
  • Chaintech FX5900XT with Arctic Cooling Silencer
  • Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 50dBA @ 50cm

    Madshrimps (c)
    Only a 5°C difference in the TOP 19 entrees!



    Results Test Setup 3

  • Antec Sonata II + Antec SmartBlue PSU
  • AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 7.5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with Acousti Fan Gasket)
  • Antec Sonata II’s 120mm fan in front @ 7v (mounted with Acousti Fan-Mounts)
  • Athlon 64 3200+ @ 2200 – 1.5v vcore
  • Chaintech FX5900XT with Arctic Cooling Silencer
  • Noise produced with system running without HSF fan: 50dBA @ 50cm

    Madshrimps (c)
    Only a 5°C difference in the TOP 25 entrees!



    Now let’s correlate CPU temperature to PWM temperature and noise production ->
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