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CPU Heatsink Roundup February 2006

Cooling/CPU Cooling by jmke @ 2006-02-23

In our first roundup of the year we compare 21 popular heatsinks from different manufactures. Heat pipes, Fan-less, Copper and Aluminum, close to 12kg of heatsink put through extensive tests and compared to the new AMD stock cooling.

Thermalright HR-01: Test S775

Test on Intel S775 / LGA775
Tested by Liquid3D: Sample supplied by Thermalright.

The Intel Socket 775 version of the HR-01 is shipped with the fan duct.

Liquid3D’s Intel Test System
CPU	Pentium 630 Retail (SL7Z9 3.0GHz 2MB L2 1.25V ~ 1.388Vcore) Socket-775
Mainboards	1.) Asus P5AD2-E Premium (BIOS 1005) 2.) Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe
Memory	Crucial Tracer Ballistix 5300 (2x512MB DC CL4-4-4-12)
Graphics	1.) AOpen Aeolus 7800GTX-DVD256
Power Supply	PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 850 SSI
Cooling	Intel Stock LGA-775 HSF Thermaltake Blue ORB II Alphacool NexXxos XP with Cora 642 passive radiator Thermalright HR-01
Case	Thermaltake Kandalf: - 1x120mm in-take front - 1x120mm exhaust back - 1x92mm exhaust back

The room temperature during test was 20°C , 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.

the system was stressed with S&M tool

The LGA775 version of the HR-01 has its mounting system integrated in the unit; installation is straight forward through the use of push pins, using the same method as the stock Intel cooling.

Madshrimps (c)

However, while the mounting system is perfect for the stock Intel cooling, with the HR-01 and its 500+gr weight it’s on the verge. While installing the plastic duct I had the pins pop out when trying to squeeze the duct between the rear 120mm fan and the HR-01. The leverage created by the height of the unit already causes some strain on the pins so being careful when installing the fan duct is advised.

The rear fan in the Thermaltake Kandalf is a blue LED fan: flashy result

Madshrimps (c)

Performance and Noise :

I tested the HR-01 in 3 ways :

Without the fan duct

With the fan duct and the rear fan blowing hot air out the case

With the fan duct and the rear fan drawing cool air in the case

This is the outcome:

Madshrimps (c)

In a well ventilated case the HR-01 proves to be an excellent performer when the fan duct is used. When the rear fan is flipped and set to draw in cool air the temperatures take another plunge. It’s also obvious that the HR-01 benefits enormously from the included fan duct, without it the performance is almost identical to the stock Intel cooling (but without the extra noise).

With the CPU running at default speed the HR-01 trails the passively cooled water cooling setup by 6°C, however when the heat is turned up the HR-01 is able to cope with the extra heat much better, closing in on the Alphacool kit.

Although I did recently obtain a dBA meter I’m waiting for it to be calibrated; however I can give you the details on the 120mm fans used inside the system. They are identical to the one supplied with the Thermaltake Big Typhoon, JMke tests this same fan on the next pages, he compared the fan to his Papst 120mm 4412 F/2GLL and found out they were evenly matched.

The Verdict:

Thermalright’s first tower heatsink showed excellent performance on the Socket 775 Intel setup, the fan duct really helps to boost its performance. The Athlon 64 version has some drawbacks due to its mounting system not allowing the unit to be rotated to face the correction direction which hurts its performance, the Athlon 64 version sadly doesn’t ship with the fan duct. Neither version has support for a fan to be mounted, something which could have been added easily if they wanted to.

While the HR-01 does deliver passive CPU cooling, in terms of not having to strap a fan to the unit to make it work, it does depend heavily on case airflow to cool your CPU. Good case cooling means that you need fans present, which are all small noise makers, so having a silent system with the HR-01 means you might need to think about ghetto style ducting to get the most out of this product.

PRO
Excellent performance with fan duct
High compatibility
Can be rotated freely on Intel S775.
Easy Clip-On Installation (both A64 and Intel version)
Competitive pricing

CON
Depends heavily on case airflow
Installation of fan duct on Intel S775 can be tricky
Can not be rotated freely on Athlon 64 which hurts performance with some motherboard/case combo's

Where to buy?

Update - new bracket for free 90°C angle:

You’ve heard of HR-01, but with most AMD motherboards, there exists a problem…the way the AMD socket is positioned and oriented, the HR-01–K8 couldn’t be turned to face the 12cm exhaust fan in order to work with the fan duct that we developed. Hence, the solution…S-type HS clip. Now you can rotate the HR-01 90 degrees to face the rear fan and connect the fan duct for maximum performance and true silence! The way HR-01 is meant to work!! Passively and quietly with performance level that no other heatsinks can match! And that includes active cooling heatsinks, too!

Next up is Thermaltake’s high end heatsink, the Big Typhoon ->

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