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Review Date: March 26, 2003
Reviewed by: Roman Robinson
Sponsored by: Case-Mod
Since the start of overclocking, CPU's have produced more heat then they were originally designed to. The problem with most good overclocks is keeping the heat manageable, which is a requirement for a stable and high overclock. So to battle the heat we bring in the third party heatsinks - the non-stock heatsinks, such as ThermalRight, that can handle the added heat with ease. The large and efficient heatsinks from ThermalRight, when matched with a powerful fan, can easily take as much heat as your AMD or Intel CPU can push at them.
Today, we review ThermalRight's latest and greatest, the SLK-900-U. This heatsink sure sounds impressive on paper, but can it play in the same ballpark as a hot, overclocked, AMD Athlon XP Palomino? We will see.
First Impression
The SLK-900-U comes in a plain box with the word 'ThermalRight, Inc.' across the top, and a chart of what cooler might be in the box on the side. Upon opening the box, we find all the 'goodies' that ThermalRight has once again has packed along with their heatsink. The SLK-900-U comes with 3 pairs of fan brackets for fans of different sizes, mounting brackets for a P4 socket, the back plate for use with the motherboard mounts, assorted screws for use with mounting (Both for the P4 adaptors and the required screws and springs for proper tension with the back plate), and some thermal paste.
The heatsink is quite impressive and larger then I expected it to be. This heatsink is for sure the heaviest one I have mounted in any of my systems, and is definitely near the top of the list for large heatsinks. The top of the heatsink has four 'layers' for different sizes of fans - up to a 92mm fan, which is stock from ThermalRight. The ends of the heatsink taper up from the base, to move heat away from the core of your CPU. The screw mounts are on the sides of the heatsink, which makes it a little bit confusing to mount on an AMD board because the under side of the heatsink isn't quite like most AMD heatsinks. There are 34 very thin copper fins on the heatsink. These fins are designed for the best heat transfer possible, and also look really cool when sitting on the motherboard with an 80mm fan on it, because you can see the fins on the ends of the heatsink.
Mounting
The bottom of the SLK-900-U is a bit different then most AMD Socket A heatsinks, because it is designed for both Socket A and Socket 478. This heatsink has most of the bottom area raised (Not touching the core) and just a strip in the center (About the width of a P4-478, I'm guessing) is lower then the rest and is the part that makes direct contact with the core of your processor. Socket A users will notice that the 'stripe' that makes contact with the CPU core is, in fact, not in the normal direction. Most CPU coolers for Socket A make contact with both the core and the side of the ZIF socket, while this cooler just makes contact with the core. The reason being is that this is a dual-socket cooler, while the majority of other coolers are just for one socket, and not for both platforms.
The mounting of the cooler takes more effort then most Socket A heatsinks, because you have to remove the motherboard to install the back plate. The installation is quite simple once you have done it once, but the first time is stressful, especially if it is your first time installing a heatsink that uses the mount holes. The installation of the back plate is quite straight forward: You set the motherboard on top of the back plate, with the thin plastic sheet in between to prevent shorting out. Next, you prepare the bolts that hold the back plate to the motherboard, and allow the heatsink to mount via the holes in the top of them. To prepare them, you simply put the plastic washers on the top and bottom of the short copper bolts. These are to protect the PCB of your motherboard from scratching and possible shorting. To actually mount the heatsink, you apply a small amount of thermal grease (About a 2mm blob) on the center of your CPU die, then carefully place the heatsink across the CPU die, and put the four retention bolts in. The bolts and spring are placed in this order: bottom (metal) washer, spring, top washer, and on top, the nut. The tension that should be applied is not really able to be measured, but rather just slowly tighten the nuts down (slowly, and evenly!) until you feel it's tightened enough - a few words of advice, go slow!
Cooling Power / Testing
The SLK-900-U lived up to all my standards, and exceeded my expectations. The temperatures were better then anything else I have ran on my XP1800 lately, from a Volcano 7 and a Volcano 9 to a ThermalRight AX-7, all running the same fans. This heatsink has allowed me to utilize my new FIC AU11 nForce2 motherboard by allowing my XP1800-AGIOA to run at 166FSB.
I tested this heatsink with two fans, the Vantec Tornado 80mm and the ThermalTake Smart Fan II. The Tornado was ran at full speed - which is about 5600RPM's - and the Smart Fan II was ran at low and high - about 1600RPM and 4500RPM, respectably. I ran the XP1800 at 1.533GHz and 1.75CoreV (Both stock speeds and voltages) and at 1.803GHz with 1.95CoreV. Since when I tested this heatsink, I have gotten the overclock at a better ratio by unlocking my CPU and fixing the voltages a bit more :-)
Specs for the ThermalRight SLK-900-U (From ThermalRight's WebSite):
Dimension:L99 x W59 x H45 (mm) Top, without fanL67 x W81 x H45 (mm) Bottom, without fanWeight:570g (heat sink only; for AMD)587g (heat sink only; for Intel)Specs for the ThermalTake Smart Fan II (From ThermalTake's WebSite):
SPECIFICATION |
|
| P/N |
A1357 |
Fan Dimension |
80x80x25 mm |
Rated Voltage |
12VDC |
Started Voltage |
6VDC |
Rated Current |
0.20AMP ~ 0.70AMP |
Power Input |
2.40W ~ 8.40W |
FAN Speed Control Setting: |
|
1300 rpm at 20°C~ |
|
4800 rpm at 55°C |
|
Max. Air Flow |
20.55 CFM at 1300rpm |
| |
75.7 CFM at 4800rpm |
Air Pressure |
1.45mm H2O at 1300rpm |
| 8.43mm H2O at 4800rpm | |
Noise |
17 dB at 1300 rpm |
| 48 dB at 4800 rpm | |
Bearing Type |
Two Ball Bearing |
Life Time |
50,000 hours |
Connector |
3 PIN |
Specs for the Vantec 80mm Tornado case fan (From Vantec's WebSite):
Specifications |
|
| Model No. | TD8038H |
| Dimension | 80X80X38 mm |
| Weight | 175 g |
| Rated Voltage | 12V |
| Rated Power | 9.1 W |
| Rated Current | 0.76 Amp |
| Fan Speed | 5700 RPM |
| Air Flow | 84.1 CFM |
| Noise | 55.2 dB(A) |
| Bearing System | Double Ball Bearing |
Here's a short table of the temperatures, including my extra overclocking and voltages:
(Click for full sized)
Conclusion:
The SLK-900-U outperformed any other heatsink I have used in my system, including the ThermalRight AX-7. With a quiet fan - such as the Smart Fan II at 1600RPM - SLK-900-U can perform quite well with out much noise, but has a major downside of not being able to handle high overclocks due to the low cooling power of the 1600RPM fan. With either the Tornado on full (No volt mod) or the Smart Fan II on full blast, you will be able to get exceptional overclocks. I fully recommend this heatsink to anyone who wishes to overclock their computer - be it an AMD or Intel system; this can do both - without going to the extent of using watercooling. This is an exceptionally Extreme heatsink, and I am proud to give it a 5 out of 5 rating.
For more info, go here.
To discuss this review, go here.
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