Socket-A Cooler Roundup: September 2001
by Tillmann Steinbrecher on September 7, 2001 3:19 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Thermosonic/Thermal Integration Thermoengine
We already reviewed the "Thermoengine" in our last roundup, where it showed
remarkable performance - in part due to the heat pipe inside the core. However,
a while after the roundup was published, we were informed that the final production
version would simply have a solid aluminum core, without the heat pipe. So
the version supplied to reviewers was different than the one that would actually
hit the shelves. This is a practice we don't like, and we procured ourselves
another "Thermoengine" - this time not from the manufacturer itself, but from
a normal retailer.
The photo showes the Thermoengine with a 60x10mm fan, for testing we used a Delta 7000rpm fan
This photo shows you how to distinguish the newer "solid core" Thermoengine
(left) from the older "heat pipe" version (right).
You will have to uninstall the fan in order to see the difference.
Installation and clip
The Thermoengine comes with a clip that uses just two of the six cleats on the
socket. However, since the cooler is rather light, this isn't a problem. A thermal
pad is preinstalled on the cooler, which we removed for testing.
Performance and noise, conclusion
In our particular test setup, the new Thermoengine without heat pipe proved
to be slightly less efficient than the preproduction version. We would
like to emphasize that this applies only to our particular test setup. The trouble
with "heat pipes" is that they can only transport a certain amount of heat,
and once the heat pipe is "maxed out", it will conduct heat only very poorly.
Also, the heat pipe's performance might depend on the mounting (horizontal or
vertical). So, under other circumstances (e.g. when using a high-powered CPU,
like an Athlon overclocked to 1.6GHz), the new Thermoengine might perform better
than the old version with heat pipe. So, all in all it seems like a good decision
to drop the "heat pipe" design.
The new Thermoengine's performance is still quite amazing for an all-aluminum
heatsink; however by now more efficient coolers are available.
|
Thermosonic Thermoengine (solid core) |
|
Fan: 60x10mm; tested with Delta 60x25 7000rpm
Price: around $33 |
| Advantages |
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| Disadvantages |
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