Recommended Heatsinks

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Update History
June 24, 2008	Zerotherm Zen and Noctua NH-C12P added. Zalman Reserator1 removed.
June 9, 2008	Thermalright HR-01 Plus, four Xigmatek models, and Scythe Zipang added.
March 22, 2008	Ninja demoted one point.
Jan 16, 2008	Long overdue update, many additions and retirements. New ones on the lists in light blue/violet.
Aug 21, 2006	A handful of new coolers added.
Jan 29, 2006	First update in a year, much needed, many changes.
Jan 23, 2005	Added several new models.
Sept 22, 2004	Added Thermalright XP-120, Scythe NCU-2000
Aug 25, 2004	Complete overhaul of recommended HS tables, many new models added, some retired. Ranking system changed to make use of full 1-10 range.
Aug 7, 2003	Zalman 7000 Cu/AlCu, Scythe Kamakaze & Arctic Cooling SS 4 Pro TC added. All coolers for current CPU combined into one table -- too many multi-platform models made for much repetition.
June 17, 2003	Arctic Cooling SS Pro TC added; Swiftech MCX models downgraded - recent testing shows very good performance with high (read: noisy) airflow but mediocre cooling with low airflow. There are better choices for less money for quiet cooling. Rankings reshuffled a bit based on recent work.
Feb 24, 2003	Thermalright SLK-900U and Zalman ZM80A added
Dec 3, 2002	Zalman 6500al-cu and Thermalright AX478 added; other changes to P4 list based on P4 HS roundup.
Oct 29, 2002	Changes to Socket-A list based on Socket-A HS roundup
July 17, 2002	First published.

CPU heatsinks are usually packaged and marketed with a fan, which explains the rise of the moniker HSF, heatsink fan. Most hardware web sites test the HSF as an integrated unit. For SPCR, this is not an ideal way to do things, mainly because almost all fans supplied with HS are too loud. If we had to test and use them in stock form, we would recommend less than 1% of all the HSF on the market.

Our approach to apprasiing heatsinks is summarized below. For full details, please read the article about SPCR's Heatsink Testing Methodology. For full HSF reviews, please check in the Cooling section.

We consider the heatsink and mounting system together as a unit. The heatsink's intrinsic cooling power is determined mainly by its radiating surface area, the heat transfer coefficient of its materials, the spacing and number of fins, the geometry, the smoothness and flatness of the CPU contact surface, and overall mass. The mounting system is mentioned because it is critical in maintaining the all-important contact between CPU and heatsink. The amount of pressure brought to bear on the interface also affects cooling. Some clips are poor; others are integrated wonderfully into the heatsink. Increasingly, the overall mass is becoming important as HS get bigger, taller and heavier: The cantilever effect in any tower case can put tremendous stress on the vertically mounted motherboard.

We assess the cooling power of the heatsink with a quiet reference fan at 5, 7 and 12V. There are three reference fans, an 80x25mm, a 92x25mm and a 120x25mm. Occasionally we also try 9V. By testing the heatsinks this way, we remove the advantage of powerful noisy fans, which represents the common cheap, brute-force method of cooling. (The reviews also show results with the stock fan at normal voltage.) There are exceptions with units that are designed with the specific fan as part and parcel of the package, sometimes built right into the HS.

Our rankings represent the cooling performance of the listed heatsinks in quiet, low airflow mode. You'll note there is no noise rating. That's because the noise is totally dependent on the fan chosen and the voltage applied to the fan. See the explanation for Q in the guide to the list below for more information. A list of Recommended Fans is also maintained and updated periodically.

Note that a HSF represents only one component of effective CPU cooling. The influences on CPU temperature include the overall heat generated in the case, case ventilation airflow, ambient temperature, software applications, and the overall way in which the system is used. The temperature rise above ambient, which tells us how many degrees above the ambient temperature the CPU is allowed to rise by the particular heatsink, is a specification that tries to elminate these other influences.

Finally, heatsinks come and go faster than just about any peripheral PC product. We don't expect to keep up with everything available. Remember, we're only interested in well-designed heatsinks that cool well with low noise.

CAVEAT: Ranking heatsinks for noise and cooling performance together accurately is very difficult. We've done our best based on all the available evidence, but because heatsink performance is affected by other components and factors, your results will vary and may differ.

GUIDE TO THE LISTS

Current recommended CPU heatsinks are listed in the table below. On the next page are heatsinks for older slot-CPUs, VGA Cards and Chipsets, and Retired models.

Entries in this color are new, added June 9, 2008

Make / Model: Manufacturer and model number

Q: Simply stands for quality, with 10 at the top and 1 at the bottom. It is our assessment of the heatsink's overall design, cooling performance and build quality.

• A perfect 10 is reserved for, well, perfection. We don't believe it can be achieved.
• A rank of 1 is good enough fanless for VIA C3 in a reasonably well ventilated case. A rank number followed by a ? indicates we have not fully verified the assessment.
• The + sign is used where a product has a slight edge over others in the same numeric rank.
• With a heatsink rated at 6 or better, you can cool any current CPU even dramatically overclocked if you use a powerful enough (and noisy) fan or adequately cool most current CPUs with minimum fan noise.
• What we are rating is the intrinsic cooling power of the HS. How you choose to use that cooling power is up to you.

CPU: The CPU socket the HS is designed for

A	AMD socket A for Duron, K7, XP and MP
AM2	Latest AMD A64 desktop socket replaces 754, 939
K8	AMD K8 for Athlon 64, Opteron (socket 754, 940, 939 )
370	Intel socket 370 for P3, Celeron and VIA C3
775	Intel socket 775 for P4, Pentium D, Core 2
478	Intel P4 and new Celeron - 478 pins
423	Intel P4 original - 423 pins
S-1	Slot 1 for P2, P3 and Celerons
S-A	Slot A for early AMD K7

Comments: The Q rating is incomplete without these comments. The date of the entry or update is given at the end of the comment.

$: Average market price found on PriceWatch at time of entry or update, or if not widely available, the manufacturer's suggested price, in US $. MSP is marked with an asterisk (*) following the price. Shipping and taxes are not included. DO NOT COUNT ON THE PRICE CITED HERE! It is simpossible to keep this up to date without automating the updates, which at this time is not really feasible or desirable.

Source: Source of the information upon which our opinion is based, in order of reliability

Reviewed: Link to SPCR review.

F: First-hand knowledge gleaned by Silent PC Review staff.

R: Recommended by respected contributors and other associates.

O: Other manufacturer's info and reviews of other web sites

WARNING about VRM COOLING Motherboard makers generally assume a certain level of "spillover" airflow from the heatsink fan across the voltage regulator module (VRM) components that are placed around the CPU socket. These components include capacitors, power transistors and inductors (coils). When the CPU fan speed is reduced to minimal levels in order to achieve low noise, cooling for the CPU may be perfectly adequate with a good heatsink, but the VRM components may be prone to overheating, which can impair electrical efficiency and reduce component life. Tall tower (or high rise) heatsinks with fans that blow air parallel to the motherboard rather than down at it are more likely to cause VRM component cooling problems — even when the fan is not run at minimal speed, bcause the airflow is sometimes blocked by the fins from reaching the sufrace of the motherboard. When the fans on such heatsinks are slowed to minimum speed, VRM cooling can suffer quite a bit. Users should be aware of this potential issue and ensure some additional airflow from at least one case exhaust fan in most systems. The quality, efficiency and intrinsic cooling of VRMs varies substantially from motherboard to motherboard, however.

CPU HEATSINKS, REVIEWED
Make / Model	Q	CPU	Comments	$	Source
Thermalright HR-01 Plus	9	AM2, 775	Updated version of HR-01 with six heatpipes instead of four, and 120mm fan clips works exceptionally well with very low airflow. Not super heavy, same mounting mechanism as U120. HR-01X variant with different hardware allows free rotation of mounting position on AM2 for correct fan position. June/08.	50~55	Reviewed
Xigmatek HDT-S1283	9	AM2, 775	A tower configuration, 3 U-shaped heatpipes, a 120mm fan and "direct touch heatpipes" in the base combine for exceptional performance in this modestly priced heatsink. The stock 4-pin PWM fan is decent at minimum speed; replace it with a super-quiet one for great low airflow performance. June/08.	35~40	Reviewed
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme	9	AM2, 775	Bigger version of U-120 with six heatpipes instead of four, the U120E beats all other HS tested thus far. Any 120mm fan works. Same mounting mechanism as U120. Jan/08.	55~65	Reviewed
Thermalright Ultra-120	8.5	K8, 775	Huge tower heatpipe heatsink just edges the Ninja for cooling.Works great with a Nexus 120 fan. Heavy, cannot be rotated 90 degrees on K8 socket. Check on AM2 clip. Aug/06	45~50	Reviewed
Apack ZeroTherm Zen FZ120	8.5	AM2, 775	Another huge tower heatpipe heatsink. Secure and easy to use spring-loaded bolt mounting system for 775; can rotate for fan airflow directionality on AMD boards. Excellent performance. Fan noisy at full speed but quiet when slowed. June/08.	40~50	Reviewed
Noctua NH-C12P	8.0	AM2, 775	Carefully designed and manufactured top-down cooler with unusual features. All joints soldered for maximum heat transfer throughout, excellent spring-loaded bolt-through mounting. Unusual fan has high turbulence noise at 12V, but when used with supplied speed reduction adapters, works silently. High price might be the only quibble. June/08.	~65	Reviewed
Scythe Mugen (Infinity)	7.5	478, K8, AM2, 775	Huge tower heatpipe heatsink with both tightly and loosely spaced fins, one of the biggest in the enthusiast PC cooling market today. The stock fan is pretty quiet, the performance is better higher airflow than lower. Decent mounting clips. Jan/08.	45~50	Reviewed
Scythe Andy Samurai Master	7.5	478, K8, AM2, 775	A gigantic blow-down heatsink that performs well with its stock 120mm fan, althought it more optimized for best cooling with high airflow (noisier) rather than lower airflow (quieter) fans. Jan/08.	~35	Reviewed
Scythe Zipang	7.5	AM2, 775	Huge, fairly light, blow-down, asymmetrical design uses 6 loop-around heatpipes and a super quiet 140mm fan for very quiet, excellent performance. A bit more airflow would have been useful. Jan/08.	45~55	Reviewed
Asus Triton 75	7.5	AM2, 775	This fairly light, blow-down, Thermalright-derivative lookalike offers excellent performance with any 120mm fan of your choice. Socket 775 mounting is not fun but it works. Excellent pricing. Jan/08.	~35	Reviewed
Thermalright SI-128	7.5	AM2, 775	Large area of aluminum fins only connected via four heatpipes to a minimalist base. It's bigger than the earlier XP120 but easier to mount. The latest version (not reviewed) uses bolt-through mounting for both 775 and AM2. A very good performer. Jan/08.	~45	Reviewed
Xigmatek HDT-D1284	7.5	AM2, 775	Fairly light, blow-down 120mm fan design with four heatpipes offers good performance about on par with Asus Triton 75. PWM fan is noisier than it has to be except at min speed. June/08.	40~45	Reviewed
Xigmatek HDT-S964	7.5	AM2, 775	A tower configuration, 3 U-shaped heatpipes, and "direct touch heatpipes" in the base combine for excellent performance in this modestly priced heatsink. The stock 4-pin PWM fan is OK at minimum speed; replace it with a super-quiet one for great low airflow performance. June/08.	~33	Reviewed
Scythe Ninja Mini	7.5	478, K8, AM2, 775	A shorter version of the Ninja, designed to fit in lower profile cases such as the Antec NSK2480/Fusion, in which it can run fanless with most systems due to close proximity of case fans. More even spacing of heatpipes than the original helps performance, which is excellent for the size. Stock 80x25mm fan is pretty quiet. We don't like the 775 mounting hardware much but it works. Jan/08.	~35	Reviewed
Thermalright XP-120	7.5	478, K8, 775	Large area of aluminum fins profiled to clear motherboard components, nickel-plated copper base and five heatpipes for a very light (370g) HS designed for a 120mm fan. With the right quiet 120mm fan, it's both super quiet and cools incredibly well. Sept 22/04	40~45	Reviewed
Scythe Ninja+ Rev B	7.5?	K8, 775	Big tower heatpipe heatsink with loosely spaced fins was once tops on our list, but tests with latest 775 push-pin equipped Plus Rev. B forces a markdown. See discussion in Ninja Copper Review. March 22/08.	~40	Reviewed
Zalman CNPS-9500	7.5	478, K8, 775	Zalman's first CPU heatsink to use heatpipes and cross-flow fan configuration; it's the most sophisticated implementation of a CPU heatpipe HSF. A top performer, but the 92mm fan acoustics could be better. Can be freely rotated for best airflow configuration. Modest weight considering the performance and all-copper construction. Jan 2006. AM2 clip in latest production models.	50~60	Reviewed
Apack ZeroTherm BTF80 / BTF90	7.5	K8, AM2, 775	Unusual butterfly-shaped fins on these copper and copper/aluminum HS tha integrated a 92mm fan. Excellent performance, mounts with fan blowing in any direction. Availability a question. Aug/06.	~50	Reviewed
Thermalright HR-01	7.5	478, K8, 775	TR's first entry into the tower style heatsinks was meant to be passive, but cannot be freely rotated for best airflow configuration. With a 120mm fan, it's competitive with the big boys. Very easy to use clip, no native fan mounts. A bit top heavy. Jan 2006.	40~50	Reviewed
Noctua NH-U12	7.5	478, AM2, 775	Large tower heatsink for 120mm fan, similar to Thermalright HR-01 but bigger. With lower airflow, it's competitive. Cannot be freely rotated for best airflow configuration. Noctua comes fanless, but with fan clips; the Coolink comes with a mediocre fan, and simple fan controller. Good mounting systems. A bit top heavy. Jan 2006. Now with AM2 compaitbility - Jan 2008.	~60	Reviewed
Thermalright XP-90C	7	478, K8, 775	It's an all-copper version of the XP-90. We haven't reviewed it, but we're pretty sure it deserves this rank. A bit heavy but small enough to fit in most systems. Jan 2005	45	Friends & colleages
Scythe Mine (Rev. B)	7	478, AM2, 775	The Mine is a tower HS, the offsping of a Ninja and a Kamakiri, with genes from the Samurai Z mixed in. It has a very smooth quiet 100mm fan. Very good cooling, but not quite as good the best. It cannot be rotated 90 degrees. Aug/06. Now with socket AM2 compatibility - Jan 2008.	30~40	Reviewed
Thermalright XP-90	7	478, K8, 775	It's the XP120 scaled down for a 92mm fan that fits on a wider variety of systems. Well designed heatpipes and large area fins with very tight clip for a light (340g) HS. With the right quiet 92mm fan, it's both super quiet and cools very well. Jan 2005	30	Reviewed
Zalman 7700AlCu	7	478, K8, 775	120mm fan version of 7000 benefits mainly from larger fan, as total fin area is only 3% higher than 7000. Still a top performer, but let down by a fan that's not a top performer, acoustically. Copper version is mighty heavy. Jan 2005	35~40	Reviewed
Zalman 7000/A, both Cu & AlCu	7	478, K8, A, 370	Zalman's flower turns radial and gets a quieter embedded 92mm fan. Big, powerful cooling, modest noise (Fanmate1 controller included), secure mounting system, low 445g weight for AlCu (which matches 773g Cu performance). Original version compatible w/P4 & K8; newer "A" version adds Socket-A compatibility. Tight fit on some boards and cases where PSU is very close to CPU. June 17/03	28~35	Reviewed
Noctua NH-U9	7	478, K8, 775	Tower heatsink for 92mm fan, similar to Thermalright HR-01 but smaller. Cannot be freely rotated for best airflow configuration. Noctua comes fanless, but with fan clips; the Coolink comes with a mediocre fan, and simple fan controller. Good mounting systems. Jan 2006.	~45	Reviewed
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 / 64 Pro	6.5	775 / K8	Tower heatsink w/mechanically decoupled 92mm fan, like earlier Freezer model, but bigger and with better fan frame. Both versions can be freely rotated for best airflow configuration. Cooling performance is very good at standard fan voltage, but too loud. When fan is slowed to a quiet level, cooling performance is disportionately poor because fins are spaced too tightly. Mounting system is standard Intel for 775, and captive standard clip for K8. Cooling for VRM with airflow deflector fins is claimed. Note that the untested 64 Pro has a slower fan, which will impact both cooling and noise. Jan 2006.	~25	Reviewed (7 version)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 4 / 64	6.5	478 / K8	Their first tower heatsink, frameless integrated fan is easily damaged. Cooling performance is good at standard fan voltage, but too loud. When fan is slowed to a quiet level, cooling performance remains OK. Mounting consists of standard clips, whether for soket 478 or K8. The HS cannot be rotated freely (to aim the fan at the exhaust case fan.) Jan 2006.	~25	Reviewed (4 version)
Alpha PAL8952	5.5	478	Taller variant of 8942, black anodized aluminum pins, large copper inset base. Great spring-loaded bolt-through board mounting as usual, and blow-up airflow optimized for exhaust ducting fun. 645g, suitable for 80mm fan. Aug/04	~40	Reviewed
Zalman CNPS-6000Cu	3.5	A, 370	2700 sq cm surface, copper, 462 gram flower-style HS. FB123 fan bracket and handy Fanmate1 fan speed controller. Standard clip with useful tool, flexes too easily from spec. Cooling power is OK, but bettered by Zalman's P4 offerings. 6000AlCu variant has central copper fins with aluminum fins on either side for lower weight, slightly lower cooling power, and lower price. 6/02	26	Reviewed

See next page: Coolers for VGA Cards and Chipsets, older slot-CPUs, and Retired Models.

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