|
We have seen some massive and impressive looking
heatsinks on the market lately, thanks to the use of heat pipe technology.
However, no company has been bold enough to release a heatsink supporting a
120mm fan...until now that is. Thermalright, a respected name in PC
cooling products, has introduced their latest cooler, the XP-120. Hence
its name, its massive size is designed to support a 120mm fan for quieter and
more efficient cooling. Its design is certainly impressive, but what about
its performance? Let's find out.
For those unfamiliar with heat pipe coolers,
let's briefly go over this technology once again.
Heat Pipe Technology
In order to provide more efficient cooling, manufacturers have been releasing
larger heatsinks designed to dissipate heat more efficiently. This creates a
problem, as most motherboards will not support such large cooling devices. In
order to provide cooling products that are compatible with a wide range of
motherboards, heat pipe cooling is now widely used. This will provide such
large cooling devices to be mounted on a wide range of motherboards without
running into any space constraints due to location of capacitors, etc. For
example, heat pipes can be used to "elevate" the heatsink above the actual
retention bracket, thus eliminating the possibility of it making contact with
capacitors or other obstacles that may get it the way. This is exactly how the
heatsink we will be looking at today is designed.
So what exactly are heat pipes and how do they play a role in providing more
efficient cooling? Well, I'll try to answer these briefly for you without
getting too technical. A heat pipe consists of an aluminum or copper tube that
is designed to quickly transfer heat from one point to another. Heat pipes do
contain a small amount of vaporizable fluid, however, it does not require the
aid of a pump to move it from the hot end to the slightly cooler end of the
pipe itself. This is where it then condenses before returning to the hot end
where the process will repeat. This method of cooling is mainly used on
devices where a quick transfer of heat is crucial for the components within.
Packaging & Contents
|
**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
The
heatsink is very well packaged and should prevent any sort of damage during
shipment. Included with the XP-120 is an install guide, Athlon K8
adapter, thermal grease, fan mount clips and shock strip.
Design
|
**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
The
overall design is quite pleasing and despite its sheer size, it is as light as
a feather, thanks to the all aluminum construction. The base is also as
smooth as silk with no blemishes or scratches and does not require any
lapping. The mounting clips are already attached to the unit for quick
installation.
|
**click to enlarge** |
**click to enlarge** |
There
are a total of five heatpipes, all of which come together on one side of the
heatsink. There's really nothing on the other side and the pic above is
to show you where the heat pipe ends meet, all of which are soldered very well
to the aluminum fins.
**click to enlarge**
Just
a quick comparison against a stock P4 cooler to give you an overall idea of
its sheer size. Remarkably, it is actually just as light, if not lighter
than the stock P4 cooler. This was honestly a nice approach, as most of
the massive heat pipe coolers I've seen or tested are simply too heavy and
actually do raise a bit of concern for many system builders or LAN goers.
|
