Socket-A Heat Sink Roundup

Date Reviewed: February 9, 2001
Reviewed By: Jason Rabel
Companies: Alpha, GlobalWinUSA, OCZ, TRIG, VantecUSA

The Test Setup:

To test these coolers I had the setup laying open on my workbench. I didn't want to have it inside a case because I wanted to be able to monitor and control the ambient temperature accurately, and I didn't want to have any extra fans or heat sources distorting the final numbers. I tested all these coolers twice, meaning I tested them all once, then started the whole procedure again, just to verify my numbers were accurate. The cooler were tested with the following setup:

• ABIT KT7A-RAID

• Duron 800 OCed to 933 @ 1.85v

• 256MB PC133 Corsair RAM

• GF2MX

• Maxtor 30GB ATA/100 HD

• Windows 98SE

Ambient temperature was kept as close to 75 F / 23.8 C as possible, whenever the temperature varied greater than one degree, I stopped the test and waited till ambient temp came back in spec. Temperatures were recorded with the system sitting idle at the windows desktop, and under full load which Prim95 was used. I also used Motherboard Monitor to monitor the chipset temperatures. Please keep in mind that the temp probe is touching the BOTTOM side of the CPU (If you want to see what the probe looks like, check out the KT7A-RAID review). While this doesn't give exact core temperature, it is still relatively accurate when comparing all the heatsinks against each other on the same setup.

Benchmark Time:

Conclusions & Comments:

The GlobalWin WBK38 seizes the victory at keeping the CPU the coolest. However I would also have to say the Vantec is a very cool contender too. The one big advantage the Vantec heatsink has over the GlobalWin is a clip that doesn't need as much down force to hook it in, and the clip is much bigger and easier to hold on to. If you are afraid of crushing your CPU, you will definitely like the Vantec better than the GlobalWin. Because there is always a degree of inaccuracy associated with tests, I would have to say these two coolers are on pretty much the same level of cooling ability. It is clear that the WBK design is more efficient than the FOP design with more fins and the "wave" cut. The Vantec takes the approach that bigger is better, being larger than both of the GlobalWin coolers.

As for the TRIG coolers, they still give decent performance for their size and quiet fan, but when you use a Delta on them you get a nice 10 degree drop under heavy load, but at the sacrifice of silence. I think with some more tweaking (mainly enlarging the heatsink size), TRIG could make a competitive product in the overclocking marketplace. The heatsink was a solid design, all cuts and surfaces were smooth, and the clip was actually user friendly.

The Alpha coolers seem to be passing their prime. With today's CPUs generating so much heat, the heatsink needs to have a lot of mass in order to absorb this heat off the CPU, and also to be able to dissipate it quickly. Alpha needs to go back to the drawing board it seems to do a little tweaking on the PAL model. I think the PEP66 would of performed much better if a larger fan would of fit, but because of the KT7 design, this was impossible. I really like the Alpha's because of their copper base and excellent craftsmanship, however performance is still the bottom line, and GlobalWin & Vantec have Alpha beat for the time being.

The OCZ coolers had mixed results. While the Twin Turbo Standard is on the performance level of the WBK38 & FCE-62540D, it uses two Delta fans, whereas the other two coolers only use one. The Twin Turbo Quiet model is very quiet and gives solid performance, and the overlap from the fans also helps cool the voltage regulators next to the CPU socket. The Quad Cool, while looks kinda cool, just is too noisy to be anywhere near practical.

Cost-wise, the GlobalWin & Vantec will run somewhere around $23-$27. The Alpha's cost more because of their increased complexity in design (the copper base) and will run about $30-$33. The OCZ coolers run anywhere from $25-$30. I am not sure of the TRIG coolers since they are not for sale anywhere that I am aware of, but I am sure they will be priced competitively.

The GlobalWin WBK38's are in such high demand they could be difficult to find, however the Vantec FCE-62540D's & GWFOP38's seem to be easier items to locate.

You can find the Vantec, FOP38, and Alpha coolers at Heatsink Factory, all in stock! PCNut also sells the Vantec coolers and has them in stock too! The OCZ coolers come from OCZ of course and can be purchased from one of their resellers. TRIG is just starting to enter the overclocking market, so hopefully you will see their line of coolers being sold soon at your favorite online cooling stores.

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