Little over a year ago we put Swiftech?s greatest against Alpha?s best. The MCX4000 vs PAL8942 review is more then a year old. And it is time again to find out who?s the king of the Pentium 4 aircoolers.
Introduction
Intro:
Little over a year ago we put Swiftech's greatest against Alpha's best. The MCX4000 vs PAL8942 review is more then a year old. And it is time again to find out who's the king of the Pentium 4 aircoolers.
Alpha has been very silent and they have not released a new product this last year, but no worries as we have a brand new contender for the crown. Thermalright has stepped up to challenge our last year's winner. The Thermalright SP-94 is equipped with 3 heat pipes and is an immense copper block that can remove a fairly decent amount of heat from your P4. The trend since last year has been more and more towards silent computing, meaning that the enthusiast is looking to get the best from both worlds: Silence and extreme performance. Swiftech designed the MCX478-V to fit these requirements. It is aimed at providing the best cooling at the lowest airflow possible.
Today we will find out who takes the top spot in the EXTREMELY loud and virtually silent categories.
Contestant n#1, the Challenger: Thermalright SP-94
Thermalright has been advancing in their efficiency of creating top quality heatsinks ever since the SLK-700. Although they mainly remained at the AMD side of town, they started adapting to the P4 market the last year. P4 versions of the SLK800 and SLK900 are examples of these advances, and their SLK947U was even particularly made to provide better cooling for the P4 (basically a SLK900 with a bigger base to accommodate the larger die of the P4).
Their most recent addition to the family is the SP-94, aimed at the extreme air-cooling fanatics out there, sporting 3 heat pipes that increase their efficiency as the CPU heat output goes upwards.
Swiftech has gone back to the drawing boards to come up with a heatsink aimed at the power-users out there who like their PC's to be silent. Their approach to the issue is to provide the best heat dissipation by spreading out the pins on the heatsink in a V-like manner, making it look like a metal flower
CNC machined, C110 copper base, 3"W x 3.3"L x .500"H
374 Helicoid Pins made of High Thermal Conductivity Aluminium Alloy, press fitted in the base.
Heatsink base dimensions 3"x3.3"x1.66"
Heatsink top dimension 3 3/4" x 3 1/2"
Weight: 620g
This design makes me think of:
The MCX478-V works with 80 and 92mm fans and ships with brackets for both.
The Helicoid aluminium pins are the same once that are found on the MCX4000, this time they have been bend to provide more space between them and give air a better chance of disappating the heat.
Optimized performance characteristics at the lowest possible audible noise levels.
Plug-and-play installation with Intel's stock retention mechanisms.
The Swiftech comes with Arctic Alumina which performs on par with Arctic Silver 3 while reducing the risk of shorting something due to the fact that Alumina contains no silver. The copper base has a very good finishing taking away the need to lap the heatsink to achieve best thermal conduction
Let's get these heatsinks installed! ->
Installation Compared
ThermalRight SP-94:
The SP-94 requires you to remove the motherboard and the default Intel retention brackets, after screwing the back plate into its place you put the heatsink on your CPU and using 4 spring/screws you secure the heatsink. It takes some time before everything is installed but you can be sure this heatsink won't fall off overnight (or when moving your case around, e.g : LAN - parties)
PRO secured installation, no way this bad boy will come loose provides sufficient pressure on the P4, you cannot miss
CON Need to remove motherboard from your case Need 2 different set of screwdrivers
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu:
The Zalman is aimed at the Quiet power user out there, and is therefore in direct competition with the Swiftech. Its installation is straightforward, sliding in 2 metal rails and then screwing the heatsink in its place. Overall installation takes less then 2 minutes. Take a look at this small flash movie to get an idea on how the installation goes:
PRO Easy installation Uses Intel retention bracket
CON Screwdriver needed during installation
Swiftech MCX478-V:
The Swiftech makes use of the Intel retention bracket, using 2 clips the heatsink is put in its place. The installation is completely tool less, but you have the put a reasonable amount of force on the clips for them to "click" into their place. If you don't apply the same amount of pressure on both sides the heatsink will start wobbling from left to right. No problem if you have a "standard" Pentium 4. But if you have removed the IHS (Intel Heat Spreader), this movement might cause damage to the P4 core.
PRO Tool less installation Easy click-on system Uses Intel retention bracket
CON risk of damaging the P4 core if the IHS has been removed
COOLINK Cool Armor2VS
I included the installation process of this heatsink for its similarities with the Swiftech’s. The Coolink however has the 2 clips already attached to the heatsink; this facilitates the installation even further. A full review of the Coolink Armor2VS can be found here
PRO Tool less installation VERY Easy click-on system Uses Intel retention bracket
CON risk of damaging the P4 core if the IHS has been removed
Let's find out how the Swiftech performs, time for some testing ->
The High performance end of the chart is being represented by a VANTEC Tornado 80mm that pushes out an amazing 84CFM. It does this however at a disturbingly high noise rate (55 dBA), meaning that only for benchmarking or gaming in extremely hot environments you could justify the use of this fan.
At the other end we have a very low-noise 80mm fan from NMB, this fan pushes out 28CFM and is virtually silent. If you place your ear close enough to it you might hear it spinning! (26.5CFM, 22.5 dBA)
The last fan we used for testing was a low-noise 90mm fan from Papst, the 3412 N/2GL to be exact. It produces 22dBA and pushes 41CFM.
We used Hot CPU tester Pro for achieving the highest temperature under load and let it run for a minimum 30 minutes while keeping the recorded temperatures in a log-file using MotherBoard Monitor 5.
The room temperature during the entire test was kept steady at 22°C.
on to the results! ->
Results SP-94 vs MCX478-V
Results SP-94 vs MCX478-V:
First up we have the P4 running at default speeds:
Both heatsink are able to keep the CPU under 20°C over the room temperature, the SP-94 takes the lead at the lowest CFM, with a difference up to ~5°C. When the Vantec Tornado is used both heatsink perform extremely well, keeping the CPU under 30°C!
Now let's speed up the P4 to 3.2Ghz, the output is now 90Watt of heat!
The difference between the 2 heatsinks remains constant, and both turn in impressive results. The dead spot on the 90mm Papst fan is bigger then the 80mm explaining why it trails behind a small margin.
These heatsinks are at the top end of the P4 air-cooling solutions, the SP-94 has a small lead on to Swiftech, but both products will provide you with a lot of headroom for overclocking your Pentium 4 setup. And even when using a very silent FAN they will keep the CPU near the 40°C mark.
Zalman has been proven as a solid solution if you like silence, how does the Swiftech perform when we put it up against it? Lets find out ->
Results Zalman vs MCX478-V
Results Zalman vs MCX478-V:
Again we have the CPU running at default speeds, remember our room temp is kept steady at 22°C.
Zalman Low = Rheostat turned to most silent position Swiftech Low = using the 80mm NMB silent fan
Zalman High = Rheostat turned to loudest position Swiftech High = using the 80mm Vantec Tornado
The difference between these 2 heatsinks is almost none existent, using the "Low" settings the Zalman has a very small lead, but when we switch over the "High" setup we see the Swiftech pull ahead. This difference is without a doubt due to the extreme power of the Vantec Tornado. Overall we see equal performance by both contenders here.
Both heatsink perform almost identical turning in results that are again below 20°C over the room temperature.
What heatsink to buy? What are the advantages of each one? Let's get it all sorted out in the conclusion ->
Conclusion
Conclusion:
All 3 products performed amazingly well and they turn in results that are almost identical. Seeing as the design of each one is completely different, this came as a surprise. Thermalright and Zalman use and all-copper design using thin plates to dissipate the heat while Swiftech has chosen a combination of Copper/Aluminum and still remains very close to its all-copper brothers.
Each product has a very nice finishing and comes equipped with all the necessary gear to have them up and running in no time.
Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages
Swiftech MCX478-V
Retail price: $48.95
PRO Easy, tool-less installation Easy plug and play attachment of both 80&90mm fans Top end performance in both silent as loud categories
CON Need good amount of pressure to press down the clips for installation
Swiftech has listened to their customers; they have taken the design of the MCX4000 and optimised it for use with low noise fans. They have certainly succeeded in their goal, producing a heatsink that is way up there in the TOP aircooling-solution ranking. The straightforward installation and excellent overall finishing are extra positive assets which are more then welcome.
Thermalright SP-94
Retail price: $49.99
PRO 1st class performance in all categories Secure installation
CON Installation requires motherboard removal
The Thermalright SP-94 takes over the ultimate performance crown when it comes down to air-cooling your Pentium 4 setup. To do this it has sacrificed on easiness of installation. If you don't mind the extra hassle then you can hardly call this a negative point.
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu
Retail price: $41.99
PRO Easy installation Good performance at low noise levels
CON Inability to change the fan on this heatsink
Zalman's Computer Noise Prevention System proves to be very effective, the 7000A-Cu has enough power to keep up with the big boys, and at a slightly lower price it has earned itself a place in the crowded CPU cooling market.
Need to remove motherboard from your case
