AMD Athlon 64 Stock Heatsink with 4 Heat Pipes Tested

CPU Cooling by SidneyWong @ 2006-01-24

When it comes free of charge, it may not be bad or an underperformer. The new and improved heatsink from AMD retail pack 165 Opteron comes with 4 heat pipes, topped with 80 x 20mm delta fan with built in temp sensor that will reach 5,200 rpm when it is called for the tough job(s), yet runs quietly during light duty even at 800Mhz overclocked speed.

AMD new stock HSF

AMD new stock Athlon 64 HSF:

Change is good; as long as the change is for better, otherwise, don't bother. AMD has made a lot of changes in recent years when most of us have noticed all of which are better than previous. This time, AMD has the time to redesign its retail pack HSF, FINALLY. This new cooler came with my Retail Pack Opteron 165.

There are many factors to consider when designing a Retail Pack HSF; or to choose a design. While cost factor is important, others such as size, weight and ease of installation in meeting logistics, system integrators and different form factors amongst many must be considered. AMD has taken the first step to integrate heat pipes into its heatsink design; and within months it increased the number of heat pipe from two to four. In doing so, the size of the fan has increased the second time (from its humble beginning using 60mm fan) from 70 to 80mm.

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The heatsink has 8mm thick copper base, measures ~90mm x 75mm first to last alum fins. It sits a bit off-set as the picture shows.

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With the fan removed, AMD is making sure some finer detail in getting as much heat to the heatsink as possible (see center fins).

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The fan is 80x20mm; Delta, reaches up to ~5,200 RPM, inclusive a temp sensor to auto regulate its speed.

Installation & Test System

Installation:

Installation can't be easier unlike many 3rd party heatsinks. Hook the clip on one side, do the same on the opposite side and pull down the lever.

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I am comparing this cooler with a Thermalright XP-90 which is being used by and promoted by many hardware enthusiasts as high quality solution for striking a good balance between performance and noise.

Lazyman Test Setup
Case and Cooling X-Dreamer II case with fans at 2000rpm:
- 2x80mm intake
- 2x80mm exhaust
- 1x80mm top blower
CPU AMD Opteron 165
Motherboard DFI LanParty UT Ultra D (2x40mm fan added over PWM)
Memory GSKill PC4400 2x512Mb
Other
  • Seasonic S12 500W PSU
  • Geforce 6200
  • Hitachi 160GB SATA HDD


  • Test was done with case panel closed
  • Room Temp maintained at 20°C
  • The same fan was used on both heatsinks (the AMD 80mm Delta)
  • Arctic Silver 5 as thermal compound

    Madshrimps (c)


    Madshrimps (c)


    What happens next may surprise you ->

    • Performance

    Performance:

    For testing I ran 2xPrime95 for about 15 minutes per section. Although idle temps are useless for the most part, I did record them for reference. To test the AMD cooler, I short circuit the temp sensor (by installing a thin bare wire) so that it will run on full 12 volt. I use Smartguadian to regulate the fan speed.

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    If you still have the time, you could click on the thumb nails below to view each of the screen shots. This may be important to many, as we are talking about a product that performs close to a popular 3rd party heatsink and at no charge let alone it comes with three years warranty on CPU.

    2.4G at default vcore AMD Cooler - idle and load, notice the fan speed and Smartguardian setup. (click to enlarge)

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    2.4G at default vcore XP-90 AMD Fan- idle and load, (click to enlarge)

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    2.6G at 1.525 Bios AMD Cooler - idle and load, (click to enlarge)

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    2.6G at 1.525 BIOS XP-90 AMD Fan- idle and load, (click to enlarge)

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    Those who know me would not think I easily conclude this without throwing in Chill Vent for a drive.

    Madshrimps (c) Madshrimps (c)


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    Yes, I was surprised with the result, so much that I retested, remounted the Thermalright XP-90 twice in two days just to make sure.

    Conclusion

    Conclusion:

    Before I jump into the conclusion, which is an easy one to make obviously, I like to ensure those kin to hearing enthusiasts that this test has nothing to do with noise. While talking about noise, I did record the sound level using my CEM DT-8850 digital sound meter when:

    1) I was running a DVD movie (with the volume turned off) and Browsing the internet.
    2) when 2xPrime95 were kicking in high gear
    3) the system was doing nothing.

    (do note: use of CV increases the noise level by ~3 dBA at load)

    Madshrimps (c)


    Give credit where credit is due. I do believe some people will be looking for this stock cooler at eBay soon enough. I will be one of them. Let's hope AMD will pack this cooler with every Athlon 64/FX/Opteron they sell. Most importantly, I wish Intel will do something similar.

    Question/Comments: forum thread


    Q: Do they come only bundled with Opteron 165?
    A: So far from what we can tell from user experience these new heatsinks come with Athlon X2 above 3800+ and any Opteron S939 Dual Core Chip.
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