When "Deep Impact" is said, you probably either think of the movie (Ed. Note: A bad movie) with that name or in a literal sense something impacting an object/person deeply. In the world of computers the Deep Impact DP-102 by Aerocool is better described by the second reference and the object/person affected is your processor. The DP-102 is an innovatively designed heat sink designed to cope with today’s processors main downfall, heat. As processor speeds continue to raise, so does the heat pushed out by these little space heaters, which is why heat sink manufacturers are always looking for newer/better technologies for cooling your processor down. Aerocool has redesigned there Deep Impact cooler replacing the aluminum fins with copper, but still utilizing a very effective superconductor tube.
Technology
This section will be short as it has been covered more fully in a previous review, so if you want to get a better read on some Superconductor Tube technology then Click Here. Basically the is based off of a superconductor tube. The tube is made of copper, and has inside a mixture of chemicals which are reactive to heat. As the chemical mixture is heated it rises. As it rises heat is sucked from it by the many copper fins, and finally cooled by the fans blowing air through the fins. Once cool the mixture moves back down and the process starts all over again.
A Closer Look
The packaging for the DP-102 is handled by a plastic cylinder with foam inserts on the top and bottom. As you can see, it is a pretty large cylinder, referencing to the actual size of the cooler. The DP-102 is defiantly not a midget, and it shows by the height of the packaging. Inside you will find the cooler in the center with two bags and instructions to the sides of it.
The two bags hold the required accessories for the cooler. One holds the 70mm to 80mm fan brackets, and eight screws to hold them in place. Also included in this bag is a small syringe of thermal paste. The other baggie contains the replacement base so the cooler can be used with a P4 and the required mounting brackets.
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The cooler itself is quite large. Weighing in at a whopping 580g with no fans installed, this cooler is defiantly no light weight. For comparison, AMD’s specification for weight of heat sink and fan is a max of 300g, while Intel’s is 450g, so care must be taken with this heat sink installed. One of the major design changes made in the DP-102 is the shape. Previous versions of the Deep Impact were shaped like a box, where the DP-102 is shaped like a cylinder. The DP-102 uses a fan shroud that surrounds the entire heat sink for fan installation. Another of the major changes is to use a dual fan setup. Two fans can be mounted on opposite ends of the cooler, or you can use just one, whatever your setup and cooling needs require.
The base of the unit was actually a disappointment. Most heat sink manufactures these days are making the base of the cooler as smooth as possible to increase heat transfer. Sadly this DP-102 has quite a rough base. With definite machining marks/grooves are easily seen. The base is not very reflective at all, which could hinder the cooling performance of the heat sink. Some definite lapping would be needed to bring the base up to a mirrored finish.
When the original Deep Impact was reviewed here at Viperlair one of the downfalls shown was the mounting clip. The design of the heat sink has the mounting clip free to rotate around the heat sink. This provides the end user 4 possible mounting positions, with only 1 being the correct possibility. An inexperienced user could easily make a mistake and mount the cooler wrong causing damage to their processor. However, the DP-102 is more marketed to the enthusiast, who is less likely to make such a mistake, but care is still required to not cause damage to you processor core.
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