Installation
Installation of the heat sink was fairly easy, but some problems did occur. The first thing you will want to do is screw on the 70 to 80mm fan adapters. After that you just screw in your fan(s) in whatever setup you like. When it comes to mounting the heat sink you really have to be careful though. This heat sink is quite wide and came very close to some capacitors on my A7N8X-Deluxe. A little gentle persuasion is needed to get it to fit properly. The clip on the heat sink is also a bit of a downfall. The clip is not physically attached to the heat sink, so it can rotate all the way around the heat sink, allowing for 4 different mounting directions. Only one of these options is correct however, so care must be taken that the notch in the heat sink goes over the socket cam-box. Once clipped on you just plug in your fan(s) and away you go.
Testing
Results were acquired using Motherboard Monitor 5. Room temperature was kept at a steady 22C. Load temperatures were recorded after running the system with Folding@Home and the Burn in Test of Sisoft Sandra 2004 for 30mins. Idle temperatures were recorded after running the system with nothing running in the background for 1 hour. Although Aerocool included some thermal paste, I decided to go straight for the good stuff and used some Artic Silver 5.
Testing was accomplished with the below system
AMD 1700+ @ 12.5 x 166 @ 1.55 volts
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Revision 2.0
Enermax CS5107 with 1x92mm intake and 1x80mm exhaust
Windows XP SP1
Aerocool Deep Impact DP-102 heat sink
Swiftech 462-V
Aerocool Aluminum Fan (RPM: 2500, DBA: 24.6, CFM: 31.5)
The DP-102 supports two 80mm fans to be used at one time so testing was done with 1 fan installed pushing air inwards, 2 fans installed with both pushing air inwards and 2 fans installed, one pushing in and one pushing out. The Swiftech 462-V only supports one fan, so results were obtained by having the fan blowing air inwards only. With that said here are the results.
| |
Diode
|
Socket
|
Case
|
Aerocool with 2 Alum (Blow, Blow) Load |
37
|
37
|
21
|
| Aerocool with 2 Alum (Blow, Blow) Idle |
28
|
32
|
20
|
| Aerocool with 2 Alum (Blow, Suck) Load |
33
|
38
|
21
|
| Aerocool with 2 Alum (Blow, Suck) Idle |
25
|
33
|
21
|
| Aerocool with 1 Alum Load |
38.5
|
40
|
20
|
| Aerocool with 1 Alum Idle |
30
|
35
|
20
|
| Swiftech with 1 Alum Load |
42
|
47
|
24
|
| Swiftech with 1 Alum Idle |
29
|
37
|
20
|
As you can see from the results the best cooler was the DP-102. Cooling almost 10C better at load than the Swiftech is defiantly an achievement. This goes to show how well the superconductor tube really works. Even using just one fan on the DP-102 compared to the Swiftech the DP-102 still cools better. Utilizing both aluminum 80mm fans really is how the cooler should be used. According to Aerocool, the cooler will usually work best when the fans are in a blow-blow setup, but that was not the case here. The blow-suck setup was much better than the other. The reason I believe this happened is because the 80mm fan on the heat sink is right next to my 80mm exhaust fan on my computer case. When the heat sinks fans were in the blow-blow setup, the case fan was competing against the heat sink fan for airflow. When I switched the fan setup over to the blow-suck setup, it actually aided in removing the hot air. The airflow was much better because the air could come from my intake fan, through the heat sink (being pushed from the front and pulled from the back) right to my exhaust fan.
Conclusions
This heat sink certainly has its pros and cons. On one side the clip design could use some reworking. It allows for a greater chance of error when mounting the heat sink. By simple attaching the clip somehow to the base, or just holding it in place better would definently help the design of the product. Along with that the sheer size of the product could cause problems. The DP-102 just barely fit with both fans installed on my A7N8X-Deluxe. This could cause a problem for motherboards that do not have as much clearance as the A7N8X.
Right in the middle is the build quality. The heat sink as a whole looks really good, no loose pieces, or anything along those lines. However the base of the heat sink could use a good lapping to bring it up to a mirror finish. Obviously the less than perfect base does not affect the cooling though, so not to worry.
Beating the major competition by almost 10C is no simple task, but it is accomplished by the DP-102. The superconductor is defiantly an innovative and effective means of cooling today's processors. Any full load temperature in the 30's with an over clocked processor is good in my books, and that is exactly what the DP-102 provides. It almost seemed like I was running a water-cooled rig, but without all the extra expenses. Noise was also not an issue. The DP-102 takes any standard 60, 70, and 80mm fans, so you really have the option of running silently, or going to a higher rpm solution.
Pros
Best air cooler thus far
Good looking
Innovative design
Accepts 1-2 60/70/80mm fan
Well priced
Cons
Big, and I mean BIG (may not fit some motherboards)
Base finish needs improvement (but it does not seem to affect the cooling)
Retention mechanism
Bottom Line
What really can you say besides that this heat sink really works? It provides you with excellent performance in a really cool looking package at a great price. I personally will be using it as my heat sink from now on. Euro readers can pick this up at . In North America, has it in stock.
If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.
HOME
