GlobaWin has earned quite a reputation of developing high performance cooling solutions for todays modern CPUs. Despite being around for a long time, the FOP38 remains to be a good performer. I've had this unit for the last 8 months, and it's been nothing but reliable. The unit I have is probably the earliest version, since it is an anodized black. In fact, it is just a FOP32 with the 38cfm Delta fan on it. I'm not really sure if this is the case, or my reseller ripped me off, but it does the job.

Specifications

Recommended For: Intel PIII FC-PGA, AMD Socket A or 462
Heat Sink Material: Anodized Aluminum Alloy 6063
Heat Sink Dimension: 70mm x 62mm x37mm

The AMD retail looks quite wimpy next to the FOP38. The Delta 38cfm fan is known for it's ability to cool things down, but at the expense of noise. I hated this cooler for the first 2 weeks, not because it performed poorly, quite the contrary, but the noise was unbearable. Eventually, I got used to it. That, or I'm going deaf :(

Testing

The test bed consists of:

AMD Thunderbird 1.2GHz (1.75v), HSF paired with regular silicone thermal paste
Abit KT7-RAID, with socket thermal sensor touching the bottom of the CPU
Lian-Li PC60 Aluminum Case, with only the Enermax power supply fans on
Prime95 is run for 20 minutes
Room temperature is maintained at 23C/74F
Temperatures were gathered using VIA's Hardware Monitor.

Final Thoughts

The GlobaWin FOP38 can still keep up, but it's falling back in the race. Performance is still decent though, and the price is about 18-20$, so your bang for the buck is good. What I hated was the clipping mechanism. I needed a screwdriver and needle nose pliers to get it on, and even that was a struggle. GlobaWin really needs to improve on it for future coolers.

GlobaWin:

Pros: Cheap, Delta fan and guard, pin adapter, decent performance.

Cons: Average performance, Delta is LOUD, terrible clip.

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