Viper Lair
Sponsor
Menu
Latest Stuff

OCZ PC2-6400 EB Platinum Edition
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.9
OCZ 2GB Rally USB 2.0 Flash Drive
DFI Ultra LANParty nF4 Ultra-D
ABS Stealth ATX Chassis
asetek WaterChill Extreme Kit
SinTek 600SLI 600W PSU
Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB
Cooler Master Centurion 531
Zalman CNPS9500 LED Heatsink
Latest Stuff
Search for lowest prices:


for 


Price Search:    for    

Vantec CCK-6012 Copper 1U

Date: September 25, 2002
Manufacturer:
Written By:

Vantec is well regarded in the enthusiast community for their excellent line of desktop coolers. The server, and low-profile desktop market never needed performance coolers for a couple of reasons. For servers, they're built within very tight specifications, and the cooling that is provided is usually more than enough. For the low-profile desktop, the same arguement applies, and let's face it, if you have one of these, stealth and aesthetics are probably a concern, and nothing contradicts that more than a screaming Delta that is found on most coolers. In both cases, PC design of both of these simply don't allow for the larger coolers.

Things have changed however, as more and more servers are being hand built by enthusiasts, and with the heat emitted by modern processors, passive cooling isn't suitable anymore. 1U, or low-profile PCs, still make for a tight fit, thus Vantec saw it fit to release a "smaller" cooler. We received the CCK-6012 some time ago, but given the needs of a personal project, we finally had the need for this cooler. Before continuing, here are the obligatory factory specifications...

Specifications

Recommended For: Intel Pentium III up to 1.4Ghz , AMD Athlon XP up to 2000+
Clip Material SK7
Heat Sink Material: Copper
Heat Sink Dimension: 60.0 x 61.6 x 12.0 (mm)
Fan Dimension: 60.0 x 60.0 x 10.5 (mm)
Outline Dimension: 60.0 x 61.6 x 22.5 (mm)
Bearing Type: Double Ball Bearing
Clip: CLP508
Weight: 220.0 (gm)
Thermal Resistance: 0.78°C/W
Fan Size(mm): 60.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 (mm)
Fan Speed(RPM) 4800
Air Flow(CFM) 21.19
Noise Level(dBA) 36.5


As explained earlier, the Vantec CCK-6012 is a 1U cooler. Typical application would be for a low profile, rackable server chassis, but I could imagine that owners of the Shuttle XPC SS40G (the Athlon bare bone) could make use of this cooler as well.

Like the early CAK series of GlobaWin coolers, the CCK-6012 is made out of a solid block of copper. The fins are part of the base, and not simply welded on. In theory, this may lead to better performance, when compared to a similar heatsink with soldered on fins, as there are no miniscule gaps between the base and fins. This will allow an even path for heat to dissapate, and it won't have to work around any imperfections or gaps.

Despite its small size, the heatsink itself is quite heavy. We're not talking about "Alpha" heavy, but it was a bit of a surprise. Considering the heatsink is a mere 22mm in height, you can see where I'm coming from.

Vantec's "shine" makes it's way here again. The base of the heatsink has a great polish, and personally, I wouldn't really bother lapping it as it is pretty smooth to the touch. Keep in mind that the polish isn't due to Vantec lapping the heatsink, but rather it's some kind of a glaze. I'm not sure if it's detrimental to performance, but I don't think it'll be a factor.

The fan is a Delta Model 60 x 10mm. Although it's not nearly as big as other Deltas we've tested, I was a little concerned that Delta's patented high pitched scream would be present here. Thankfully, it isn't, and it manages to put out rated at 21 cfm at its maximum speed. Unlike a lot of fans we've been getting lately, the fan is uses a 3-pin power connector that also does RPM monitoring.

The clip isn't really anything special. I did find the clip fairly "cheap" in feel, and did have some reservations about it keeping the heatsink attached. In a server environment, typically the server will be resting flat, so I doubt this will be a problem in those situations.

The clip didn't require any tools on my part, and was actually quite easy to attach. This should please anyone who is "tool" impaired.

Testing

Athlon XP 1700+ (Provided by )
Nanotherm Ice Thermal Compound
Prime95 run for 20 minutes

Being the only 1U cooler that we have, we decided to test it against a Vantec CCK-6035 outfitted with the same Delta fan as the CCK-6012.

Temperature in Celsius

Temperature in Fahrenheit

As expected, the CCK-6012 is badly outperformed by the larger heatsink. At 55C, the processor is far from the danger zone, but still a little warmer than we'd like. In a server environment with controlled ambient temperatures, the heatsink should be good enough. For performance enthusiasts looking into low profile cooling, well, I suppose you can make use of it as well, but I can't think of any power user with a low profile case. I certainly wouldn't replace the heatpipe cooling in the Shuttle boxes with this cooler.

As for overclocking, well, I didn't bother. With stock speeds hitting 55C, I wouldn't expect any overclocking miracles.

Final Words

The heatsink is well designed, but considering that any server would likely be setup in a server room, noise isn't really an issue. That being said, a faster spinning fan would certainly improve the scores of this cooler. I do think the clip could use some improvement to ease the minds of IT Managers, as it's a bit flimsy.

For silent PC setups, it can suit those needs nicely. I'd be hard pressed to tell which is louder... the CCK-6012 or my GeForce 4 fan. Overclockers should really look elsewhere though, unless they slap on a bigger fan. Then again, if you do that, you'll likely get a bigger heatsink.

Pros: Nice heatsink, quiet.

Cons: Not a great performer, certainly not for overclocking, and clip feels cheap.

Bottom Line: A decent cooler if your needs are modest. It's quite a bit quieter than 90% of the cooling solutions out there, but it doesn't cool as well as they do.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

HOME


Shop for Vantec Products

Copyright © 2001-2005 Viper Lair. All Rights Reserved.