Vantec has long been known for its cleverly designed products, which bring performance to end users at a nice price point. The heatsink I am reviewing today, the 6040H, is by no means a new product from Vantec, as it has been around for quite some time now. While the 6040H may not be new, it comes in at a great price and may just do the trick if you are still using stock cooling.

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Specifications

Model No.: CCK-6040H
CPU Socket: Socket 7/370/A(462)
Rated Voltage: DC 12V
Rated Current: 0.32A
Power Consumption: 3.64W
Bearing Type: Double Ball Bearing
Fan Speed: 6800 R.P.M.
Airflow: 37.6 CFM
Noise Level: 46.5 dBA
Outline Dimension: 65X65X69 (mm)
Weight: 394 gm
Life Time: 70,000 hrs.

High Density Copper Heat Sink Design
Copper conducts heat faster than aluminum. CopperX heat sink has high density copper fins soldered to an all copper base. Unlike other heat sink fin designs, which have an empty zone to allow for the clip mechanism, CopperX heat sink has fins between the clip levers to increase the total surface area.

Double Ball Bearing Fan for Extended Life
Bearing life is the main factor to determine the operating life of a fan. CopperX uses a high quality miniature double ball bearing system, which can be operated with fan life expectancies up to 50,000 hours.

Triple-Tab Clip for Secure Installation
Unlike other CPU coolers use single clip, Vantec features triple-tab mounting clip for better secure installation. This unique design requires no tool and makes the installation a painless process. Includes a Molex power adaptor and 1.5g tube of thermal paste.

The Vantec 6040H is packaged very nicely, and includes everything you need to get started. One nice thing that Vantec did is include thermal grease, rather than a pad, which will definitely make overclockers happy. If you already have Arctic Silver 3 you can use it, but the included grease works just fine, as we will show you in just a bit.

The base of the unit was fairly smooth and reflective, so unless you are picky, additional lapping should not be necessary with the 6040H. The heatsink uses and all-copper design, which allows for fast heat dissipation, although copper retains heat longer. That is why such a gigantic, noisy fan is necessary.

The clip makes installing the 6040H a really simple task. The clip uses the three lugs on the socket to be secured and it requires very little pressure and no tools to secure the heatsink to the lugs. The best thing about the three clip design is that it allows the 6040H to be mounted on a socket with a broken lug.

The 6040H, as noted in the specs, uses high-density copper fins and they are soldered directly to the base. Other heatsinks have an empty spot where the clip mechanism is, but not the 6040H. The fins were all very straight, and do not appear to have been damaged during shipping.

The design of this heatsink was very pleasing, as it was machined quite nicely and incoporated several useful ideas that other manufacturers have yet to implement, such as the fins reaching all the way down to the base with minimal interference from the clip.

Test System

MSI K7D Master-L Mainboard
2x XP 1700+ Processors (Processor One polled for review)
3x Panaflo fans for exhaust
Ambient room temp of 75 degrees fehrenhiet
Athlon XP 1700+ @ Stock Speed, 1.75 Volts

Idle Temps

As you can see, at idle temperatures the Copper X does a darn fine job of keeping the 1700+ cool and calm. Let's move on and see how well it handles the 1700+ at Full Load.

Full Load Temps

Even at full load, which was achieved by running Prime 95 for fifteen minutes and then polling the processors using MSI PC Alert software, the Copper X proved to be quite the achiever, allowing the processor to only reach 44 degrees. This kind of performance is very good, but it is nowhere close to the performace achievable by Swiftech or Thermalright's cooling solutions.

Conclusion

Based on the performance of the Vantec 6040H, which was above average but not spectacular, I am not prepared to give the unit an award of any sort. However, this unit may be worth buying if you want an above average copper heatsink with an easy to use clip and all the necessary accesories. I don't feel that I should take any good points away from the 6040H based on the noisy fan, since most heatsinks out there have a fan that rival the noise produced by this one.

Pros
Adequate performance
Decent Price
Easy to install/Nice clip mechanism
Comes with thermal grease and molex adaptor

Cons
Loud fan
More capable heatsinks available

Bottom Line
I think the Vantec 6040H is an above-average cooler. It's big selling point is the easy to use clip, but that isn't enough to warrant a purchase if you are seeking the best cooling solution.

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