Todays 1 GHz processors run awfully hot. An AMD Thunderbird will die in under 10 seconds if no form of cooling is attached. If you buy a retail CPU, it will come with adequate cooling already. I say adequate, meaning that it will keep your CPU cool enough to run, but not cool enough for overclocking. There is more to CPUs than overclocking though. A cooler CPU will last longer, and less likely to crash from overheating. This has created a market for performance coolers. has been making quality coolers for years, and today we're going to look at one of their new top guns, the Vantec FCE-6030D.

Specifications

Recommended for: Intel PIII Coppermine up to 1.13 GHz, AMD Thunderbird up to 1.33 GHz
Clip Material: SK7
Heat Sink Material: Al 6063T5
Heat Sink Dimension: 59.0 x 60.0 x 27.0 (mm)
Fan Dimension: 60.0 x 60.0 x 25.0 (mm)
Outline Dimension: 66.0 x 63.0 x 61.0 (mm)
Bearing Type: Two Ball Bearing
Thermal Resistance: 0.35°C/W

As you can see above, the Vantec cooler is one of the newer "thin fin" designs. There are 32 in total, separated into two banks of 20 fins, and 12 fins. The idea behind the thinner fins is that by making the fins thinner, you can put more on the heatsink, increasing surface area for heat to transfer. One thing you'll notice about the design, is that the fins are part of the heatsink base, rather than being soldered on. In theory, this should make for a more efficient cooler. There's an aluminum shroud that the fan attaches itself to. You can't see it from the picture, but there's a cut out in the shroud that helps direct the airflow directly onto the fins. If anything else, it sure looks cool. :)

Like most of the competition, has chosen the high performance, high noise Delta fan. I'm glad they included a fan guard, because getting a stray wire caught in 6800 rpms of blade spinning madness spells trouble. I've read reports that the fan Vantec uses doesn't spin as fast as the one on the GlobaWinFOP38, but judging from the noise, I can't tell. When I say it's loud, I mean it. It WILL bother some people, but others may not mind. Personally, I'd take performance over noise anytime, but if you value your hearing and sanity, you can always replace the fan with something quieter, though likely less efficient.

Unlike other coolers, the base probably doesn't need to be lapped. This can be a good thing if you're like me, and thinks that a properly prepared base is something we shouldn't have to do. Another nice thing about the Vantec 6030D is the clip. Anyone who has struggled with screwdrivers and needle nose pliers, will be happy with the mechanism here. Simply clamp the clip on one side, and push down on the other until it catches. I was able to easily install and remove this HSF without any problems.

Testing

I have revised my testing procedure for all new heatsinks in the near future, and applied this procedure to older heatsinks as well. 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

That should provide a reasonably fair testing environment. Keep in mind that the tests are done as accurately as possible, and in real world circumstances. The only factor I can see affecting the scores, is the Lian-Li aluminum case. I've determined the margin of error to be approximately 2C degrees. Temperatures were gathered using VIA's Hardware Monitor.

Final Thoughts

For such a small heatsink, it performs quite well. To be totally honest though, I was expecting better numbers since the idea of "thin fins" is to allow for more heat to dissapate. Still, in my tests, the Vantec FCE-6030D did fare better than the GlobaWin overall, with the added bonus of having it's good clip, much better than most manufacturers. It doesn't blow the competition away in terms of performance, placing in the middle of the pack of other performance coolers, but given it's reasonable price, and easy clipping system, I certainly have no problems recommending it.

Pros: Inexpensive, Delta fan and guard, pin adapter, decent performance, good clip.

Cons: Not a top performer, compared to other high end HSFs. Delta is LOUD.

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

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