Written By:
Date Posted: September 25, 2002

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.

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