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Reviewed by: Daniel
Date: 10/28/02
Provided by: Cooler Master CA |
CoolerMaster HCC-003 Heat
Sink Review
The Cooler Master HCC-003 is the third revision of the HCC series of coolers. All 3 of the HCC series
of coolers feature a copper base, one exception is the HCC-002 which
features an all copper heatsink. The fans that these 3 coolers
have,
vary from one another. The HCC-001 features a 5400 rpm
producing 27 CFM, while the HCC-002 has a loud 6800 rpm fan that
produces 37.6 CFM, and the HCC-003 has a loud 6500 fan that produces
about 25 CFM. Lets have a look at the HCC-003.
As with all Cooler Master heatsinks, they come in
the retail box, this one looks no different from other Cooler Master
heatsinks that we have reviewed. Inside the box you will find a
small packet with some standard thermal grease. We recommend
that you use some Arctic Silver 3 or equivalent for best results.
The HCC-003 features the patented spring clip
which makes installation so much easier. The heatsink is self
is pretty big, which allows more heat dissipation, and hopefully
better temperature results with your processor.
Lets have a look at the specifications from Cooler
Master.
According to the specifications of Cooler Master,
the fan produces about 25 CFM, which is decent for a 60mm fan.
But keep in mind that it is spinning at 6500 rpm which produces a
very high pinched whining sound, very close to a hair dryer.
The motherboard fan detection read out said was actually a whopping
7100 rpms, which was higher than expected.
Taking a look at the side of the cooler, it
features a dense array of fins. The fins are a bit farther
apart then other micro-fin coolers, such as the
Cooler
Master HSC-V62.
When compared to the HSC-V62 you can see that the
HSC-V62's fins are spaced much closer than the HCC-003. But
the HCC-003 makes up for it with the size of its heatsink.
The Cooler Master HCC-003 is tall when compared to the HSC-V62 and
other Cooler Master heatsinks, but we had no problems with things in
the case getting in the way of the heatsink.
The bottom of the HCC-003's heatsink is shiny and
somewhat reflective, but not as reflective as the HSC-V62.
As you can see when compared to the HSC-V62, the
reflection on the HCC-003 is not as clear and detailed as the
HSC-V62, which acts almost like a mirror. The more smooth and
reflective bottom of a heatsink can affect the performance of the
heatsink significantly. We recommend that you sand and polish
the bottom of the heatsink with 800-1000 grit sandpaper if you feel
that the heatsinks bottom is affecting the heatsinks performance.
To test the HCC-003 I used the following items:
-AMD Athlon 1000 @ 1500 MHz
-ECS K7S5A Motherboard with the SiS 735 chipset
-256 MB PC 2100 DDR SDRAM
-GeForce 2 GTS Video Card
-Arctic Silver 3
-Cooler Master HCC-003
-Cooler Master HSC-V62
-AMD Retail Heatsink
The get the following test results, I used Sisoft Sandra 2002's Burn
in wizard (2 runs).
|
Coolermaster HCC-003 |
Cooler Master HSC-V62 |
AMD Retail Heatsink |
|
Idle (C)
42 |
41.1 |
46.6 |
|
Load (C)
48 |
47.2 |
53.3 |
From the graph above, the HCC-003 performs well, almost as good as
the HSC-V62. Without the all copper design, the HCC-003 lacks
the heat dissipation properties needed to cool it to the HSC-V62
temperatures even with a high rpm fan. But both heatsinks do much
better than AMD's retail heatsink.
This heatsink is a good upgrade if your computer comes with an AMD
retail heatsink, or you bought your processor with a retail
heatsink. The only problem is that the fan is very loud.
This heatsink can also be considered good for moderate overclocking
of an AMD processor.
Let's have a look at some Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-Big heatsink
-Good Temperatures
-Priced around $20
Cons:
-Very loud high pitched fan.
Techaddicts Computer Reviews is pleased to give this heatsink an
8 out of 10 star rating for its good temperature results and
pricing.
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