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Reviewed by: Daniel

Date: 9/4/02

Provided by: Cooler Master

 

Cooler Master HSC-V62 Heat Sink Review

This particular Heatsink from Cooler Master features a new fin design called "Skived Fin Technology" which is supposed to give better temperatures than traditional "fin" copper coolers.  The heatsink itself is all copper.  Let's have a look at the box.

The box is very visually appealing, when compared to standard heatsink boxes.  This one is clear and actually shows the product inside. 

The specs on this heatsinks are from Coolermaster.com

Specification

  • Fan Dimension 60 x 60 x 25 mm

  • Rated Speed 3000 ~ 6800 RPM

  • Air Flow 16.13 ~ 36.11 CFM

  • Rated Voltage 12 VDC

  • Heat Sink Dimension 60 x 60 x 29 mm

  • Rja (/W) = 0.54 ~ 0.64 (FC - PGA)

 

Inside the box you will find the heatsink, along with some thermal compound.  Cooler Master decided not to put any thermal pads on the bottom which is very good.

Instead they protected the shiny bottom of the heatsink with an easy to peel off sticker.  This is great for overclockers that use the Arctic Silver brand thermal compounds.

As you can see from the picture, the bottom of this cooler is super polished and looks like a mirror. Not many heatsinks that are available today feature such a polished surface. This is also great for overclocking, since smooth surfaces are better for CPU to heatsink contact.

When put next to a standard retail AMD heatsink, you can really see how shiny this Cooler Master heatsink is.

 

Taking off the fan, you can see that Cooler Master has also put in a shim so the fan does not sit too close to the fins.  This fan also uses the "micro-fin" technology that most aluminum and copper coolers feature today.  This dissipates more heat than heatsinks with fins that are far apart.

When compared to the AMD retail heatsink, the Cooler Master is slightly taller, but shouldn't interfere with anything else in the case.

Taking off the 60mm Cooler Master branded fan.  You can see that the bottom of this fan has a thermal diode.  The box claims that this is fan speed is automatic and will switch the speed according to the heatsink temperature.  The placement of this diode is perfect because it is very close to the heatsink and will detect more accurate temperatures.  Thermal take has tried to do the same but the Volcano 7 smart fan does not come close to the technology in this fan.  The fan speed ranges from 3000-6800 rpms, and can select the appropriate speed for the temperature of the heatsink.

Installation of this heatsink was the simplest I have seen so far.  No flat head screwdrivers necessary!  All you need is your thumb.  Just place the heatsink flat on the CPU and hook the rear end of the clip to the side of the socket and use your thumb to push down the other side, then it is locked into place. Very simple.

Here is a picture of the heatsink installed, it takes up very little room. 

To test the cooler I used my second test rig, which is based on the following.

 

-AMD Duron 1200 mhz @ 1350 mhz

-ECS K7S5A motherboard

-512 MB PC-133 S-DRAM

-GeForce 2 GTS

-Enlight Mid-Tower Case

-Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound

 

The room temperature was at 84 degrees F when the test was conducted.  I used ten rounds of CPU burn in tests from Sisoft Sandra to achieve these temperatures.  The fan was pretty quiet during the testing and increased speed during the testing (3871 rpms to 4497rpms.)  Very precise increments in speed. 

 

AMD Retail HSF

Cooler Master HSF

Idle: 115 F Load: 127 F Idle: 110 F Load: 117 F

As you can see the Coolermaster heatsink that is made out of copper and is using the "Skived fin technology" is much cooler than the AMD retail Aluminum generic heatsink. 

 

So, in conclusion this Heatsink is perfect for most overclockers who are looking to get a couple more megahertz from their CPU's.  This HSF offers great temperatures, and an Thermal Controlled fan.

 

Lets look at some Pro's and Con's:

 

Pros:

-Nicely polished bottom

-Nice clip and installation

-All Copper

-Thermal Controlled Fan

 

Cons:

-Fan speed could of been a bit faster at lower temperatures for better cooling.

 

I give this cooler a  9.5  out of 10 star rating.  A great cooler!

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