Heatsink Test – Joe
SUMMARY: A top-notch heatsink which can handle high wattage CPUs, is very easy to mount, not heavy and looks great.
The good guys at Asetek were nice enough to send their newest product, the VapoChill Micro Extreme for a test spin. This is a thermosyphon which uses the refrigerant gas R134a for the phase change. The VapoChill Micro is rated to handle 150 watts and is designed to fit P4, Socket LGA 775 and K8 motherboards.
Looking at the Micro from the front
shows the plastic fan mount – it is thin and feels a bit on the flimsy side, but once the fan is mounted on it, it firms up. The fan mount is angled such that it directs air onto the motherboard. High-End & Extreme fans are PWM (Pulse With Modulation) compatible for motherboards which support this capability.
Note the three pipes coming out of a plenum attached to the base. The following diagram
shows how the VapoChill Micro works – the refirigerant is a liquid at the base – heat turns it into a gas, which is then cooled by the radiator. This condenses the gas back into a liquid, which flows down the pipes back to the base to start the cycle over. There are no moving parts to wear out; the only caveat is that it must be mounted such that the radiator is above the base, either horizontally or vertically.
The VapoChill Micro Extreme ships with a fan controller and parts for P4, Socket LGA 775 and K8 mounting:
The base is well finished:
The dots are pre-applied heatsink compound. When I ran my nail over the base, I could not feel or hear any ridges.
The VapoChill Micro Extreme was tested on an Acorp 4S845A motherboard with a modified P4 1500 to read CPU case temps.
I varied fan speed (rated 3800 rpm, 74 cfm) using Asetek’s fan controller to get a performance range, measuring rpms using an Omega digital tachometer. I measured fan noise with a Radio Shack sound meter 8″ from the fan’s intake. These are not comparable to noise levels reported by fan manufacturers; noise is usually measured at three feet from the fan.
| Heatsink |
Case Temp
|
Ambient Temp
|
C/W
|
Die Temp¹
|
| VapoChill Micro, 3640 rpm, 63 dBA |
34.5 C
|
26.0 C
|
0.16
|
30
|
| VapoChill Micro, 2588 rpm, 52 dBA |
35.9 C
|
25.1 C
|
0.19
|
31
|
| VapoChill Micro, 1426 rpm, <50 dBA |
38.1 C
|
24.7 C
|
0.23
|
33
|
| VapoChill Micro, 897 rpm, <50 dBA |
44.2 C
|
24.6 C
|
0.34
|
38
|
¹Die Temp as measured by the P4 on-die diode, per MBM.
