Heatsink Test – Joe
SUMMARY: Quiet with excellent performance – suitable for all CPU cooling needs.
The good guys at Silenx were nice enough to send a sample of their latest heatsink, Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 heatpipe heatsink to try out. This heatsink features four large (8mm) heatpipes which directlyu contact the CPU’s IHS.
Key Features
- 8 mm direct contact copper heatpipes, aluminum fins, 9000 cm² surface area
- 120 mm fan, manual fan controller, 900 – 1700 rpm, 36 – 84 cfm, 9 – 24 dBA
- Mounting for Socket 754, LGA775, 939, 940, AM2
The fan clips onto the heatsink with two wire clips:
The base shows the four heatpipes which directly contact the CPU’s IHS:
Parts that ship with the Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 for AMD and Itel 775 mounting:
What I particularly like is that the mounting base does NOT require removing the motherboard from the case – the plastic base is installed from the front of the motherboard – no backplate required. The heatsink has a clip which engages two lugs on the base – absolutely one of the easiest heatsinks to install.
The Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 was tested on an Asus P5WD2 motherboard P4 Motherboard Test Platform with a modified Pentium D 805 to read CPU case temps (both supplied by Directron). The Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 was tested with two different 120 mm Silenx fans – one rated at 84 cfm and one rated at 46 cfm; the fans are isolated from the heatsink with small rubber pads which mitigates fan noise. The speed controller with the 84 cfm fan resulted in speeds ranging from 835 to 1454 rpm.
| Heatsink | Case Temp | Ambient Temp | C/W | On-Die Temp¹ |
| Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2, 1430 rpm, 51 dBA² | 38.9 | 24.9 | 0.15 | 49 |
| Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2, 1171 rpm, <50 dBA² | 41.4 | 25.3 | 0.17 | 52 |
¹MBM on-die temperatures.
²50 dBA measured 8″ from the fan intake corresponds to about 30 dBA measured 3 feet from the fan, a very quiet noise level.
Results place the Silenx IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 in the topmost rank of heatsinks tested to date (Heatsink Ranking) with the fan at its highest speed setting. Performance with the slower 120 mm fan is very good; the fan is almost silent – inside a case, fan noise will not be noticeable.
Silenx’s IEXTREMA IXC-120HA2 proves to be an excellent heatsink – you can’t beat low noise, high performance and drop-dead easy installation. For aggressive cooling, a higher cfm 120 mm fan with a speed controller could be a winning setup. Very nice product.
Disclosure: Joe Citarella has a financial interest in a company developing thermosyphon products for electronic chip cooling.
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