SilverStone Nitrogon Heatpipe

January 21, 2005 admin Uncategorized 0

SUMMARY: An interesting choice for P4, LGA775 and AMD 64 CPU cooling.

Pipes

Size: 130 x 108 x 95 mm (ex fan); Weight: 588 grams.

The good guys at SilverStone were nice enough to send their SilverStone Nitrogon heatpipe heatsink for a test spin. This is a large heatsink which uses two 60 mm fans for cooling.

Pipes

Back view – very clean design.

Installed on a motherboard, you can see where fit and orientation could be an issue:

Pipes

There’s quite an overhang to consider – the CPU socket’s orientation is a key factor.

Key Features:

  • Copper base, fins, and heat pipes
  • For use with P4 Prescott 3.2 GHz & above
  • Heat pipes pressure bonded to base
  • Heatpipes can be installed in any orientation installed
  • Heatpipes soldered to fins

The base could be finished better:

Bottom

Notice on the right side there is an area that is a little lower than the rest of the base.

Parts that ship with the unit allow for P4 and K8 mounting:

Parts

Mounting is straight forward, although it will require removal of the motherboard. The motherbboard backing plate will accommodate just about any mounting scheme where there are holes around the CPU socket. The knurled bolts secure first the backing plate and then another set of four to secure the heatsink to the motherboard – very simple.

The Test

The SilverStone Nitrogon Heatpipe was tested on an Acorp 4S845A motherboard with a modified P4 1500 to read CPU case temps. For testing, I used 2 60 mm Delta AFB0612EH fans – I varied rpms to give a noise and performance range.

TEST RESULTS – Acorp 4S845A Motherboard
Motherboard

CPU Case Temp

Ambient Temp

Delta

C/W

MBM Temp

6989 rpm, 70 dBA²

28.5 C

18.2 C

10.3

0.18

25C¹

5030 rpm, 68 dBA²

29.2 C

18.4 C

10.8

0.19

26 C¹

4013 rpm, 53 dBA²

29.8 C

18.7 C

11.1

0.19

27 C¹

2993 rpm, <50 dBA²

30.7 C

18.5 C

12.2

0.21

28 C¹

2076 rpm, <50 dBA²

33.6 C

19.0 C

14.6

0.25

30 C¹

¹MBM on-die temperatures.

²50 dBA measured 8″ from the fan intake corresponds to about 30 dBA measured 3 feet from the fan; this is a very quiet noise level. The 90 mm fan at 1500 rpm is very quiet.

Die Simulator results place SilverStone’s Nitrogon heatpipe in the mid rank of P4 heatsinks tested to date (Heatsink Ranking).

CONCLUSIONS

SilverStone Nitrogon heatpipe is fairly well made (the base could be better) and a good choice for P4/K8 cooling, assuming it can fit your case. Mating SilverStone Nitrogon’s Heatpipe with a rheostat controlling the fans might be the preferred approach for a quiet night’s sleep fro 24/7 operation.

Thanks again to SilverStone for sending this our way.

Email Joe