Thermal Transtech Int’l Heatpipe TTIC-NPH-2

May 30, 2003 admin Uncategorized 0

Excellent Socket A heatpipe performance – Joe

SUMMARY: An excellent heatpipe solution for Socket A cooling.

TTIC

Weight: 400 grams; Fan: 70mm, 31.5 cfm @ 3600 rpm, 31 dBA.

The good guys at Thermal Transtech International Corp. were nice enough to send a sample of their AMD Socket A heatpipe CPU cooler #TTIC-NPH-2 (for a good explanation of heatpipes go HERE.)

A heatpipe is basically a closed tube:

HP

pic courtesy of TTIC

Inside is a liquid that evaporates when heated. As it travels up the tube and condenses back to a liquid, heat is released. The liquid then travels back down to the heatpipe’s base, evaporates again and the cycle repeats.

A look from the side

Side

shows the heatpipe in the center – the aluminum fins radiate off the heatpipe for cooling.

The base of the TTIC Heatpipe is fairly smooth:

Base

When I ran my nail over it, I could not feel or hear any ridges.

The TTIC Heatpipe ships with an Everflow fan #R127015DU – a 70 x 15 mm unit rated at 31.5 cfm @ 3600 rpm, 31 dBA¹. I found it to be tolerably quiet – I measured its noise at 52 dBA with a Radio Shack sound meter 8″ from the fan’s intake, substantially less than a Delta 38 (about 69 dBA). The fan stands off about 5 mm from the fins, which lessens noise. It’s also safe to use a motherboard fan header – 2.8 watts.

The clip engages all three socket lugs – I found it fairly easy to mount – and it does not require a screwdriver.

THE TEST

The TTIC Heatpipe was tested on the CPU Die Simulator which gives results that are unaffected by motherboard influences.

TEST RESULTS – CPU Simulator

Heatsink
Die Temp
Ambient Temp
Delta
C/W
TTIC Heatpipe, 69.9 watts, 3641 rpm
42.2 C
21.8 C
20.4 C
0.29

Delta = CPU temp – Ambient Temp
C/W = Delta / CPU Watts

Interpreting C/W: For every watt (CPUw) that the CPU
consumes, the HSF will limit the CPU’s temperature rise to (C/W x CPUw)
plus the temperature at the HSF’s fan inlet. For example, at an ambient temp of 25 C, a C/W of 0.25 with a CPU radiating 50 watts means that CPU temp will increase 50 x 0.25 = 12.5 C over ambient temp, or 37.5 C. The lower the C/W, the better.

Die Simulator results place the TTIC Heatpipe in the top rank of heatsinks tested to date (Heatsink Ranking).

CONCLUSIONS

A very effective, relatively quiet heatpipe solution for Socket A cooling. To date, this is the best heatpipe for CPU cooling I’ve tested.

¹Note that manufacturers usually measure fan noise 3 feet from the fan.

Email Joe