Heatsink test – Joe
SUMMARY: An excellent choice for low-noise P4 cooling.
The good guys at The Heatsink Factory were nice enough to send a sample of the XP-90C heatpipe heatsink for a test spin. This is the copper version of the popular XP-90. Mounting options include gear for Intel P4 socket 478, Intel P4 socket T (LGA775) and AMD socket 754/939/940.
Mounting is straight forward – there are two clips which engage the P4 retention bracket. The preferred mounting procedure is to engage the two clips at the one end of the heatsink and then rock it forward away the RAM slots to engage the retention bracket.
Parts that ship with the unit allow for multiple mounting options:
The base is well finished:
When I ran my nail over it, I could not feel or hear any ridges.
The Thermalright XP-90C was tested on an Acorp 4S845A motherboard with a modified P4 1500 to read CPU case temps. For testing, I used 90 mm Vantec Tornado – I varied rpms to give a noise and performance range.
| Motherboard | CPU Case Temp | Ambient Temp | Delta | C/W | MBM Temp |
| 4870 rpm, 78 dBA² | 25.5 C | 19.2 C | 6.3 | 0.11 | 21 C¹ |
| 4003 rpm, 72 dBA² | 26.0 C | 19.5 C | 6.5 | 0.11 | 23 C¹ |
| 2999 rpm, 62 dBA² | 26.5 C | 19.7 C | 6.8 | 0.12 | 23 C¹ |
| 1960 rpm, 51 dBA² | 28.1 C | 20.5 C | 7.6 | 0.13 | 25 C¹ |
Die Simulator results place Thermalright’s XP-90C in the topmost rank of P4 heatsinks tested to date (Heatsink Ranking).
Thermalright’s XP-90C Heatpipe is well made and an excellent choice for CPU cooling. Mating Thermalright’s Heatpipe with a variable speed fan might be the preferred approach for the power user looking for peak performance followed by a quiet night’s sleep.
Thanks again to The Heatsink Factory for sending this our way. The XP-90C is avialable now from them.
²Note that manufacturers measure fan noise usually 3 feet from the fan.
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