TOCOOLS Regal P4 Heatsink

September 27, 2002 admin Uncategorized 0

An OK P4 heatsink – Joe

SUMMARY: An OK P4 heatsink.

Regal

The good guys at TOCOOLS sent me a sample of their P4 heatsink, the TOCOOLS Regal P4 Heatsink. TOCOOLS is a new face on the heatsink market. This is an all-aluminum sawed heatsink similar to their TOCOOLS Crown..

The aluminum base is well finished:

Base

The clips are interesting – two wires that clip into the P4 retention base. These are not positive locking clips as seen on other P4 heatsinks:

Clip

There is no lip on one side of the clip that secures the clip such that it positively can not slip out. I would be concerned that a good knock on the case could dislodge it.

The fan is a Delta AFB0812SH – a 80 x 25mm unit rated at 47 cfm @ 4000 rpm, 40 dBA. I found it to be tolerably quiet – I measured its noise (note that manufacturers measure noise 3′ from the fan) at 62 dBA with a Radio Shack sound meter 8″ from the fan’s intake, somewhat less than a Delta 38 (about 69 dBA). It’s also safe to use a motherboard fan header (6.1 watts).

THE TEST

I tested the TOCOOLS Regal on an Acorp 4S845A motherboard with a modified P4 1500 to read CPU case temps.

TEST RESULTS – Motherboard
Motherboard

CPU Case Temp

Ambient Temp

Delta

C/W

MBM Temp

Acorp 4S845A

36.5 C

23.4 C

13.1

0.23

31 C¹

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.

Motherboard results place the TOCOOLS Regal in the mid rank of heatsinks (Heatsink Ranking) tested to date.

CONCLUSIONS

As delivered, the TOCOOLS Regal is an OK performer.

Thanks again to TOCOOLS for sending this our way.

Email Joe