Xtreme PIII Heatsink

Every once in awhile something comes through my lab that just blows me away. The Alpha P3 Heatsink is just awesome for the PIII. It does have 2 shortcomings though. First, the Alpha does not contact the cache chips on the front of the CPU, second, There is no cooling offered for the back of the CPU which can get VERY hot on an overclocked CPU.

About a month or so ago, I reviewed a product by Xample Technologies called "Xtreme PII Heatsink". At that time I mentioned to them that we need something like this for the PIII. Well, we now have the Xtreme PIII Heatsink!

The Xtreme PIII Heatsink comes with everything you need to give the Alpha P3125S what it needs to be a complete cooling solution! There is an aluminum plate that fills in the gap between the cache and the Alpha. It also includes a heatsink for the back that contacts the back of the CPU and also the tag ram located on the back of the PC Board. There are also 2 50mm x 10mm fans that attach to the heatsink to keep the backside cool. The back heatsink is fitted with electrically insulating thermal transfer tape so nothing is shorted out.

Installation:

Included in the kit are:

1 – Heatsink for the backside of CPU with thermal tape already installed
1 – Cache spacer for between the cache and Alpha
4 – Short screws to screw it all together
4 – washers for short screws
4 – Longer screws to mount fans
2 – 50mm X 10mm Ball bearing fans
1 – Thermal paste
1 – 2 to 1 3 pin Y adapter

Note: Alpha P3125S must be purchased seperatly!

Installation is easy:

  1. Remove the plastic casing from back side of CPU
  2. Place the cache cooler, on the left side of the alpha, lining up the two
    holes, the side with a slot next to the hole is aligned with the top hole.

  3. Apply thermal grease to the cache chips and also the tag ram on the backside of the processor.
  4. Remove transparent backing from the thermal tape on the back cooler and
    place it on the back of the processor, visually aligning to the 4 holes on the
    processor so the thermal tape contacts the capacitors (the side with missing
    fins on the back cooler faces downwards) ( DO NOT press the back cooler or
    apply any pressure while placing the back cooler on to the processor).

  5. Place the back cooler and processor on to the Alpha/Cache assembly and carefully screw together by tightening the left 2 screws first (the ones near the tag ram) GENTLY! Then tighten the right 2 without applying any pressure.

CAUTION! The thermal tape can be punctured if you tighten too much causing the processor to short!



Conclusion:

Using the Xtreme PIII Heatsink I was able to get a PIII 450 to 600 totally stable that would not do it before. Even while using a Alpha. The cache and the backside of the PIII have always been a problem area to cool. The folks at Xample Technologies have given us an easy solution to this problem. There is nothing else like this on the market that I’m aware of and this is one cooling add-on that I think is well worth it!

The Xtreme PIII Heatsink will currently work with the Alpha P3125S ONLY! However, I’m using it with my Kryotech Renegade without the cache plate included with the kit. I had to make my own plate as the one for the Alpha is stepped to fill in the undercut in the Alpha.

 
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This review and comments are just my personal observations and
opinion. As with any products and services, please research throughly
before making any purchases. The reviewer and overclockers.com shall not
and will not be held liable for any damages cause by products reviewed in
this article.


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