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Thermalright SLK-800
Date: Saturday, January 11, 2003
Author: Jsgoflman
Provided By: Sidewinder Computers
Page: 1 of 2
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Along about the middle of last year Thermalright introduced the SLK-800 heatsink for socket 370/462 motherboards. The result was a resounding success. The SLK-800 found itself perched atop the food chain for aftermarket cooling on those steaming Athlons. Praises were heaped upon it like roses on Miss America. So, it's been well over six months since it was introduced, why subject us to another review? Well, for two reasons actually. One, some folks have just discovered Motherboard Monitor and realized they could fry two eggs and a slab of bacon on their CPU. Two, just like when shopping for a vehicle, you need to read the reports of how well they hold up after initial manufacture. Besides, with the passage of time, the price of this unit has come down to a very affordable level for the novice.
Those familiar with Thermalright will remember the wildly popular SK-6 and it's equally popular big brother, the SLK-600. The SLK-800 retains the classic thermalright commitment to quality while improving on an already excellent design. I will touch on a few of the more important details in this article, for an expanded list of specifications and features click on the link in the previous paragraph.
The first, and most obvious, feature is probably the fan retention mechanism. It is a radically different design than you will find on any other heatsink. Rather than use the standard method of securing the fan to the hs via screws that either fasten to the base of the unit or directly through the fins, the 800 utilizes retention wires. While they don't appear to be very substantial, they are more than up to the task of securing any fan to the top of the structure. Perhaps the most unique part of this innovative concept is the inclusion of multiple holes in the side of the heatsink. These are used to accommodate 60mm, 70mm and 80mm fans. This coupled with the "shelving" of the top of the unit provide a stable format for holding the fan in place. This arrangement allows you to experiment with a variety of fan combinations to achieve the optimum ratio of noise to cooling. This, in my opinion, is the real genius of the SLK-800. Nowhere else can you find this functionality; allowing you to use that fancy new TMD fan or powering up UT2K3 and slapping on the Tornado. There is also no need to purchase one of a myriad of adapters that must be haphazardly attached in order to take advantage of the quiet cooling of the larger fans.
Next, we look at the socket attachment apparatus. This is achieved by means of a 3-lug clip. This is a must considering the design of the unit, which we'll look at in a minute. The inclusion of a clip that utilizes all three lugs is becoming more of a standard, as it should. While I wouldn't feel totally comfortable toting around my LAN case with this attached, it does weigh in at 505g (sans fan), for everyday usage and movement you should have no qualms about it becoming dislodged and taking your lugs with it. The clip itself is locked within the heatsink, it can't be removed. No chance of putting the clip on backwards. As you can see from the photos, the clip is flat black in color. I had heard that there might be a shift to silver but, apparently, this did not occur. That's fine with me, I prefer the black. I don't believe aesthetics should be a large concern when you consider this model.
The final bit of information we'll pass on about the cooler, before we get to the testing, is the base-fin design. You may have noticed that the base is considerably smaller than most other heatsinks. Another innovation that is exclusive to Thermalright. The idea behind the design is to allow the fan to blow cool air down around the socket as opposed to relying on the heat transfer properties of a massive block of copper on its own. One drawback to this concept is now you have a base that slides in between the pads on the K7 CPU. Installation of the heatsink directly on the socket creates a real risk of crushing the core. How does Thermalright solve this problem? By including a set of 8 circular pads with the cooler, along with a packet of thermal compound and a thermal pad. You simply attach the adhesive pads they provide to each corner of the base (4 are extra) and, viola, just like mom used to make. Once that is complete, you attach the 800 and it's solidly affixed to your socket. As far as the construction/manufacture is concerned, it's quality all around. Very solid, finished to a sheen. The base was not quite as good as I've seen on the Swiftech, but still very well done. And now on to the…
System Setup/Configuration
Coolermaster ATC-710
Athlon XP 1700+ (stock settings)
512 Crucial PC2100 DDR
A7M266 MB
GeForce 4 MX420
(4) generic 80mm case fans
Rounded cables
CDRW, DVD, floppy, 40GB WD HDD
All of our tests at COD are conducted under real world conditions with software that is commercially available to anyone. We don't use die simulators or test beds. While they generally show exclusive performance of the product, they also don't take into account all the vagaries of the typical system. We try to provide results that are very similar to what one might encounter on their system. For example, if I state that the heatsink achieved a maximum temperature of 49c, you can expect to attain temperatures approximating those readings with your own setup, not the 38c you saw on a die simulator review. Arctic Alumina was used as a thermal compound on all tests. The ambient temperature was maintained at 21c+/- .2c throughout the testing. The case temperature was a constant 22c. For comparison purposes I tested the SLK-800 w/Vantec 80mm Tornado (84cfm) against my current cooler, the Swiftech MCXC-370 w/Delta 60mm EHE (50cfm) .
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