Product Name: Antec Solution Series vs. Akasa-824

Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Author: Jsgolfman

Provided By: None

Page: 1 of 2

Introduction

A Blue Collar Review by Gman

OK, you went into the local PC mega-retail store because you have been reading about these heatsink thingies on the 'net. You peruse the aisles of overpriced video cards, keyboards and floating, optical mice that know where you want to click before you do. Then you spot them. Those hunks of metal with the funny looking blades and some kind of fan on top. At least it looks like a fan; it's kinda small though.

They are supposed to be good for your computer. Gets rid of all that nasty heat that pours out of it like a radiator in a cramped efficiency in lower Manhattan. You know that heat is bad. Makes things melt. That can't be good for all those electronics inside the metal shroud called a case. But, which one do you get? There are 2 or 3 different ones to choose from and your knowledge on this subject is marginal, at best. Well, it's just a bunch of aluminum with a fan. There probably isn't much difference in them anyway. I will just go for the $15 one from Antec. It's called the Solution Series and it says, right on the box, it works for Intel and AMD CPU's up to the XP 2100+(not AMD approved though). Sounds all right to me. Let's head to the checkout and…hold it right there.

Before you pluck down your hard-earned cash, let's see if it is worth replacing the one that shipped with your PC or saving those greenbacks for another great title from Capcom. First things first, let's have a look at this metallic savior.

The Solution?

From the picture you can probably guess that it is made of aluminum; therefore, it is very light, just 195g. It comes attached to a Top Power 60mm thin fan. It's very quiet even though it runs @5500 rpm. The heatsink is a one-piece design with 80 very thin fins. It has an aluminum shroud covering two sides of the heatsink to funnel air from the fan to the fins. It also has something I dislike, a single lug attachment to the socket. I can't say enough about the full clip for attaching the heatsink. Better to be safe than sorry on this item. The clip does use a better system of install than the method of using a screwdriver to apply pressure to the clip and slip it over the lug. The backside of the cardboard packaging has instructions on attaching the unit and applying the thermal compound, which comes with the unit. Throw the compound away and get some Arctic Silver or Alumina. The instructions are short and adequate although the accompanying picture suggests you place the sink on at an angle to engage the backside clip. Do NOT do it that way! You can damage the CPU core. The clip is loose enough to attach it in a horizontal position. You can then use the thumb latch to apply pressure down and out until the clip is over the lug. It doesn't look that much different from the stock hsf (heatsink fan) that comes with the retail CPU. We'll see if it performs the same as well.

The Competition

In order to evaluate anything, you must choose something to use as a comparator. In this case we have chosen the Akasa-824. If you are not familiar with it, don't worry. Although it is slightly larger and accommodates an 80mm fan, it is aimed at the same market, the low price range. Each one sells for ~$15, retail. Both are all aluminum fin designs with the Akasa having 26 larger fins compared to the 80 smaller fins for the Antec. CFM (cubic feet/minute) for both is in the low 20's. This is a measure of how much air the fan can move. The higher the cfm, the more air is blown across the fins. Theoretically, this increases the efficiency of the unit thus decreasing the temperature of the CPU as opposed to using passive (no fan) cooling. One item on both units I should mention is the base, the part that contacts the CPU core. Neither of these hsf has a lapped base. A lapped base is one that is very smooth, providing better contact between the base and core allowing for better heat transfer. They each have obvious milling marks but the Antec has visible circling on the bottom. But for $15 you can't expect to see a lapped base from the factory.