Evercool NW6-610

First Impressions

The above unit is the Evercool NW6-610. This arrived in the obligatory box, with a small blister pack of thermal compound and no grey mounting bracket (shown above). A small 60x60x10mm fan is included that looks like it would have a hard time keeping a Pentium III cool, let alone a Pentium 4. One advantage of the 60mm design is that a wide variety of other fans can be mounted on this heatsink, such as the 6800RPM Delta Black Label or the 4500RPM Y.S. Tech model. Here are the specs of the fan (according to Evercool's website):

One feature I was most impressed with was the rotation alarm mounted on the fan wiring. If the fan fails to spin up (due to failure or cable obstruction), then a piercing alarm sounds alerting you to the problem. This also is heard at system startup by a short chirp as the fan spins up. Good idea Evercool!

A total of 27 fins help radiate the heat away, but they are not ribbed for maximum dissipation. The cooler is also completely sealed on two sides (the longer sides) so that air is channelled in parallel to the orientation of the fins. This can cause the cooler to perform poorer than would be expected if the cooler was allowed to breathe on all four sides. The clipping mechanism is relatively straightforward, with extremely strong springs. I had to bend the springs slightly so that I could squeeze the clips into place. Apart from this, very easy to install.