SUMMARY: Even though it is under one week till AMD conduct their worldwide launch of their desktop 64-bit processor, Athlon 64, many people will still buy current Athlon XP 32-bit processors for a little while to come as Athlon 64 drives its pricing down across the globe. Today Shawn "Toxic" Baker has a four way AMD Athlon XP heatsink shootout comparing two heatsinks from CoolerMaster and Thermaltake including the CoolerMaster Jet 7 which only came out of NDA today!
The Jet 7 is the first cooler we are going to be looking at and since the NDA was only lifted on it today, chances are it’s the first time you have seen the cooler. At first glance it looks amazing …..almost like a “Jet” engine. The Aero 7 from CoolerMaster that was released not too long ago was recalled due to people reporting it catching on fire. Just personally, a few flames out the back of this thing would be amazing yet it’s probably not the best thing for the cooler or the processor.
- The Heatsink
The heatsink is copper based with aluminum fins. Some people may wonder why CoolerMaster didn’t choose to go with a full copper design.
Well, for starters with the cooler already weighing 490 grams, the extra weight could become quite dangerous for your processor core. Another reason is that the price of the cooler automatically increases with an all copper layout and finally while copper transfers heat better aluminum is able to dissipate it or get it away from the cooler more efficiently. So in a sense you are getting the best of both worlds. An all copper bottom is also a lot better then just a copper circle on the bottom which a lot of coolers use to keep costs as low as possible.
- The Base
As stated, the base is fully copper to help cool the processor better. The whole surface feels very smooth but some people may find them self lapping it for increased performance. Lapping is a method of sanding the surface down with various grades of very fine sand paper to make it as smooth as possible. While lapping isn’t recommended as it will void your warranty, it is one thing that will definitely help to get the best out of your heatsink fan.
- The Fan
The fan on the Jet 7 is definitely the coolest looking fan on any cooler we have ever seen before. With 12 CFM @ 1900 RPM and 22.1 CFM @ 3500 RPM, it doesn’t push a lot of air which would give you the impression that it won’t perform as well. Noise ranges from 29.3 dBA to 42.6 dBA. So while it doesn’t push a huge amount of CFM at full speed, it is quite loud. We won’t know how it performs till later on in the article.
- The Clip
The clipping mechanism doesn’t require the use of a screwdriver to install, what more could an AMD user ask for? The push down clip and lever makes it very easy to install and while some people still don’t enjoy the installation of AMD heatsinks, this clip really makes the chore very painless.
- Fan Control
These days it isn’t uncommon to have a heatsink that gives you the ability to control the speed of the fan and the Jet 7 is no exception. The speed is simply controlled by a small knob that can be attached to a 3.5” face plate that comes with the cooler.
