Introduction

A few weeks ago we looked at the Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer, our first crack at a heatpipe to Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) direct contact CPU heatsink. In retrospect, nothing other than the base was very remarkable; at least nothing that would lead us to believe anything other than the contact point would cause such great performance. The fan used from Sunbeamtech was a silent type that does not push a large amount of air, and this only confirmed that direct heatpipe to CPU technology is more than just a marketing tool.

Today we will be looking at another direct contact cooler, this time from SilenX. The SilenX iXtrema IXC-120HA2 is very similar to the SBT CCF; they even share the same mounting hardware. While the two are similar, they are not identical. The SilenX version is more robust, giving us the option of using two 120mm fans (one on each side of the fins). This is a feature that SBT did not include with their offering.

SilenX, just as the name implies is about quiet computing, and going dual fans should not be a problem with noise output given the fans acoustic rating. One look at the company's website and it is clear that SilenX prides itself on just how silent their products are. Actually, every product they sell, from heatsinks to power supplies are geared towards quiet operation. This puts the company in a strong position with the media center crowd and also those of us that have just outgrown massive power hungry systems.

Today we are going to put the SilenX Xtrema IXC-120HA2 through our thermal chamber and see how it compares to the Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer and all of the other CPU heatsinks we have tested in the past.