SUMMARY: Vantec has been making cooling products for a good while now, but their history was more grounded around making economy type heatsinks and fans. That is, of course, until they decided to capitalize on the high-powered heatsink market that came alive with the advent of the Thunderbird processors. Come see what Mike Wright found out about the newest of the Vantec coolers.
The heatsink itself is all copper and consists of 36 thin fins that run the entire length of the unit. Attached to the base of the sink is an aluminum housing that surrounds and protects the fins and also acts as the mount for the fan.
The base of the sink is a thing of beauty. It is made completely of copper, is perfectly smooth, and has also been buffed to a mirror finish. I had to do absolutely no lapping at all to the base of the heatsink. Everything has already been taken care of for you. This is a very nice touch indeed.
The package sent to me also included a small packet of a white silicone paste. While this is much better than sticking a worthless thermal pad on the bottom of the sink, it still managed to find its way to the nearest trash receptacle. I’m a firm believer in using a good thermal interface material. So I went ahead and used some Arctic Silver for testing.
The Fan
As with other Vantec sinks that I have reviewed in the past, the CCK-6035 model uses the very capable Delta 7,000RPM fan. It pushes a nice 38-CFM of airflow, but sounds off at a hefty 46-48dBA. While this doesn’t bother me at all, there are a number of folks who have complained about the whining sound of this particular fan. But when it comes to cooling, there are very few fans out there that can even come close to the performance of the mighty Delta.
Another nice touch that Vantec has always provided is the 3-pin to 4-pin converter for the fan. The high speed Delta fan has been known to blow out some of the fan headers on the motherboard because of the large draw of power that it requires to run. The converter allows you to get the power straight from the Molex connectors of the power supply, so there is no chance of harming the expensive mainboard. Just hook it up to a spare 4-pin connector from the PSU and you’re ready to enjoy some very nice cooling.
Finally, the friendly folks at Vantec have made it a standard practice to attach a metal fan grill. With all the new goodies that are available for computers, I have found that wiring has increased dramatically inside the case. When using high-speed fans (like the Delta), some of these wires can get caught in the blades of the heatsink fan. You want to hear a gut-wrenching sound? Just listen as a couple of wires get caught within the blades of your internal fans. It’s almost enough to make your heart stop.
The Clipping Mechanism
Vantec got away from the wider clipping mechanism for some reason, but I found that this one installed easily. It took no tools to try to sneak the edge of the clip over the lugs, and it didn’t require a lot of force to get it attached properly. It was also pretty steady on the processor when it was installed, so you won’t have any problems with movement while it is in use. A bit wider clip would have been nice, but this one is serviceable.
