Coolink U1P2 HSF Review

Testing

As most of you know already, I recently went from the old Thunderbird to a newer Athlon XP processor. I have been running it at stock speeds during heatsink testing so that I can maintain a stable baseline for the coolers that come to TweakTown. So let's take a peek at the test system:

Antec SX1030 Tower Case w/ 170-CFM airflow

EPoX 8KHA+ Motherboard

AMD Athlon XP 1800+ Processor

512MB Crucial PC2100 DDR Memory

Prolink XX-Player GeForce3

Seagate Barracuda 40GB @ 7200-RPM

Arctic Silver II

The Athlon XP processors have lower operating temperatures than the older Thunderbirds, so I have begun a new database of results. With all of the new coolers coming out, it won't take long to build up a large list again. Testing will consist of my usual battery of programs so that we can maintain some consistency in the results. This will include temperatures being taken at idle, after a grueling Quake III Arena Deathmatch, and after a continuous looping of the 3dMark2001 Demo.

Voltages are set at 1.75v for the processor core, 2.6 for the DDR memory, and the ambient room temperature throughout testing was a stable 21.6C (about 71F). These conditions were constant with no fluctuating temperatures or voltages.

Results - Idle

Hmmm...It's beginning to look as if we may have something here. While the idle temperatures don't tell the whole story, it does tend to give us an idea as to how well the cooler can work. So now let's see what it can do when we stress the processor.

Results - Quake III Arena

This Coolink is looking better and better all the time. It's does tend to be on the loud side, but these results are making it a very workable solution. Now on to the Demo Loop test.

Results - 3DMark2001 Demo Loop

The twin fans have paid off very nicely here. If you can take the noise levels, then I think that you'll enjoy the performance levels that this monstrosity can give you. Very nice indeed.