Alpha cooling?

[Tim Lee]

Ok. I am looking for a good cooling system for my AMD II 400 oc 450 and I saw Alpha heat sink. What is the main difference in that and a regular heat sink? Why is it cost $35? Does it really make difference or it is just a LOOK? Can anyone tell me the temperature you guys had before you install this and after installation? I really want to get a good cooling system. Let me know.

Thanks

Tim

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[JGene]

The bigger the heat sink the better--and these are massive compared to your average run-of-the-mill heat sinks. Why do they cost $35? The heat sink is shipped right out of a heat-sink manufacturer in Japan and somebody like 3dfxcool or 2coolTek assembles them into a fan/heatsink combo. Shipping costs will drive a bit of the cost as well as the varying amount in the currency exchange. But another factor is that it's one awesome heatsink and they'll charge you a pretty penny for it.

As for performance, I have yet to recieve mine in the mail, so I can't give you any heat benchmarks yet. But what I can tell you is that with my spindly little fan, my K6-III 450 is only cooled to 43C as opposed to my Peltier, which could cool my K6-2 21C(69F). My Peltier fan doesn't have the cooling power to cool my K6-III right now (at least not with it's underpowered cooling fan) so I'm getting a replacement fan and heat-sink.

Anyways, judging from on-line reviews and the comments from other users on this board, it should be one awesome fan. I'd reccomend you get one.

-JGene

[g13]

I received my slot alpha today from #3dfx cool and it is one impressive looking hsf. It puts my current celeron heatsink w/ four fans to shame. Unfortunately I haven't received the PPGA processor it's going to run on so I can't tell you the difference but I'll post comparisons to the stock fan as soon as it gets here.

[MGP]

Tim,

I just got an Alpha for my K6-III 450. It dropped the temperature from 42°C to 37°C as compared to a GlobalWin CPM25603-32 (which is also an excellent heatsink/fan!)

For OC'ing or K6-III's, I think the Alpha is the best cooling fan/heatsink around. The only thing that might be better is a Peltier, but they have their own problems too (like dumping 50-100W worth of heat into your case).

YES! They are worth $35 if you want your K6 to run cool. If the price is too steep, get a GlobalWin CPM25603-32. At about $15-$20, it is really good also. BTW, GlobalWin recently changed the part number of this cooler. It used to be CPM25603-12.

[Tim Lee]

I just ordered one 3 days ago. I found out that RADIO SHACK has small heatsink that I can use on Banshee....

[Snuffy]

I got almost the same results as MGP. I have a Celeron 300->473Mhz and I was running at 43 degC and now with the Alpha I have not exceeded 37degC. It is a solid investment considering the fact that new PIII's and Celerons will be socketed as well!