Our friends over at Sidewinder Computers sent us the newly released Global Win WBK38 socket cooler to put thru the paces, so that's what we're going to do for ya here. I have been running what has been disputably the best socket cooler to date. The WBK's little brother, the FOP38. We never sobered up long enough to put a review out of the FOP-38, so we decided to pit the WBk38 against the FOP38 and FOP32 in this review to show ya what each can offer.

Manufacturer:  Global Win
Price:  $26.00 (Sidewinder Computers)

 

There was a day, not too long ago, that if you said anybody other than Alpha made the best coolers you'd be laughed out of the geek circles.  Global Win and a few other manufactures have been busting their ass to disprove that.  

Our friends over at Sidewinder Computers sent us the newly released Global Win WBK38 socket cooler to put thru the paces, so that's what we're going to do for ya here.  I have been running what has been disputably the best socket cooler to date.  The WBK's little brother, the FOP38.  We never sobered up long enough to put a review out of the FOP-38, so we decided to  pit the WBk38 against the FOP38 and FOP32 in this review to show ya what each can offer. 

Pic's of the WBK38:

         

 
As you can see, this is one big piece of metal!  As apparent below, there is a lot more meat to this cooler than on it's little brother the FOP38:

 

       
(Global Win FOP38 on the left, and WBK38 on the right)

 

So yes, we can definitely see the Global Win set out to make a monster, but contrary to what the woman in our life try to make us believe, size isn't always everything.  Does the WBK with its extra mass perform better than it's FOP brethen?

Let's take a quick look at the specs of the WBK38:

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, lets head over to page 2 and install this beast and see what kind of performance it can give us.

 

Bear in mind when looking at the temperature difference's between the FOP32 and the FOP38, these are the exact same heat sink, the only difference is the fan mounted on top.  The FOP32 comes stock with a 4200RPM fan while the FOP38 comes with the same fan as the WBK38, a 6800RPM screamer.  I say screamer in the very literal sense, these things are LOUD!!  You may be thinking to yourself that it's no big deal, but until you hear one of these things in person, there is simply no way to describe it.

On with the results:

 

 

(Temps listed as Fahrenheit/Celsius)

**Note, our temperatures were taken on the CPU IN THE CASE!  Please don't try to compare these results to other reviews where they used an open air motherboard for the benchmarking.  While you will see ultimate temperatures different, the comparative results should closely align with yours and other webmasters if taken accurately and with a stable ambient temperature.** 

What we see here is pretty clear, while the FOP32 does a fair job under this stressful situatuion, the FOP38 and WBK38 kick major llama ass. (kinda like Winamp I suppose.)

For those of you that are used to the Intel temperatures you may be shocked to see a 30degree difference between idle and load, but this illustrates just how hot these AMD CPU's get.

 

Cum on Feel the Noize:

While it's clear that the Heat sinks with the Delta 6800RPM fan are major players in the cooling game, it comes at a price, and I ain't talking about how much it'll cost ya in USD$.  The price of the cooling is noise, and lots of it!  If you haven't heard one of these bad boys, there are simply no words to accurately describe how much racket they make.  I run four blowholes and a total of seven 80mm fans in my box, thats not to mention the chipset cooler and the video card cooler.  That said, the 60mm fan on the WBK and the FOP38 is still by FAR the prominent noise I hear from my case.  That little mofo simply drowns out the noise of all the other fans.  Since there's no way you're gonna believe me, I'll simply let it go at that and reserve the right to say "I told you so" at a later date.

 

Conclusions:

What can I say, as you can see from the results, this WBK38 boasts performance that we have simply not seen before from a socket cooler, or slot for that matter.  Before you run out and buy one based on that sentence, keep three things in mind.  1.  The clip on all three of these units (same clip) sucks mooseballs, and there ain't no nice way to say it.  2.  Make DAMN sure the noise of the fan isn't going to drive you crazy.  What good does it do ya to have a stable CPU if it's on the sidewalk outside because you threw it out the window?  3.  There are new heat sinks on the market now, and about be released that could possibly come close to this performance level without the noise and bad retaining clip.

That said, I would still have to say I recommend WBK38 OR the FOP38 full heartedly, but only to the diehard overclockers that absolutely must have the best performance.  Yes, I do realize that includes most of you!  As bad as the clip is, once you get it on it's no longer a concern, and you can bet your beer money that it ain't coming off!  

That about wraps it up, if after reading this you think that one of these units is for you, head over to Sidewinder Computers and pick one up.  They have great prices, cheap shipping, and most importantly, their service rocks.

Agree?  Disagree?  Flames?  Props?  Drop us a line and let us know.

 

DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

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