Swiftech Roundup Featuring the MCX462+ - Conclusion page 3

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Testing
As always, I test my heatsinks with no case fans to aid in cooling. A temperature probe was used and was placed close enough to touch the CPU core and not cause any interference between the heatsink and the core. A fresh layer of Arctic Silver II (thanks to the AS crew) was applied. The room temperature was kept consistent at 73F with air conditioning on throughout the entire testing procedures.

 

Test System (AMD):

• AMD Athlon XP1700+ @ XP1900+ (11x145)

• Albatron KX400+ Pro

• 2 x 256mb Kingmax PC3200

• Maxtor ATA133 20gb

• Maxtor ATA66 60gb

• ATI Radeon 7500

• 3com 905cx NIC

• Turtle Beach Santa Cruz

• Pioneer 16x DVD Slot Load

• Teac 16x10x40x CDRW

• Antec SX630

• Antec True Power 480watt power supply

Test Fans:

• Sunon 80mm 36 CFM @ 2800 RPM, 32.5 dBA

• Delta FFB0812SHE 68.51 CFM @ 4900 RPM, 48.5 dBA

• Thermaltake 21 CFM @ 4550 RPM, 28 dBA

• Papst 33 CFM @ 6850 RPM, 43 dBA

Test Burn-Ins:

• SETI (15 minutes)

• Sisoft CPU Burn-In (10 loops)

• 3dmark2k1se patched (5 loops)

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Results
We have tested all the aforementioned HSF's with both normal and high performance fans. The first graph you will see is one showing temperatures with high performance fans. Notably, the Pabst and Delta. All temperatures are Celcius.

*All temps in Celsius

 

Now lets checkout results with your more standard "quieter" fans. Thermaltake and Sunon.

 

*All temps in Celsius

 

Obviously these heatsinks perform much better with high performance fans pushing air on them. But not everyone is willing to deal with the noise fans will produce.

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Concerns
There were not many concerns about the Swiftech line of products other than the malleable pins getting bent.

The only other issue I once encountered with the MCX370 was that the screw snapped on me and broke in half when screwed into the heatsink. That was a while ago and I haven't encountered a problem like that since. I guess the only major problem would be that the MC462 won't fit all motherboards. Although the MCX462+ is now the main product, that shouldn't be a problem anymore. The only nitpick I have with the MCX462+ is the use of push pins. It makes installing fans a breeze, but removing can take some work...and a flathead or needle nose pliers.

 

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Conclusion
Swiftech products are getting better and better judging from the raw data obtained. Nothing but good things can be said about Swiftech aircooling solutions. I am currently using the MCX462+ with the Sunon 80mm fan and am very pleased. Although it doesn't give me the 45c under load that I like, it is very quiet and still outperforms many others that I've tested. Lets finish up the article by giving some pros and cons regarding the Swiftech MCX462+.

Pros:

• Great looking

• Awesome performance

• Very easy to install

Cons:

• Heavy--not for LAN gamers

• Takes a little more time to install

• Pricey

Rating: 9.5/10

 

When it comes to aircooling your CPU, your simply not going to get any better than this. Swiftech once again raises the performance bar to an unprecedented level and will surely send the competition scrambling back to the drawing boards. This heatsink easily deserves the OCA Essential Hardware award. Great work guys!

We'd like to thank Swiftech for providing the MCX462+ and also let you know you can pick these up for a great price at SidewinderComputers. And tell Gary we sent ya.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the review. Feel free to head into the Forums for discussion, or stop by the Front Page and check out plenty of other GooSH!™ here at OCA..

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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