The
Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL is one of small series of mainstream heatsinks
manufactured by Gigabyte, and differs from the Neon Cooler 8-Pro version only by its lack of a separate fan speed controller. The
Neon Cooler 8-BL (GH-ED821-LC) heatsink is an aluminum extrusion design, and it incorporates an inlaid circular copper base. The copper pad is set into a machined recess in the aluminum base and helps to transfer heat energy from an AMD Athlon64 processor's IHS to
the surrounding heatsink more efficiently. T6-6063 Aluminum has a thermal
conductivity of 193 W/mK, whereas copper is much more thermally
conductive at 398 w/mK. Inserting a copper base plate is a well known means of dealing with the high heat loads of late model CPUs on extruded aluminum heatsinks.
The
Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL is rated for all current socket 939 AMD Athlon64
processors, but users should be aware that this is by no means a 'performance
heatsink.' As FrostyTech will illustrate in a moment, cooling performance is
squarely in the mainstream zone. The Neon Cooler 8-BL could also be used with
socket 754 AMD processors, although socket 940 Opteron applications would
not be recommended. The Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL is priced around $21USD ($26CDN).
Gigabyte Neon Cooler
8-BL Heatsink
|
 | |
 |
| HEATSINK
SPECSHEET |
| Manufacturer: Gigabyte |
| Model No.: GH-ED821-LC "Neon Cooler 8-BL" |
| Materials: Extruded aluminum, copper base
insert. |
| Fan Mfg: Everflow F128025DL |
| Fan Spec: 2000RPM, 12V, 0.10A |
| Fan Dim: 25x94x94mm |
| Heatsink & Fan Dim: 68x81x94mm |
| Weight: 450 grams |
| Includes: thermal paste, instructions |
Compatible with Sockets: 754/939/940 |
| Est. Pricing: $21USD
($26CDN) | |
The
extrusion shape is somewhat interesting on the Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL
heatsink. Rather than a flat top with vertical fins, its fins are all
angled away from the center of the heatsink, and there is a small recess just
below the fan. 
This concave recess is generally used
to prevent hot-spots from occuring just below the fan's motor. Conversely, the base is convex in shape; presumably
to improve the absorption and transfer of the heat energy from the K8 CPUs' integrated heat spreader out towards
the fins.
The fan on
the Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL is flashy for a mainstream heatsink, yet
fairly quiet in operation. According to the manufacturers specs,
the Everflow-produced 94x94mm fan moves 33.15CFM at a rotational speed of
~2000RPM. The fan is a translucent blue colour, and illuminated from just below the fan
motor by four very bright blue LED lights. The effect is pretty
nice as the 7-bladed impeller spins slowly
around.
On top of this lighting effect, the impeller blades
are coated with an iridescent paint which ranges from metallic light green
to purple in colour. To reduce air turbulence and noise generation,
the outside of the fan's casing is vented with a series of 1.5mm
wide slits. This technique was first introduced by Andrew Lemont (see Augmented
Fan ), before being adapted by Panaflo a few years back. In
real world use, the slits tend to take the high-pitched
whine out of a fan, most
noticeably.
FrostyTech's Mk.II Test Methodology is outlined in detail
here if would like
to know what equipment is used, and the parameters under which the Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8-BL heatsink will be tested. Now let's move forward
and take a closer look at this cooler, its acoustic characteristics and thermal performance!
77%
