Acoustic Samples: Listen to this Heatsink!

The waveform image shown below is out of scale for the Dynatron DY1206BH-625 even though it is a very noisy heatsink. At about 63 dB this is not the kind of fan you would really want running 24x7 in someone's bedroom computer.

To listen to the heatsink and hear for yourself what this heatsink actually sounds like. Just click on the headphones and listen to the MP3 recording.

FrostyTech Acoustic Sampling Chamber
Standard Waveform view of a 10 second recording. Click on the headphones to listen to an MP3 recording of this heatsink in operation.

Sound Level Measurements:

Listening to the actual noise a heatsink makes allows you to hear what pure numbers alone cannot get across. To further emphasize FrostyTech's reliance on cold hard facts when evaluating a heatsink, we also take Decibel readings with a sound level meter. These results may be higher than the manufacturer's listed specs, but then again these are real world measurements.

FrostyTech Sound Level Results
-	Manufacturer	Model	Noise Level	Scale
	JMC Prducts	400023	46.6 dB	quiet
	Zalman	All Flower HSF	47.4/28.9 dB
	Taisol	CGK760092	48.4 dB
	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	49.4 dB
	Noisecontrol	Silverado	50.8 dB
	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	53.0 dB
	Tocools	Crown	54.5 dB
	Sibak	AT01515B	55.8 dB
	Sibak	AC02625B	59.7 dB
	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	63.3 dB
	Dynatron	DC1206BMP	65.1 dB	louder

The heatsink is pretty good for its size and usually indicates that the high-speed fan is going to be less than silent. In fact this Delta fan is down right noisy. I don't think I could live with this fan in my own computer unless there was some serious sound insulation in the case, or the computer was hidden well below the desk. Don't get me wrong, I like things cool, but my sanity is equally important!

Synthetic Temperature Test Results: *Ranked according to 100W small interface die test results.

FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform Results
	Mfg.	Model	Ambient Temp.	27mm large copper block	15mm small copper block		27mm large copper block	15mm small copper block	Thermal pad	No. Fans	Fan Noise	Clip force
				50W	50W		100W	100W
1	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	26.5	39.1	44.4		57.5	63.6	grey	1	med	med
2	Sibak	AC02625B	23.2	41.3	59.0		43.2	64.7	none	1	loud	med
3	Swiftech	MCXC370	21.4	38.3	43.4		53.5	65.7	none	1	med	med
4	Tocools	Crown	23.2	38.8	53.2		47.9	70.2	none	1	loud	stiff
5	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	23.2	40.0	55.1		47.6	70.4	none	1	loud	stiff
6	Vantec	CCK-6027D	27.4	45.4	49.6		64.9	73.4	none	1	med	med
7	Swiftech	MCX370	22.3	42.0	46.1		60.3	75.6	none	1	med	hard
8	Taisol	CGK760092	23.4	42.7	61.2		51.3	77.5	pink	1	low	med
9	Zalman	CNPS6000-Cu	24.8	46.4	53.8		65.6	78.2	none	1	very low	easy
10	AVC	112AM1	24.8	46.6	52.9		70.1	79.6	none	1	low	stiff
11	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	23.5	44.9	66.7		53.7	80.8	silver	1	med	very stiff
12	Thermaltake	Volcano 6cu+	26.5	40.3	55.3		58.6	84.4	carbon	1	loud	med
13	JMC Products	400023	23.1	44.5	65.2		55.3	85.2	Chomerics T725	1	low	easy
14	Zalman	CNPS6000AlCu	24.9	48.3	56.3		72.2	86.0	none	1	low	med
15	Sibak	AT01515B	23.0	45.1	64.6		60.1	95.2	none	2	med	stiff
				50W	50W		100W	100W

The initial results point to a good set of thermal performance characteristics on the small interface die. Since this kind of copper heatsink is floating around under several different manufacturers names that is a good indication that it is easy to produce and offers good value for the buck.

Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
	Mfg.	Model	27mm large copper block	15mm small copper block		27mm large copper block	15mm small copper block
			50W	50W		100W	100W
1	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	12.6	17.9		31.0	37.1
2	Sibak	AC02625B	18.1	35.8		20.0	41.5
3	Swiftech	MCXC370	16.9	22.0		32.1	44.3
4	Vantec	CCK-6027D	18.0	22.2		37.5	46.0
5	Tocools	Crown	15.6	30.0		24.7	47.0
6	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	16.8	31.9		24.4	47.2
7	Swiftech	MCX370	19.7	23.8		38.0	53.3
8	Zalman	CNPS6000-Cu	21.6	29.0		40.8	53.4
9	Taisol	CGK760092	19.3	37.8		27.9	54.1
10	AVC	112AM1	21.8	28.1		45.3	54.8
11	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	21.4	43.2		30.2	57.3
12	Thermaltake	Volcano 6cu+	13.8	28.8		32.1	57.9
13	Zalman	CNPS6000AlCu	23.4	31.4		47.3	61.1
14	JMC Products	400023	21.3	42.0		32.1	62.0
15	Sibak	AT01515B	22.1	41.6		37.1	72.2
			50W	50W		100W	100W

Okay so we are seeing some pretty good performance here, and while there are other heatsinks which do even better, if you can get a hold of the DY1206BH-625 you won't be buying a hunk of junk. The three clips are a big point for an all copper cooler such as this, and with the potential to upgrade the fan even further there isn't much it can possibly tackle.

The base finish is very nice, and in general the fin-to-base thermal joint appears sufficient for the materials used, and far better than any thermal glue could manage. All around the DY1206BH-625 is a pretty good performing heatsink, but a bit on the loud side for my taste.