Acoustic Samples: Listen to this Heatsink!

I really need to get these waveform images done a bit better than this... looking at this diagram it seems as though the mic is about to explode! The sound recording came out well thankfully, so give that a listen and hear just how loud this heatsink actually is.

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
	Tocools	Crown	54.5 dB
	Sibak	AT01515B	55.8 dB
	Sibak	AC02625B	59.7 dB
	Thermal Integration	TI-V77N	61.3 dB
	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	63.3 dB
	Dynatron	DC1206BMP	65.1 dB	louder

With a rated speed of 5000RPM it really is no wonder that the fan on the TI-V77N produces over 60dB of noise in real world conditions. The Dynatron heatsink uses a similarly sized fan which produces similar levels of noise inside the computer case. The lower the noise levels the better, but with lower noise comes lower air flow and generally speaking, less cooling capacity.

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-V77N	23.3	40.0	41.0		55.4	59.1	none	1	loud	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

I must say I am kind of impressed, it has been quite a while since we have seen a heatsink perform so well in the initial test results for the reference heatsinks. The TI-V77N comes in even lower than the Sibak cooler with its copper core - a similarly implemented heatsink design.

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-V77N	16.7	17.7		32.1	35.8
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

Well the Thermal Integration TI-V77N looks as though it is one of the best heatsinks in this list of reference heatsinks for small core processors. It is very rare to see a heatsink come in with a rise above ambient temperature of less than 40 degrees C, but the TI-V77N has managed to do this on the small interface die at 100W heat load.

Although we found the clipping mechanism to be a bit more difficult to engage than we normally like to see, it works well, and the cam action puts on added pressure to ensure a good thermal joint. Definitely a cool little heatsink. :)