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

FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform Results
	Mfg.	Model	Ambient Temp.	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block	Thermal pad	No. Fans	Fan Noise	Clip force
				50W		100W
1	AVC	117140	22.6	37.8		50.4	none	1	med	med
2	Arkua	8568	22.4	37.8		51.7	none	1	med	med
3	NengTyi	XPC5000	23.8	38.4		53.9	none	1	med	loud
4	Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	23.1	40.3		57.4	none	1	low	easy
5	Vantec	GSN-7025	22.5	41.7		58.5	none	1	med	med
6	Chauh Choung	DTA-478	22.4	42.1		59.0	carbon	1	low	med
7	Intel	Socket 478	22.4	41.8		59.8	carbon	1	low	med
8	Titan	TTC-MT3AB	22.8	41.5		61.2	none	2	loud	stiff
9	Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	22.4	43.2		62.0	none	1	med	med
10	AVC	117160	22.4	42.7		62.2	white pad	1	med	med
11	Taisol	CEP409151A	23.5	43.0		62.2	none	1	low	N/A
12	Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	23.6	41.2		65.0	none	1	med	easy
13	Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	23.2	39.5		67.9	none	1	med	easy
14	Dynatron	DC1206BMV	23.1	45.1		68.2	none	1	low	easy
15	Vantec	GSN-7015	22.4	47.5		69.0	none	1	loud	stiff
				50W		100W

It's always difficult to tell exactly where a particular heatsink will place in any given set of reference heatsinks. With so many different companies competing against one-another, and so many different technologies employed in each heatsink we are always surprised by at least one heatsink's performance over another. The Taisol however, manages just typical performance in comparison to that of the stock Intel heatsink.

Once we take a look at the rise above ambient temperatures we should have a better idea of where it stands.

Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
	Mfg.	Model	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block
			50W		100W
1	AVC	117140	15.2		27.8
2	Arkua	8568	15.4		29.3
3	NengTyi	XPC5000	14.6		30.1
4	Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	17.2		34.3
5	Vantec	GSN-7025	19.2		36.0
6	chauh Choung	DTA-478	19.7		36.6
7	Intel	Socket 478	19.4		37.4
8	Titan	TTC-MT3AB	18.7		38.4
9	Taisol	CEP409151A	19.5		38.7
10	Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	20.8		39.6
11	AVC	117160	20.3		39.8
12	Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	18.2		41.4
13	Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	16.3		44.7
14	Dynatron	DC1206BMV	22.0		45.1
15	Vantec	GSN-7105	25.1		46.6
			50W		100W

With a difference as close as this to the stock Intel we can pretty much say that the two heatsinks are on par. Given that information the Taisol CEP409151A is certainly a good replacement for the Intel heatsink, but it is not an upgrade. The thermal performance remains the same which means overclockers and performance users seeking added cooling capabilities will have to look elsewhere.

Overall the Taisol CEP409151A is about as complicated as its name implies. Reliance on a non-standard clipping mechanism which requires the user to remove the motherboard prior to installation, but which has no noticeable benefits over the later is not going to succeed very well. Although the heatsink is completely capable, and relatively quiet there is little reason to side with the CEP409151A unless of course you happen to have a supply of OEM socket m478 Pentium 4 processors on hand and are building your own custom computers.

General users looking for an upgrade on the current Intel heatsink are just not going to find that in this heatsink, but perhaps users of 2U servers may find a good heatsink solution here... hard to say, and hard to justify, but decent cooling performance.