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	Arkua	628	23.9	42.7	42.1		58.9	62.3	none	1	med	med
2	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	26.5	39.1	44.4		57.5	63.6	grey	1	med	med
3	Sibak	AC02625B	23.2	41.3	59.0		43.2	64.7	none	1	loud	med
4	Swiftech	MCXC370	21.4	38.3	43.4		53.5	65.7	none	1	med	med
5	Coolermaster	HHC-001	21.7	40.0	44.8		56.3	68.1	none	1	loud	easy
6	Tocools	Crown	23.2	38.8	53.2		47.9	70.2	none	1	loud	stiff
7	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	23.2	40.0	55.1		47.6	70.4	none	1	loud	stiff
8	Vantec	CCK-6027D	27.4	45.4	49.6		64.9	73.4	none	1	med	med
9	Coolermaster	HSC-V62	21.4	47.4	52.8		61.7	74.5	none	1	quiet	easy
10	Cybercooler	P5750	23.3	43.4	49.2		63.5	74.9	none	1	loud	med
11	Swiftech	MCX370	22.3	42.0	46.1		60.3	75.6	none	1	med	hard
12	NengTyi	XPC5000	23.9	46.5	49.1		69.1	76.1	none	1	med	med
13	Taisol	CGK760092	23.4	42.7	51.3		61.2	77.5	pink	1	low	med
14	Zalman	CNPS6000-Cu	24.8	46.4	53.8		65.6	78.2	none	1	very low	easy
15	AVC	112AM1	24.8	46.6	52.9		70.1	79.6	none	1	low	stiff
16	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	23.5	44.9	53.7		66.7	80.8	silver	1	med	very stiff
17	Sibak	AE01625B	23.5	40.8	54.4		57.1	81.0	none	1	loud	easy
18	Coolermaster	HHC-L61	21.5	47.2	48.3		71.2	82.3	none	1	quiet	easy
19	Thermaltake	Volcano 6cu+	26.5	40.3	55.3		58.6	84.4	carbon	1	loud	med
20	JMC Products	400023	23.1	44.5	65.2		55.3	85.2	Chomerics T725	1	low	easy
21	Sibak	AT01515B	23.0	45.1	64.6		60.1	95.2	none	2	med	stiff
				50W	50W		100W	100W

For the low-noise class the HHC-L61 initially appears to be performing a little under par. With the extra copper fins increasing the amount of surface area, and the addition of heatpipes we had hoped the heatsink would place a little bit higher compared to the low-noise heatsinks from Zalman. Without spending too much time speculating on why this might be, let's have a good look at the rise above ambient temperatures and see where things stand there.

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	Arkua	628	18.8	18.2		35.0	38.4
3	Sibak	AC02625B	18.1	35.8		20.0	41.5
4	Swifech	MCXC370	16.9	22.0		32.1	44.3
5	Vantec	CCK-6027D	18.0	22.2		37.5	46.0
6	Coolermaster	HHC-001	18.3	23.1		34.3	46.4
7	Tocools	Crown	15.6	30.0		24.7	47.0
8	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	16.8	31.9		24.4	47.2
9	Cybercooler	P5750	20.1	25.9		40.2	51.6
10	NengTyi	XPC5000	22.6	25.2		45.2	52.2
11	Coolermaster	HSC-V62	26.0	31.4		40.3	53.1
12	Swiftech	MCX370	19.7	23.8		38.0	53.3
13	Zalman	CNPS6000-Cu	21.6	29.0		40.8	53.4
14	Taisol	CGK760092	19.3	37.8		27.9	54.1
15	AVC	112AM1	21.8	28.1		45.3	54.8
16	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	21.4	43.2		30.2	57.3
17	Sibak	AE01625B	17.3	30.9		33.6	57.5
18	Thermaltake	Volcano 6cu+	13.8	28.8		32.1	57.9
19	Coolermaster	HHC-L61	25.7	26.8		49.7	60.8
20	JMC Products	400023	21.3	42.0		32.1	62.0
21	Sibak	AT01515B	22.1	41.6		37.1	72.2
			50W	50W		100W	100W

Performance on the lower 50W tests is really quite good, but when the heat is pumped up to 100W things begin to falter somewhat. I had hoped to see the HHC-L61 place closer to the Zalman heatsink, but given the differences there with surface area their separation is understandable. With a rise above ambient temperature of 60 degrees on the smaller interface die the Coolermaster HHC-L61 is past the nice threshold, and sitting squarely in the realm of low-noise heatsinks... low-noise heatsinks after all always come with some manner of performance hit.

The numbers really speak for themselves, but the sound is also equally worth considering. The Coolermaster HHC-L61 is very quiet and there are many people who don't overclock, and wouldn't mind their Athlon XP running under the low-noise characteristics of the HHC-L61. Is it an overclocker's heatsink? No, I think not. Is it a low-noise heatsink - totally. In the end, the HHC-L61 showed a bit higher temp than other heatsinks on the 100W test, but swapping out the fan for something with more RPM's is always an easy option to consider, and a damn easy upgrade.