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	Coolermaster	IHC-H71	23.0	37.0		51.1	none	1	loud	stiff
3	Arkua	8568	22.4	37.8		51.7	none	1	med	med
4	NengTyi	XPC5000	23.8	38.4		53.9	none	1	med	loud
5	Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	23.1	40.3		57.4	none	1	low	easy
6	Swiftech	MCX4000	28.5	43.2		57.8	none	1	med	complex
7	Vantec	GSN-7025	22.5	41.7		58.5	none	1	med	med
8	Chauh Choung	DTA-478	22.4	42.1		59.0	carbon	1	low	med
9	Taisol	CEP426151A	24.3	43.7		59.7	none	1	med	easy
10	Intel	Socket 478	22.4	41.8		59.8	carbon	1	low	med
11	Dynatron	DC1207BMW	23.2	42.7		61.1	none	1	med	easy
12	Titan	TTC-MT3AB	22.8	41.5		61.2	none	2	loud	stiff
13	Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	22.4	43.2		62.0	none	1	med	med
14	AVC	117160	22.4	42.7		62.2	white pad	1	med	med
15	Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	23.6	41.2		65.0	none	1	med	easy
16	Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	23.2	39.5		67.9	none	1	med	easy
17	Dynatron	DC1206BMV	23.1	45.1		68.2	none	1	low	easy
18	Vantec	GSN-7015	22.4	47.5		69.0	none	1	loud	stiff
				50W		100W

Initial performance results are the raw numbers we see before removing the ambient temperature and comparing those results. In the case of the Taisol CEP426151A we can see it edging out the stock Intel heatsink by just a sliver. Since all P4 processors come with a stock heatsink in the box this is a line of reference. Any cooler which can offer better performance is usually worth getting, but keep in mind very few coolers will be able to offer lower noise signatures than the stock intel heatsink.

So let's have a look at just how well the Taisol CEP426151A places in the rise above ambient results sheet.

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	Coolermaster	IHC-H71	14.0		28.1
3	Swiftech	MCX4000	14.7		29.3
4	Arkua	8568	15.4		29.3
5	NengTyi	XPC5000	14.6		30.1
6	Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	17.2		34.3
7	Taisol	CEP426151A	19.4		35.4
8	Vantec	GSN-7025	19.2		36.0
9	chauh Choung	DTA-478	19.7		36.6
10	Intel	Socket 478	19.4		37.4
11	Dynatron	DC1207BMW	19.5		37.9
12	Titan	TTC-MT3AB	18.7		38.4
13	Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	20.8		39.6
14	AVC	117160	20.3		39.8
15	Cho-Liang	CL-CB00881	18.2		41.4
16	Cho-Liang	CL-CB0094-1A	16.3		44.7
17	Dynatron	DC1206BMV	22.0		45.1
18	Vantec	GSN-7105	25.1		46.6
			50W		100W

Well it seems as though that copper base plate does help the CEP426151A come in with lower temperatures than the stock Intel heatsink. Overall the Taisol heatsink is a good cooler, and one that offers a slight advantage over that of the stock Intel offering. While we would have liked to have seen the base finished a bit better, we can't complain too much. Were this an AMD heatsink that would be a different story of course.

The clipping mechanism is pretty straight forward to use and works well enough. Best of all, the CEP426151A comes with a metal backplane support for the PCB - something every P4 motherboard can use without question. Overall, the Taisol CEP426151A is a good pentium 4 heatsink, but not quite a performance cooler because the difference over that of the stock Intel cooler is just no quite large enough.