(Socket A - AthlonXP) Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg.	Model	15mm small copper block		15mm small copper block
		50W		100W
Thermalright	SLK800	15.8		29.9
Thermalright	AX-7	15.4		30.4
Tocools	Novasonic-AlCu	17.8		32.9
Coolink	U1P2	19.8		36.1
Tocools	Novasonic	17.0		36.5
Coolermaster (high)	ASBV73U1	18.1		36.7
Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	17.9		37.1
Arkua	628	18.2		38.4
Gigabyte (high)	3DCooler-pro	20.5		39.4
Sibak	AC02625B	35.8		41.5
Thermalright	SLK-900A	23.4		44.9
Sibak	AC06725TH	23.7		45.2
Coolermaster	HHC-001	23.1		46.4
Jetart	JAKS29	25.2		46.8
Thermal Integration	TI-A8641L	22.1		47.7
AVC	Tundra2	26.5		49.1
Gigabyte (low)	3DCooler-pro	26.4		49.1
Thermaltake	Silent Boost	24.6		50.3
Evercool	CUF715	25.0		51.1
Aopen	ACK7L	26.0		51.8
Thermalright	SK-7	22.8		52.1
Coolermaster	HSC-V62	31.4		53.1
Zalman	CNPS6000-Cu	29.0		53.4
Scythe	Kamakaze	27.2		53.6
Spire	5F263	29.2		53.6
Taisol	CGK760092	37.8		54.1
AVC	112AM1	28.1		54.8
Arkua	728M-7N01	27.0		55.0
Titan	TTC-CU9TB/SC	28.6		57.5
Thermalright	SK6+	30.7		58.7
Taisol	CEK787172	32.0		60.5
Titan	D9TBCu35R1	31.7		61.5
nPowertek	TTIC NPH-2	30.0		61.9
Verax	P14Cu	31.9		63.2
Spire	5U213C1H3G	34.6		63.5
Spire	SPA04B4	33.6		65.1
ArcticCooling	CuSilent2	37.0		66.6
Akasa	AK821	34.5		70.5
Verax	P11T	43.6		76.6
		50W		100W

I think it is easy to see that the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro should make a pretty good low noise heatsink for the the K7 platform. The difference in thermal performance between the fan running at full tilt (4000RPM) and that at the quietest minimum speed (2000RPM) is only about 10 degrees Celsius on the 100W synthetic temperature test. At full speed the 3DCooler-Pro offers consumers good performance characteristics, but certainly not the best for the K7.

Where the 3DCooler really comes into its own is on the Pentium 4 synthetic temperature test platform - probably due to the increased surface area it is in contact with...

(Socket 478 - Pentium4) Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg.	Model	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block
		50W		100W
Thermalright (high)	SLK-900U	11.6		20.5
Cooljag (high)	CJC66IC-A	10.4		21.3
Zalman	CNPS7000A-Cu	12.4		24.9
Thermal Integration	TI-RV104N	14.4		25.4
Alpha	PAL8942	14.7		26.1
Gigabyte (high)	3DCooler-pro	15.6		26.6
Zalman	CNPS7000-Cu	14.1		27.7
AVC	117140	15.2		27.8
JMC	401100	15.6		27.9
Coolermaster	IHC-H71	14.0		28.1
Taisol	CEP447181	14.6		28.7
Jetart	JAP416A	11.8		29.1
Thermal Integration	TI-A8736N	12.4		29.1
Arkua	8568	15.4		29.3
Intel	Stock 3.06GHz	15.0		30.1
Jetart	JAP407A	13.8		30.2
Taisol	CCP445172	17.5		30.7
Thermal Integration	TI-RV108N	15.9		31.7
Spire	SP411C5	17.3		31.7
Arkua	Q85X-7J	16.7		31.9
Dynatron	DC1207BMX	17.2		32.4
Thermal Integration (high)	TI-V7035TN	18.1		32.7
Cooljag	JVC661A	17.3		33.5
TS Heatronics (6" fan dist)	NCU-1000	15.6		33.6
Dynatron	DC1206BMY	18.6		33.6
Scythe	Kamakaze	18.9		34.1
Zalman	CNPS6500-AlCu	17.2		34.3
Taisol	CEP426151A	19.4		35.4
Spire	SP420B8	17.4		36.2
Arkua	8456X-8T	18.6		36.3
Arkua	838T-7G	18.7		36.7
Intel	Socket 478	19.4		37.4
Dynatron	DC1207BMW	19.5		37.9
Zalman	CNPS5700D-Cu	18.9		38.3
Titan	CW9TB/SC	18.9		38.3
Evercool	NW9F715CA	19.1		38.5
Aopen	ACP4LC	17.9		38.8
Globalwin	VA476	20.8		39.3
Dynatron	DC1206BM-S	20.8		39.6
AVC	117160	20.3		39.8
Gigabyte (low)	3DCooler-pro	21.8		41.5
Arctic Cooling	SuperSilent4 Pro	21.7		43.0
Dynatron	DC1206BMV	22.0		45.1
Vantec	GSN-7105	25.1		46.6
Arkua	848X-6B	27.3		53.2
Verax	P16	27.4		54.0
Dynatron	DC1U-B02	32.9		67.4
		50W		100W

The results speak for themselves; when the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro is used on the Pentium 4 platform, with the fan at full speed, it is clearly in the class of performance heatsinks. Good for overclocking, and undoubtedly noisy as a vacuum cleaner, this little heatsink has a lot of power.

Since silent cooling is a heck of a lot more popular now than screaming fans and overclocking (my apologies to the OC'ers in the crowd), a twist of the included fan speed controller allows you to tune the speed down as low as 2000RPM. At that speed, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro functions as a very capable lower-noise heatsink. It's not the best in either world, but it does perform very well, especially if we consider this is Gigabyte's first foray into heatsinks. Obviously, adjusting the fan's RPM will net you results somewhere in between those we have illustrated.

One thing is immediately clear, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro is really best suited to the larger heatspreader-capped processors like the Athlon64 and Pentium4. Though, if you are looking to upgrade from one platform in the near future, an all-in-one heatsink such as the 3Dcooler-Pro is a good option for obvious reasons. True, support for K8 processors has segmented the heatsink market, but this is a better compromise than the K7/P4 heatsinks of old. The K8 and P4 share more common characteristics which make designing a heatsink ideal for either platform more straightforward. With companies looking to support both K7 and P4, or K7 and K8, the thermal design challenges are much more extreme. In any event, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro's rather revolutionary design definitely performs well, especially when noise is not an issue, and that two-tiered squirrel cage fan can be cranked up!!

Related Articles:

Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy as well...

1. Thermaltake Silent Boost A1889-01 Copper Heatsink
2. Tocools Novasonic-AlCu Heatsink Review
3. Thermalright SLK-900A Copper Heatsink Review
4. Scythe Kamakaze AthlonXP / Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
5. Thermal Integration TI-RV108N Pentium 4 Heatsink
6. Cooljag CJC66IC-A Copper Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
7. Thermal Integration TI-A8641L Heatsink Review