Information not expressly stated in the Final Rise above Ambient Temperature Test Results List concerns the pre-applied thermal pad (we remove this for testing any way), the number of fans on each heatsink, general fan noise and clip force observations, and ambient temperature measurements. As always, FrostyTech's Synthetic Temperature Test results for the Socket 478 Intel Pentium 4 platform are grouped according to the results of the 100W test die.

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

( Socket 478 - Pentium4 ) Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg.	Model	27mm large copper block		27mm large copper block
		50W		100W
Cooljag (high)	CJC66IC-A	10.4		21.3
Gigabyte (high)	PCU31-VH	12.5		22.3
Coolermaster (high)	Hyper6 KHCV81U1	12.4		23.4
Zalman	CNPS7000A-Cu	12.4		24.9
Alpha	S-PAL8952	12.7		25.4
AVC	Z7U7408001	12.9		25.8
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 Products	401100	15.6		27.9
Coolermaster (high)	Jet4	12.6		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
Thermal Integration	TI-RV108N	15.9		31.7
Vantec	VP4-7245	18.0		31.7
Thermal Integration (high)	TI-V7035TN	18.1		32.7
AVC	Z7H2403012	15.2		33.4
Cooljag	JVC661A	17.3		33.5
TS Heatronics (6" fan dist)	NCU-1000	15.6		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	838T-7G	18.7		36.7
Intel	Socket 478	19.4		37.4
Zalman	CNPS5700D-Cu	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
Evercool	CUW8-715	21.8		40.8
Arctic Cooling	SuperSilent4 Pro	21.7		43.0
Verax	P16Cu	22.0		45.1
Verax (high)	P17CuX	27.8		47.6
Verax (low)	P17CuX	29.2		53.7
Verax	P16	27.4		54.0
Dynatron	DC1U-B02	32.9		67.4
		50W		100W

As a low noise heatsink the Verax P17CuX is one of the best, but as a virtually silent heatsink, when it comes to thermal performance the results are substantially lower than the average. The Verax P17CuX manages a very slight thermal advantage over the past model - the P16 - when running in its quietest mode. With the fan running at top speed, as it would in a case with an ambient temperature over 45 degrees Celsius, the Verax P17CuX comes ahead by a further 6 degrees Celsius. This is not enough however, to outperform the Verax P16Cu socket 478 Pentium 4 version which edges in just a bit cooler.

Acoustically, the Verax P17CuX heatsink should provide adequate cooling for socket 423 Intel Willamette processors, with a noise level of somewhere between 35 dbA to ~41 dBA. Whether there is a really need for Willamette cooling at this stage in the game is another question altogether, but at least those users have the silent option available to them.

As for socket 603/604 Xeon cooling, my impressions are a little more mixed. I have at different times run Xeon chips in servers with active 1U cooling solutions, and even entirely passive 1U or 2U heatsinks and never really worried about their thermals. When it comes to setting up a desktop Xeon-based workstation for quiet cooling however, I'm not so certain either way. Xeons are by all account rugged chips, but I don't have enough experience running them in a desktop PC to really make an educated recommendation here. In the server environment, active and passively cooled 1U/2U heatsinks have additional cooling from case fans, but in a desktop case where noise becomes an issue, a phalanx of little 10,000RPM 40mm fans blowing towards the CPU and memory isn't going to cut it.

Though, to not leave you hanging, I would expect the Verax P17CuX would deliver sufficient cooling to a socket 603/604 Xeon for stable operation - especially considering the adoption of the Northwood core by recent Xeon's. The operating temperatures will be elevated, but it will also be nice and quiet.

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