Heatsink Top:

The fan is firmly attached inside of the aluminum finned section, but we managed to remove it so you can get a better sense of how this heatsink is put together. Note how the heat pipes run down through the fins, to the copper base.

Side A:
The 3D Rocket Cooler PCU22-SE heatsink stands about 113mm tall, making it a pretty big cooler to contend with - so make sure you have sufficient room in your case first. The forged copper base is about 6mm thick on average, and connected to the rest of the heatsink by the two "U" shaped 6mm diameter copper heatpipes. The cylindrical aluminum fin section measures 78mm tall by 83mm wide. Note the translucent plastic skirt which is used to direct exhaust towards adjacent motherboard components (to cool them).

Side B:
The aluminum fins measure 0.4mm thick, and are spaced approximately 0.8mm apart. The copper base is capped with a small section of stainless steel, and it is over this that the K7 and K8 clip mechanisms rest to hold the Gigabyte 3D Rocket Cooler in place. The socket 478 clips rest on the small copper tabs visible in the picture to the left. Installing the heatsink isn't all that complicated since it is a tool free unit, but it is vital to make sure that it is oriented properly for each particular socket, and processor type.

The copper of the 3D Rocket Cooler is well machined from and measures about 40x40mm in size. Being forged, the copper is a little more stiff than with a traditional punched sheet metal base, and takes the machining smoothly. The surface finish is very smooth, and surface flatness is excellent according to our straight edge test. The 3D Rocket Cooler PCU22-SE even comes with a small pack of thermal compound to make installation a breeze.