The Apack Zerotherm BTF80 is identical to the Zerotherm BTF90 heatsink except for its all aluminum construction. Both heatsinks resemble a butterfly from the top down - a design choice which is likely to cause wide skepticism with North American consumers. If the insect shape makes you jump to conclusions on the effectiveness of the heatsink, you might be surprised to know that the Zerotherm BTF80 actually performs fairly well.

The all aluminum Apack Zerotherm BTF80 is a 458 gram heatsink which is designed to function with socket 775 Intel Pentium D/Core 2 Duo, and socket 754/939/940/AM2 AMD Athlon64 processors. The heatsink is even rated for thermal loads of up to 140W!

The BTF80's 92x92mm Pulse Width Modulation controlled fan is internally illuminated with a pair of red LEDs, and while a little high on the vibrations it produces just under 52 dBA noise. The fan spins at 2500RPM and utilizes a backwards compatible 4-pin power cable; a feature that's being adopted by motherboard manufacturers for both Intel and AMD platforms. The Zerotherm BTF80 heatsink stands nearly 125mm high, but is only slightly wider than the socket AM2/939 retention frame. A set of four copper sintered heatpipes connect the base of the heatsink to the aluminum fins at eight different points for optimal heat transfer.

Apack Zerotherm BTF80 Heatsink
	heatsink specsheet manufacturer: apack model no.: zerotherm bft80 materials: copper fins, base, heatpipes. fan mfg: sfc9225lu-12p (pwm) fan spec: 750-2500rpm, 12v, 0.13a fan dim: 25x92x92mm heatsink & fan dim: 126x105x80mm weight: 458 grams includes: mounting clips, thermal compound Compatible with Sockets: 754/939/940/AM2 & 775 Est. Pricing: $45USD ($51CDN)

RoHS compliance is noted on the side of the packaging, a crucial change for all consumer electronics since the July 1st implementation of this European mandate came into effect. A set of four 6mm heatpipes twist their way through the stack of cooling fins, and connect the copper base to the rest of the unit. Solder is used to bond the heatpipes to the base section, so we can only assume a lead-free solder has been used.

Two Clips, Four K8 Processor Sockets and Intel

The Apack Zerotherm BTF80 heatsink comes with two sets of clips for attaching to either socket 775 or socket 754/939/940/AM2 processors. Depending on the specific computer architecture, one clip or the other is attached to the die-cast aluminum base of the Zerotherm BTF80 heatsink with four screws before it can be used.

The socket 775 clip uses four spring tensioned captive screws and a motherboard support bracket that requires users to remove the motherboard from the computer before installation. An adhesive on the support bracket holds it in place once installed behind the 775-pin socket.

The AMD heatsink bracket will work with both socket AM2 and socket 754/939/940 retention frames, it uses the center tab to clip in place.

The plus side to both clips is they can be oriented in any direction, allowing users to install the Apack Zerotherm BTF80 heatsink so warm air is exhausted towards the rear of the computer chassis.

FrostyTech's K8 Test Methodology is outlined in detail here if you care to know what equipment is used, and the parameters under which the tests are conducted. Now let's move forward and take a closer look at this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course it performance in the thermal tests!