According to this documentation by QuTech , the heat column used here is essentially an empty cylinder of copper which has been internally coated with a thin "superconducting heat transfer medium." The copper cylinder is sealed off at both ends, and inside is under a vacuum of approximately 1 Torr. You can see the heat column which forms the backbone of the nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big heatsink for yourself in the picture below. This is an uninstalled heat column, the external surface is machined on a lathe prior to installation to ensure a snug fit with the mating aluminum fins.

Patent no. 6,132,823 explains QuTech's very interesting and potentially revolutionary process to the topic of heatpipes, entitled Superconducting Heat Transfer Medium. Here is a short excerpt from the patent which explains the technology in plain english... but feel free to skip ahead to the actual heatsink review.

"Inorganic Medium Thermal Conductive Device. This heat conducting device greatly improved the heat conductive abilities of materials over their conventional state. Experimentation has shown this device capable of transferring heat along a sealed metal shell having a partial vacuum therein at a rate of 5,000 meters per second.

On the internal wall of the shell is a coating applied in three steps having a total optimum thickness of 0.012 to 0.013 millimeters. Of the total weight of the coating, strontium comprises 1.25%, beryllium comprises 1.38%, and sodium comprises 1.95%....

The fact that a conventional heat pipe shares a similar outside shape to a thermal superconductive heat pipe used to raise some misunderstandings. Therefore, it is necessary to give a brief description on the differences and similarities of the two.

A convectional heat pipe makes use of the technique of liquids vaporizing upon absorbing great amounts of heat and vapors cooling upon emitting heat so as to bring the heat from the pipe's hot end to its cold end. The axial heat conducting velocity of the heat pipe depends on the value of the liquid's vaporization potent heat and the circulation speed between two forms of liquid and vapor.

The axial heat conducting velocity of the heat pipe also is restrained by the type and quantity of the carrier material and the temperatures and pressures at which the heat pipe operates (it can not be too high).

The present superconductive heat transfer device is made of a thermal superconductive medium whose axial heat conduction is accomplished by the thermal superconductive mediums' molecules high speed movement upon being heated and activated.

The present superconductive heat transfer device's heat conducting velocity is much higher than that of any metal bars or any convectional heat pipes of similar size, while its internal pressure is much lower than that of any convectional heat pipe of the same temperature."

Heat Column technology has surfaced on a few heatsinks FrostyTech has tested already, and it seems to be gaining a foothold in the industry.

As most people would be hard pressed to explain what a heatpipe is, or does, the "superconducting" heatpipe, or heat column is probably going to continue to generate a lot of confusion for years to come.

FrostyTech's new 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 the nPowerTek NPH- K8 Big heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course it performance in the thermal tests!