FrostyTech Mk.II Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition & Quad Core class heatsinks tested at 150W Intel Core 2 Duo / Pentium 4 / Celeron class heatsinks tested at 85W Results based on readings from a 30x30mm copper interface die with 150W and 85W heat loads applied on the LGA775 version of the Mk.II Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. Socket 775 compatible CPU heatsinks
manufacturer:	model no.:	fan speed:	150w thermal test* (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
Thermalright	Ultra 120		17.8	10.6	53.7
Zalman	CNPS9700 LED	high	19.0	10.4	56.5
Thermalright	Ultra-90	high	19.6	13.0	56.2
Enzotech	Ultra-X	high	20.0	8.5	59.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF90		21.8	12.7	52.1
Apack	Zerotherm BTF80		22.8	13.9	51.9
Cooljag	Falcon 92-AL	high	23.2	14.2	52.1
Rosewill	RCX-Z3	high	23.3	14.0	58.6
Scythe	Mine Rev. B		23.6	15.0	36.8
Cooljag	Falcon 92-Cu	high	23.6	14.8	52.8
Akasa	AK-920	high	24.3	14.1	52.9
Asus	Arctic Square	high	24.9	14.9	44.9
Akasa	AK-922 (EVObue)	high	25.5	15.4	60.3
Thermalfly	F1-IACSHA	high	29.0	18.3	60.4
Thermalfly	I75DUB	high	29.5	16.8	68.5
Zalman	CNPS9500 AT		29.6	17.3	53.3
Alpha Novatech	PRE9060M92P	high	29.9	18.5	51.5
Scythe	Kama Cross		30.0	18.8	40.0
Akasa	AK-961		30.0	18.7	60.7
Rosewill	RCX-Z2-EX	high	30.1	18.7	45.9
nPowertek	NPH-775-1		30.1	18.8	50.1
Sunon	Waturbo		30.6	18.3	57.5
Apack	CF800	high	31.4	20.7	48.4
Thermaltake	Jungle512	high	31.6	20.4	60.8
Xigmatek	AIO-S80DP	high	32.4	21.4	55.0
Scythe	Katana II		32.5	18.6	37.9
Rosewill	RCX-Z2		32.6	19.3	59.9
Zalman	CNPS7700-Cu	high	32.9	19.7	50.7
Apack	CF900	high	32.9	20.3	48.3
Evercool	PT02-9232CP		33.3	19.9	63.3
Zalman	CNPS7700-Cu LED	high	33.5	20.6	49.8
Intel	Stock Pentium D	high	33.8	20.7	47.5
nPowerTek	SF775-2	high	34.7	21.1	64.6
Akasa	AK-960E		36.1	21.4	56.3
Thermalfly	I75DUH		37.8	22.8	48.7
Cooljag	OAK-H	high	38.5	22.9	55.7
Cooljag	OAK-H2	high	38.6	24.1	55.6
LS Cable	SHS-T700		38.7	22.8	48.5
Intel	Stock Pentium D	low	40.3	23.9	40.5
Intel	Stock Core 2 Duo		49.2	29.0	36.7
Cooljag	OAK-H	low	95.3	54.5	29.5
			150w thermal test (°c)	85w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 150w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review.

The heat output from Intel processors varies widely between single and multi-core processors, so we've settled on two values which represent the upper limit of both existing CPU families.

With a 150W heat load applied by the Intel LGA775 version of FrostyTech's synthetic thermal test platform, the stock Intel Core 2 Duo heatsink yielded a rise above ambient temperature of 49.2°C (36.7dBA) at the fans' stock speed of 1500RPM. The CPU equivalents of this test would be an Intel Pentium D / Extreme Edition or Core 2 Quad class chip.

Next, the stock Intel Core 2 Duo heatsink was tested with an 85W heat load - akin to a Core 2 Duo processor. This test resulted in a satisfactory result of 29.0°C over ambient temperature, at default fan speed. These results form the basis from which other socket 775 Intel heatsinks can be compared.

On the whole, the stock Intel Core 2 Duo heatsink performs satisfactorily on the 85W test, which is more in line with the actual thermal loads Core 2 Duo processors create.

To be fair, a thermal load of 150W is too much for this heatsink, and it is clearly not built for this specification either. Interestingly, the older stock Pentium D heatsink performs better than this heatsink, though with a little more noise. This makes sense, some Pentium 4/D models had TDP in the range of 115W-120W.

With the stock Intel Core 2 Duo heatsink held up against the other Intel LGA775 reference heatsinks Frostytech has tested it's quite evident that enthusiasts can do better by selecting a third party heatsink.

Of course, as new generations of 65W processors emerge, the need to shop for something better diminishes...

These results indicate that overall, in its default fan speed setting the stock Intel Core 2 Duo heatsink operates satisfactorily for Core 2 Duo (TDP = 85W) processors. It is ineffective when faced with a heat load of 150W, although in both cases it runs very quietly. ;-)

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