360° View - Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Pro Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
The fan is probably the most important aspect of the Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Pro heatsink. It is supported by four posts which connect to the motor body. The 7-bladed impeller spins freely, and utilizes AC's Fluid Dynamic bearings. Default fan speed is 2000RPM (~36CFM), the lowest rate is 500RPM. Power is supplied via a standard 4-pin PWM motherboard connector. The ~31 extruded aluminum fins are 30x90mm in size. Each fin is 0.8mm thick and spaced 1.5mm apart.
The 95mm fan intakes air, and blows it down into the aluminum fins. The warm exhaust air then exits at either side of the heatsink where it cools the northbridge chipset or adjacent power circuitry. The heatsink retention mechanism is dead simple, applying clamping pressure at either side of the Alpine 64 Pro heatsink. There is a stepped overhang on either side of the Alpine 64 Pro for capacitor clearance. The stainless steel clips are each held in place with a single screw, so we'd advise tightening it down tight when you install this heatsink.
The effective base area of the Alpine 64 Pro heatsink is 68mm x 40mm in size, it has a linear sanded finish and comes with a pre-applied patch of grey thermal compound. The aluminum is generally flat, but not perfectly so.