360° View - Evercool HPL-815 Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
The red, 7-bladed impeller of this 80mm fan spins at 4000-1000RPM and draws power from a 4-pin PWM motherboard fan header. The four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes extend from the base right through the full length of the fins. Each aluminum fin measures 0.3mm thick and is spaced 1.5mm from the next.
Evercool's HPL-815 heatsink stands 45mm tall, though clearly the enclosure it's installed into should have at least 20mm clearance above the fan. The aluminum fins have a quilted pattern and stand ~23mm high. Four copper heat pipes are grouped at the base where they make direct contact with the processor. The base incorporates an 7mm thick cast aluminum block to provide support for clamping, the heatpipes, and aluminum fins. The fan is held in place with two wire spring clips, a little too loosely I might add.
The base of the Evercool HPL-815 heat sink measures 44x54mm in size. Looking from the side we can see the quilted pattern pressed into the thin 95x23mm aluminum fins; this creates a little extra air turbulence.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.

The base of the Evercool HPL-815 heatsink has a sanded surface finish which gives it a surface roughness of approximately 32 microinches. The base is generally flat in one axis and slightly concave in the opposite.

Next up, Frostytech heatsink sound level measurements...