360° View - DeepCool Frostwin Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
DeepCool's Frostwin heatsink ships with two 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration. The 150mm tall cooler has four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes which are exposed at the base of the cooler to make direct contact with the processor integrated heatspreader. Each aluminum fin measures 0.4mm thick and is spaced 2.0mm from the next. The bottom-most fin is elevated 45mm above the base for motherboard clearance.
The four 6mm diameter copper heat pipes are set into a 13mm thick aluminum base plate and exposed at the base. The base pate provides support for the mounting bracket. Each springy wire fan clip has a small thumb tab, this is something we appreciate after testing hundreds of heatsinks with difficult to remove fan clips. Note the pattern of darts in the trailing edge of the aluminum fins (left) and the flared scoops for each fan (right).
The exposed heatpipe base of the Deepcool Frostwin creates a usable surface area of 40x40mm. Looking at the top of the heatsink we note that heatpipes are spaced 21mm apart and each aluminum fin measures 100x34mm.

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 engineer's straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axes.

The exposed heatpipe base of DeepCool's Frostwin heatsink has been machined perfectly flat in both axes. It has a surface roughness of approximately ~16 microinches. Up next, heatsink sound level comparisons.