On the test bench today is Raijintek's Aidos heatsink, a sub-compact tower cooler that stands just 137mm tall. The Aidos heatsink positions itself as an ideal CPU cooler for height limited computer cases or sub-95W TDP processors that really don't require big and heavy thermal solutions to get the job done. This segment of the consumer cooling market is surprisingly under serviced by heatsink makers - while much attention continues to be paid to gaming and full tower liquid cooling systems which are out of reach of most mortal PCs.

In any event, the 325gram Raijintek Aidos is built around four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes which are exposed at the base. The heatpipes rise up through a 90mm tall aluminum fin stack. Each aluminum fin to heatpipe joint is made with a novel crimped connection.

Driving air through the heatsinks' aluminum fins is a 92x25mm PWM fan which is held in place with rubber fan mounts. This is not a method we're not particularly fond of, wire fan clips stand the test of time. The fan spins at 2400-1000RPM and draws power from a standard 4-pin PWM connection. At full speed it pushes upwards of 53CFM air through the 55mm deep fin stack according to the manufacturer specs.

Raijintek's Aidos heatsink installs onto Intel socket LGA2011/1366/1150/1155/1156/775 processors and the complete line up of AMD CPUs, including socket AM2/AM3 and socket FM1/FM2. Retail price is pegged at $22 USD.

Raijintek Aidos Heatsink

heatsink specsheet manufacturer: raijintek model no.: aidos materials: aluminum fins, copper heatpipes fan mfg: raijintek a09225mhab fan spec: 2400-1000pm, 12v, 0.65a fan dim: 92x92x25mm heatsink & fan dim: 137x95x82mm weight: 325 grams includes: multi-socket mounting hardware, thermal compound, instructions Compatible with Sockets: AMD: AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2 Intel: LGA775/1150/1155/1156/1366/2011 Est. Pricing: $22USD ($22CDN)

Five rubber fan mounts are supplied, enough in case one is lost or tears, but not enough to mount two 92mm fans in a push-pull configuration.

The 55mm deep aluminum fins are crimped onto each of the eight intersecting copper heatpipes

Interestingly, the Raijintek Aidos has a very chunky aluminum base plate that's 18.5mm thick. Since the mounting bracket snugly fits over this block, there's little chance of a bent frame causing the exposed heatpipes to work free.

Heatsink Installation and Hardware

The Raijintek Aidos heatsink ships with two sets of metal brackets that screw onto the motherboard and a metal fulcrum plate which rests on the heatsink base to apply pressure. You will need a phillips screwdriver to install and remove this CPU cooler.

The Raijintek Aidos heatsink installs onto AMD socket FM2/FM1 and AM3/AM2 motherboards and the full assortment of Intel motherboards, including socket LGA1150/1155/1156/775 and LGA1366/2011. Aside from the brackets and jumble of mounting screws, a small pack of thermal grease and printed instructions are included.

FrostyTech's Test Methodologies are 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 this heatsink, its acoustic characteristics, and of course its performance in the thermal tests!