ID-Cooling is a relatively young thermal solutions brand, founded in 2013 by several veterans of the computer industry in Shenzhen, China. The parent company, Shenzhen Wan Jing Hua Technology Co., Ltd. has been around over a decade though and holds a couple interesting patents, in particular WO2014107939 A1 for a hybrid vapour chamber / vertical heatpipe device. The heatsink Frostytech is testing today, appears to be covered by CN 203618274 U (SIPO translation): "The utility model aims to provide a cooling device, designed to solve the structure of the prior art so the radiator is not easily deformed when subject to impact damage."

So, that answers the question of why ID-Cooling have skewered the aluminum cooling fins of its SE-214X heatsink with a 6mm diameter solid aluminum rod - structural resilience.

ID-Cooling's SE-214X heatsink is built around four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes which are exposed at the base of the cooler to make direct contact with the processors' integrated heat spreader. The exposed heatpipe approach can be a very efficient choice as it removes a layer of thermal joint resistance from the equation. By doing away with the heatsink heatspreader, inconsistencies in the solder bond between heatpipes and copper base plate are omitted. The exposed heatpipe base approach also lightens things up, the 160mm tall SE-214X weighs a modest 740grams. In addition to the copper heatpipes there is the aforementioned vertical aluminum rod going down through the center of the fins to the bottom mounting plate.

The SE-214X heatsink has a footprint of 124x76mm and supports a single 122mm fan. ID-Cooling supply their own-brand fan which has chunky white rubber vibration absorbing pads integrated into each corner of the frame. The rubber prevents the hard plastic from directly touching the aluminum fins, so there's less chance of rattling noises down the road. The 122mm PWM fan spins at 1800-800RPM and moves upwards of 60CFM at 1.81mmH2O, according to manufacturer specs.

ID-Cooling's SE-214X heatsink is rated to heat loads of 130W TDP and installs onto AMD socket AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2 and Intel LGA2011/1366/115x/775 processors. Retail price is $34USD/CDN at Newegg.com.

ID-Cooling SE-214X Heatsink

heatsink specsheet manufacturer: id-cooling model no.: se-214x materials: aluminum fins, copper heatpipes, aluminum rod, aluminum base cap fan mfg: ha1225l12f-z fan spec: 1800-800rpm, 12v, 0.33a fan airflow: 60cfm fan air pressure: 1.80mmh2o fan dim: 122x122x25mm heatsink & fan dim: 160x124x76mm weight: 740 grams includes: multi-socket socket mounting hardware, thermal compound, instructions Compatible with Sockets: AMD - FM2/FM1/AM2/AM3 Intel - LGA2011/115x (775/1366 not supported) Pricing: $35USD ($35CDN)

The top fin of the SE-214X heatsink is anodized for the sake of appearances, the remaining cooling fins are fabricated from raw aluminum sheet metal. Looking at the top of the cooler, we can see the solid aluminum tube sticking out the top, flanked on each side by four 6mm diameter copper heatpipes.

At the base, the solid aluminum rod is set into a small hole in the aluminum cap which holds the exposed heatpipes in place. The purpose of the aluminum rod is to make the whole heatsink more resilient to impact damage... during shipping or perhaps end-user assembly?

The 122mm PWM fan features white rubber vibration absorbing pads in the corners. The fan attaches with springy wire fan clips directly to the aluminum fins of the heatsink frame.

Heatsink Mounting Hardware

The ID-Cooling SE-214X heatsink accommodates Intel socket LGA2011/115x processors and AMD socket AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2 CPUs. The heatsink ships with a metal rear motherboard support bracket, a variety of metal mounting brackets and associated hardware. Being an economy heatsink, it doesn't come with extra fan clips. A small syringe of thermal compound is provided.

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!