FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform:

The FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform consists of an aluminum block heated by a 120V 250 Ohm precision resistor producing 50W of heat. That heat is transmitted to the heatsink via the aluminum block and up through special copper die templates with thermistors embedded directly in them.

A temperature reading for a particular heatsink is taken once the temperature stabilizes in the copper die template. Since each of the die templates have the surface area of either a silicon topped or heatspreader-topped processor the flow of heat to the base of the heatsink accurately mimics a real life configuration.

Shown with the copper die template for a silicon-topped processor, the synthetic heatsink test apparatus awaits a coating of AOS29KY non-silicon thermal compound and the Blizzard S370-L Copper heatsink. A slightly larger copper die template was used to test the effective cooling ability of the S370-L atop a heatspreader-based processor like an overclocked PGA Celeron processor.

Synthetic Test Results:

As you might expect the copper cooler kicked out all the other competitors. Such is the way of copper, it just conducts the heat away about twice as efficiently as aluminum is capable of. The odd thing that has us a bit perplexed is that the heatsink performed poorer with the large copper die template. From our many other tests the heatsinks usually excelled in this test due to the increased surface area in contact with the heat source. I can only speculate that since the joint was copper-to copper the heatsink was slightly overpowered by the 50 Watt heatsource and large aluminum mass used in the Frosty Synthetic Temperature Test Platform.

Regardless the Blizzard S370-L isn't really meant for processors with large heatspreaders on top. No, the Blizzard is most definitely a T-Bird, Duron and FC-PGA heatsink. Sure it can do K6-2's, but why would you want to use it for that? On those small cores the S370-L excelled and demonstrated a temperature of only 54.7 degrees with the small copper die template. For comparisons sake the thermaltake Superorb sits about 12 degrees warmer then this little copper heatsink, with its single, tiny 4500RPM fan.

We never like small tiny fans so we gave the S370-L a go with a nice speedy 25mm high YS tech fan from one of our Vantec heatsinks. It's a noisy fan, but its a wickedly fast fan too. The trade off is up to you naturally ;-) Anyway the temperature of the small copper die template dropped a further 4 degrees - not bad, not bad at all...

The results for rise above ambient reiterate themselves from the previous positioning. The thermaltake is most obviously dropped to second place behind the heavy (about 350 grams) copper heatsink from Blizzard. The coolermaster and Vantec come in about even in third and fourth place.

Conclusion:

Blizzard Heatsinks sell the S370-L for $65. That is a good chunk of change for a heatsink, but it does offer several very unique features that won't be found anywhere else. First of all the Blizzard S370-L is solidly constructed. There are not air gaps between the fins and the base, and the soldering job is of the professional high-temp variety by the looks of it.

The heatsink is individually packaged in plastic with a silica gel pack to arrest moisture and corrosion during shipping. The entire heatsinks is polished, and the base while just slightly wavy, is near enough to flat for the small core's of today's T-Birds and FC-PGA processors. The clip is easy to use, and holds the heatsink comfortably in place.

The fan could be a bit more powerful, but then stock fans are rarely the high-end variety. This is a heavy heatsink (about 350 grams) and if it gets dropped the soft copper will take a beating. Performance is really good, and coupled with a strong YS Tech fan or perhaps a Nidec I can see the S370-L being capable of some pretty amazing feats. Is it the best heatsink in the world, no, but it can hold its own and is a really good low-profile competitor for the HedgeHog to be sure!