Thermalright CB-6L Copper BaseHeatsink 

and YSTech 40.1cfm Fan

I have had the opportunity to evaluate the CB-6L heatsink pairedwith the YS Tech 60mm fan*.  The stock CB-6L fan that normally comes withthis product is a small 60x60x10 4800rpm 19cfm fan which has received poor reviews.  Obviously the 19cfm fan isthe weak point in the stock combo, resulting in low performance.  Thetesting results to follow are "real world" observations that theaverage user can expect to see from the upgraded YS Tech fan.  Performance measuring was done by commonsoftware utilities, not external thermometers or other measuringdevices.

Product Description:

Test System:

• Shuttle AK31 v3.1 KT266A Motherboard

• 1.4 GHz AMD Thunderbird CPU (266 FSB)

• 2 x 40GB 7200rpm ATA/100 Hard Drives (Maxtor)

• 48x CD-ROM (OEM)

• 20x10x40 Philips CD-RW

• 512MB PC2100 DDR RAM (Crucial)

• Radeon 64MB VIVO Video Card

• Philips Acoustic Edge Sound Card

• Antec 1030b SOHO File Server w/ 300W Power Supply - specs

• Rounded IDE / floppy cables*

Installation:

Installing a HSF these days on a socket motherboard has become apain to many...or even a nightmare to those that crack (or crush) their shinynew cpu cores.  The problem is that an enormous amount of pressure must beapplied to the retaining bracket in order for the heatsink to become attached tothe socket tabs.  Unfortunately, the cpu casing is designed so that the cpucore is exposed with such a small surface area...making a HSF installation aprecise activity.

The CB-6L is equipped with the old-school single retainingbracket, instead of the newer 3-prong brackets.  Because of this, care mustbe taken to keep the heatsink perfectly level while installing.  This isonly mentioned as a warning, not as a flaw with this particular HSF.  Themajority of HSF's are designed this way, simply making it the reality of a HSFinstallation.

TheYS Tech fan attaches directly to the system's power supply via a 4-pin poweradapter instead of a standard 3-pin motherboard fan header.  The powerrequirements of this 7000rpm fan (7.2W) is too much for the standard motherboardheaders.  The RPM sensor has a separate header which attaches to themotherboard fan header as normal.

The Tests:

Testing was done in the form of variousactivities:  idle system, gaming (UT/Q3), and full-load (SETI). Monitoring was performed by accessing the hardware monitoring features of thesystem BIOS and also the well known MotherboardMonitor (MM5) software, version 5.0.

MM5 utilizes the following sensors on the ShuttleAK31 motherboard:

Interesting to find that full load is nearly identical (actuallyless) than the gaming results.  I can only reason that gaming isessentially a full load environment as well...giving the same results.  Theambient room temperature during testing was 68F/20C.  Fluctuations in roomtemperature may account for the +/-1C difference.  The dual case fans ofthe Antec 1030b are obviously doing their job, maintaining a 25C system temp nomatter what the system activity.

Another interesting find is the RPM values being reported. Both the BIOS and MM5 report RPM's of 7800+ at all times...while the fan israted at 7000.  I do not know if this is a software conversion orcalibration problem, or if this particular YS Tech fan is merely anoverachiever.:)

Noise:

Fan noise may be an issue for some users considering thissetup.  The specifications are 46db @ 7000rpm, which is by no meansquiet.  It may even be safe to say this fan is loud.  Bottom line isthat it IS a 7000rpm fan, and anything spinning that fast and moving 40+ cfm ofair is going to make itself heard.  Many performance overclockers are notconcerned with noise, or find it only a minor drawback.  As far as normalapplication of this fan, it would not be practical in an office setting or othersensitive environment, unless if being used in a server that is kept in aseparate room from workers.  For home use, it will depend on theexpectations of the user.

Pros:

• Great cooling

• Small footprint (should fit most motherboards)

• Competitive price (~$20 online)

Cons:

• Retaining clip only has 1 clip instead of the newer 3-clip designs

• Fan noise

Summary:

The CB-6L heatsink paired with a YS Tech 7000 rpm fan does anexcellent job of cooling a high-end 1.4GHz cpu.  The overclocking crowdwill appreciate the low temperatures that this HSF provides as a baseline beforethe torturing of the cpu begins...because we all know if the baseline is toohigh to begin with, then there is little to work with once overclocking. Fan noise is the only drawback of this setup that I can see, which is more of apersonal preference for the user.

OVERALL RATING:  8 out of 10

AMDMB.comReview

KDComputers

*  CB-6LHSF and rounded IDEcables provided by KD Computers for testing.  Thanks Dave!