Performance

Temperatures will be taken at idle 15 min after a fresh boot. Load temperatures will be taken after 30 minutes of running Folding@Home. Temperatures were taken with Motherboard Monitor 5.2.0.0. Room temperature was maintained at a steady 74F for testing. As a comparison I'll be including the results of the Tundra2 testing as well. System specs are as follows...

• AMD XP 1600+ AROIA-Y
• Epox 8K3A+
• 512 Megs of Samsung Pc2700
• Western Digtial SE 120 Gig
• ATI Radeon 8500
• Hercules GTXP
• Arctic Alumina thermal compound

As most probably know, but for those of you who don't, the 8K3A+ reads the temps of the AMD XP's from the internal thermistor on the CPU itself and not the socket thermistor. Because of this the temps may seem a little on the high side. But its nothing to worry about. It is a more accurate way to read the temps than by reading from behind the chip as done on most pre-kt333 boards.

All I have to say is WOW! At first I was in disbelief at the results I got. So I took the heatsink off 2 more times and redid the tests. Each time I got the same exact results. This cooler really performed well given it only has a 19CFM fan on it. It would be interesting to see how it does with a 38cfm Delta up top! Our overclocked load was a measley 2 degree's higher than the Tundra2! And an added bonus this bad boy is QUIET!

The only downfall to this cooler is the single prong clip. Its lightweight so this isn't much a problem but most people these days prefer to have a 3 prong clip for added security. LAN Party's are becoming ever so popular and when transporting a case around the most crucial thing inside of there is the heatsink. If it comes off and you turn on your rig, you just nuked your processor.

Overall AVC has done an excellent job with the 112C81. It isn't the prettiest of coolers out there but it sure does perform well for what it is. If your looking for a good quiet cooler to run at default or even moderate overclocking this is definately a contender for that market! A big thanks goes out to AVC for sending us these fine specimens for review!

As for where to buy the AVC Coolers, go HERE. Depending on the retailer the 112C81 should be around $20-$25 and the Tundra 2 should be around $35-$40.

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