CoolerMaster HHC-001 Cpu Cooler

The heatpipes protrude out by 3/4 of an inch and that could be a problem on some motherboards which has a chipset fan close by as does the Shuttle AK-31 which I have. In fact the heatpipes hit the chipset fan enough to interfere with the heatsink fully contacting the cpu core. See the above picture. Do not try running your system like this as the cpu will fry and die in seconds! What I had to do was remove the chipset fan and only screw it in on one corner and let it cover just part of the chipset heatsink , then the heatpipe didn't touch and the chipset fan still did it's job just fine. But on mine I actually I had to replace the cheapo chipset fan Shuttle includes because it went out(as many ak-31 owners have) so I replaced it with an old 486 fan. But that's another story. Anyway it is screwed in on just one corner but it's plenty secure as you can see by the picture below. Plus since it's thinner than the one Shuttle includes the heatpipes do not touch it. It's close though.

Ok, now how the heck does this heatsink with those funky-looking heatspipes perform. To get idle temps I let the system sit for 15 minutes after a fresh boot and with light surfing the temps didn't change. To get full load temps I ran the prime95 cpu torture test. Room temperature was 70 degrees. After getting temps at the XP 1700 + default speed of 1470 I overclocked it to XP 1800 + speed(11x140fsb).

• Shuttle AK-31 rev. 3.1
• Tbird XP 1700 +
• 512 pc2100 DDR
• C-media 5.1 sound
• Maxtor 30gig 7200rpm
• Lite-on 24x cdrw
• Windows XP Pro

Well there you have it ladies and gents, it kicks major booty! Seems no matter how long I let prime95 run those temps were the max I got, and those are darned good. Please note though the temperature on your system may be a little different. A lot depends on your room temp, how you apply thermal compound, how cool your case is and your peripherals. And please, always follow these instructions for applying thermal compound. It does make a difference.

Just wish I knew what exactly was in those heatpipes but whatever it is, it does obviously help. And remember heatpipes have been around a long time and used in laptops but not until now have they been used for pc cpu cooling. It's a dream to install thanks to the best clip any heatsink could have and that I've reviewed, the only exception being I wish it had a 3-prong clip on each side for best stability. Having 3-prong should be a natural yet most only use the one. The heatpipes do extend out further so it may not fit all motherboards. But as is the case with the Shuttle AK-31 if you don't mind adjusting the chipset fan's position some, it'll fit just fine. The only other bad thing is that 6800rpm fan, it is loud. Those of you with those screamin' lawnmower-loud delta fan know what I mean. But if you can stand the noise this heatsink will cool you as well or better than the best that is available for under $50. And just so you know. I replaced the included fan with a quiter one off a volcano 5 and the temps were just around 6 degrees higher, and that ain't bad at all.

• cools supremely well
• easiest install thanks to that amazin' pivoting clip
• no additional tools needed
• heatpipes work and look unique
• all copper heatsink

• fan is loud
• no 3-prong clip
• might not fit all motherboards

Mucho thanks to our good friends at Crazy PC for sending us this most eggselent cpu cooler for review. Priced at a reasonable $34.95. Direct link to this heatpipe cpu cooler.