Performance

Excited yet? No the WhisperRock II doesn't look as impressive as many of the higher priced copper coolers but with it's sheer size and that 80mm 31.70 cfm fan, it may cool acceptable. Testing was done with a room temperature of 72 degrees. Idle temps were taken after a fresh boot and the system being idle for 15 minutes. Full load was by using the Prime 95 CPU Torture test for 45 minutes. Test system (parts that matter):

• Shuttle AK-31 rev 3.1
• TBird 1.4
• 256mb Crucial PC2100 DDR
• Maxtor ata100 7200rpm 40gb
• ATI DDR Vivo
• Arctic Alumina heatsink compound applied

Not shabby for an all-aluminum heatsink, not bad at all. Even with overclocking (11x145) it did somewhat respectable although at 1470 (10.5x140) temps were 3-6 degrees cooler so that's more in line with what the WhisperRock II is max capable of. imo And, now are we listening boys and gurls? This heatsink, the WhisperRock II IS Q-U-I-E-T, Quiet. As the name suggest, rather strongly.

The WhisperRock II is designed to be a low-cost and quiet cpu cooler alternative while adequately cooling the cpu and it accomplished that goal. It's very easy to install, cools respectable even with moderate overclocking and it even looks cool with its all-silver finish. Only bad thing is it has just a 1-prong clip but since it is very light that shouldn't be a problem if your center motherboard catch is in good shape. Also take note the cooling results above were take using a tbird 1.4, the newer AMD XP cpu's normally run even cooler. If you're looking for a quiet heatsink and one that will cool adequately for even some moderate overlcocking then the WhisperRock II from SpireCoolers is certainly one to consider.

Thanks goes out to the European branch of Fanner Tech, which supplies the Spire CPU Coolers. Their excellent packaging, very kind and helpful emails along with a fine product made this review a joy. With a retail price of around $10, it's a bargain!