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Author: Sean H
Price: Usually around $43 - $47
Suppliers for this review: Thermalright
When it comes to cooling your brand new Athlon XP or Pentium 4 Processor, it becomes difficult to choose which heatsink and fan combination you think would work best. With so many manufacturers, it sometimes requires just as much research as choosing a motherboard as it does to find the perfect heatsink for your needs.
A name that is very common among the computer building community is Thermalright. Since Thermalright's successful SK6 a few years ago, they have continued to lead the pack in performance.
Recently, Thermalright has taken a giant step forward. When the SK6 began to fall behind all the newer heatsinks, Thermalright released their next heatsink, the AX7, reaching the top of the pack once again. With the AX7 still remaining one of the top performers, Thermalright introduced the new SLK Series, which consisted of huge, heavy, solid copper heatsinks. It began with the SLK600 and SLK700. From there, larger versions were eventually produced, including the SLK 800a, SLK 800U, and SLK 900U. Today, we will be reviewing the best heatsink currently on the market, Thermalright's SLK 900U.
Let's begin by taking a look at the features and specifications directly from Thermalright's website!
- All copper design for maximum performance
- Soldered fins to base to ensure effective contact
- 92mm stock fan for more cooling capability
- Screws through motherboard mounting for LAN party
- Both AMD socket A and Intel socket-478 compatible
Dimensions:
- L99 x W59 x H45 (mm) Top, without fan
- L67 x W81 x H45 (mm) Bottom, without fan
Weight for AMD Installation: 570g (heat sink only)
Weight for Intel Installation: 587g (heat sink - along with P4 mounting brackets)
Packaging
Unlike Thermaltake's fancy, clear plastic packaging (as seen here), Thermalright packs the SLK 900U in a very sturdy cardboard box. As a quick example, I stepped on the box, using half my weight the box didn't budge. (for those wondering that's around 85 pounds 
) Needless to say, the box protects a person's investment, you wouldn't want your $45 heatsink getting ruined in the mail, now would you?
Opening the box reveals all bits and pieces that Thermalright included with their SLK 900U. Hidden under the black X shaped piece of metal is where the heatsink is located.
So, what exactly did Thermalright include with this heatsink? Definitely more than I expected!
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