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Test System~Testing~

Now comes the fun part, testing the SP97. Here we'll be comparing the SP97 against not only the current best from Thermalright, but also the best from the other main heatsink makers. The first test is with a blazin' 92MM Tornado fan on top speed (119cfm) on the heatsinks that don't include a fan; the SP97, SLK900A and the MCX462-V. Since the Volcano 12 and Aero 7+ both include a fan, they'll be run at top speed in this first test.

Room temp was maintained at as close to 70 degrees as I could keep it. To get load temp I kept folding@home running with the prime95 cpu torture test for at least 45 minutes. Idle temp was after a fresh boot and doing nothing but net surfing for about 45 minutes.

As you can see we have ourselves a new King! The SP97 proved better than any of the other heatsinks at cooling, but with that extremely noisy 92MM tornado on top speed. My neighbors thought B-52's were flying overhead. But hey, no fan cools better. :D

The test below we'll just include the SP97, SLK900A and the MCX462-V all running the 92MM Tornado at a fairly quiet and far more tolerable 2600rpm:

At a reasonably quiet speed the SP97 again wins out. I used a Sunbeam fan controller to adjust the Tornado speed to 2600rpm. If you are a Tornado owner then you'll know that's the only way to run those loud fans.

Ok, we don't like noise. At least most of us don't. So this next test we'll have a very silent 80MM NMB fan that puts out a rated 26.5cfm on the SP97, SLK900A and the MCX462-V. Then we'll have the fans on the Volcano 12 and Aero 7+ running at the lowest speed I couldn't hear them. Last but not least we'll also include the Silent Boost running at it's normal quiet speed.

Seems with a silent fan the difference between the SP97 and the other heatsinks is even greater than with loud fans. Which is exactly what the SP97 is designed for. Imagine that, you don't need a ear-numbing fan to get supreme cooling. Keep in mind all the above testing was done on an overclocked system, 11x200.

Final Thoughts~

What can I say about Thermalright. They already have the best cooling heatsinks around and here they've made yet another that even bests their bests. They don't rest on their own laurels or concentrate on 'pretty' or 'cool' looks. They do, however, concentrate on making the very best performing heatsinks and they have certainly succeeded most handliy with the SP97.

Pros~Cons~

If you are wanting the very best air cooling that you can get, then the SP97 is it. Cut and dried, hit the road Jack. And it reigns supreme no matter what fan you have on, whether it be a lawnmower-loud Tornado, or a very silent NMB fan. Try as I have and with various fans and speeds, each time the SP97 won out handily over either of the best from the competition.

No fan is included because Thermalright feels you should get the best fan that suits your needs. As you can see by the results above, you don't need a loud fan to cool well even if you are overclocking. So if you want something that looks 'cool' through your case window then you can always get a lighted fan. But frankly, I prefer nothing taking away from those heatpipes.

Many thanks to those really great guys from Thermalright for making this review possible.They even had this SP97 I received sent direct from their assembly line in Taiwan!

Direct link to the SP97 page.

And no doubt about it, Thermalright has once again earned our highest honor:

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