A Cool Bunch: How To Put A Lid On The Die Temperature Of Your Athlon

One By One - 55 Coolers On The Blocks

Tame Monster For Overclockers: ALPHA PAL8045

With a form factor of 80 x 80 millimeters, one thing is clear: this cooler won't fit on every board. If your socket is surrounded by lots of capacitors, you should steer clear of this cooler. Also, assembly is somewhat more complicated. You have to unscrew the motherboard and affix the cooler to the board while it is outside the case - not a huge problem for a knowledgeable PC owner. The assembly instructions that come with the cooler explain everything to a T.

Our PAL8045 came with an ORIX fan rotating at an extremely mellow 2500 rpm. That keeps the noise level rather moderate (50 dB(A)).

The heat sink consists of a solid aluminum plate with a copper inlay.

The underside of the PAL8045 is smooth as a baby's heinie and polished, showing how high the manufacturing standards are for this product. Hexagonal aluminum pins are pressed into the base plate, which increases the active cooling surface.

The cooling capacity of the PAL8045 is very good. The workmanship and low noise level are additional selling points for the cooler.