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

Evolution Of The Coolers: 112BN0, 112BJ0, 112BJ0-1 And 112C80

The four Asian Vital Components (AVC) coolers we tested follow a simple design principle. Just take a simple, structured aluminum profile, plop on a powerful fan with a flow channel and voilà! You've got your cooler. Our measurements show that this simple construction isn't necessarily the worst of the batch. AMD also graced all four models with a recommendation.

The Little Tyke: AVC 112BN0

Unlike its big brothers, the 112BN0 doesn't have a flow channel to make its fan more effective.

The heat sink consists of a base plate that has almost six millimeters of material over its entire surface. The cooler fins are some 26 mm high and a mere 0.8 mm thick.

The cooler underside is very smooth without being lapped or even polished.

Its cooling capacity is surprisingly good; it can cope hands-down with an Athlon 1.4 GHz in normal operation.