How Good Are AMD's Bundled Coolers For The Athlon XP ?

AMD 2000+ Bundled Cooler

The cooler bundled with the AMD Athlon XP 2000+ is based on an aluminum cooler profile. The ribs are made using skived-fin technology.

In skiving production, horizontal layers/ shavings are cut from aluminum blocks and then placed vertically, creating the cooler profile. Not only is this manufacturing process very cost-effective, the aluminum profiles also have an enormous surface area because the fins and the spaces between them (the pitch) are 1.3 millimeters thick. What's more, the profiles are better at conducting heat because the ribs are part of the base plate, instead of being welded or crimped on.

The underside of the cooler is relatively smooth, albeit not polished to a mirror finish. It comes factory-fitted with a thermal pad that we stripped off for the test. A clip keeps the cooler clamped to the middle gib on the socket. Installing it was a breeze. We determined that the thermal resistance of the cooler was 0.48° C/W, while the maximum die temperature was 54° C when running at full steam. The noise level stood at 52.5 dB(A) - not too shabby considering the speed of the fan (5800 rpm).