Lord Kryo - Part 2: 24 CPU Coolers in Review

Thermal Resistance C/W: Double Victory For Swiftech

The thermal resistance is calculated from the difference between cooling and room temperature as well as the quotient of the CPU's maximal heat output.

The thermal resistance determines the quality of a heatsink - the lower the number, the better the cooling performance. In principle, the results of the thermal resistance are closely connected to the cooling temperature. The best result was achieved by the Swiftech MC462, which reached a C/W value of 0.16. This places it considerably ahead of its sister product (the Swiftech MC370-0A) which ranked first in the previous test.

In general, if the specific cooling capability is within the range of 0.35 and 0.4, then we are dealing with a fairly usable heatsink/fan system. Measurements below 0.35 are very good, and those below 0.2 are absolutely top class.

Swiftech's two models rank first and second among the top performers, with the MC462 being designed for the new Pentium 4. The new Intel processor has to meet totally new demands on its thermal behaviour. Entirely out of the question are the results of the last three models in this diagram: The Titan TTC-D2 TB, the EKL 20704001007 and the no-name serial fan reach specific cooling capacities of 0.57 to 0.65. It is for this reason alone that the stated coolers are not suitable for overclocking or for fast AMD Athlon CPU's above 1000 MHz.

At this juncture, we would like to point out again that all the recorded measurements relate to our reference configuration. The results may vary slightly with different systems.