Spire 5R266B1H3 Copper Core Heatsink Review
Built
with the AMD Athlon 1.4GHz and AMD AthlonXP 2200+ in mind, the Spire
5R266B1H3 EagleStream is a standard 6063 T5 aluminum extrusion with a special 30mm
diameter copper core insert. The copper insert makes direct contact with the processors core to help spread out the heat to the remaining aluminum body. Additionally, we can see that this heatsink uses a nice three-prong clip. Socket A heatsinks can often exert enough force over time to snap of the little plastic tabs on the socket. With the clip using all three the chances of this happening are pretty remote.
Spire /
Speeze and Fanner are all names that have been used independently for the products from this company, Fanner Tech Co. To keep things simple, we have listed this heatsink under the name of "Spire." The packaging says Speeze, but the two are the same company anyway.
After removing the fan and the plastic fan
shroud from the Eaglestream we are able to see the top of
the copper insert in the center of the clip trough. Unlike some Thermaltake
heatsinks which also come equipped with copper inserts, this copper core does
not peak out above the base of the fins at all.
Leaving the recess for the copper core withing
the aluminum should be beneficial for the overall heatspreading efficiency of the cooler. With
the copper in direct contact to aluminum on essentially two sides, there
is more direct contact for heat transfer to occur over.
From the best we can tell the copper
insert is press fit into a hole milled from the heatsink extrusion. Technically
termed an 'interference fit', there is generally a pretty good thermal interface
between the two metals which are in very close contact.
The exceptions crop up if the materials are not properly toleranced before being joined,
or if the aluminum has been anodized. Anodizing creates a crystalline coating
on the aluminum which can interfere with the best possible thermal transfers.
| Spire 5R266B1H3 Heatsink From All
Angles |
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The Fans: The small 10mm thick 60mm
fan sits in this plastic fan shroud for reasons we really aren't to sure of. The
fan grill is a nice addition, but with the RPM's hanging around 4800RPM it really isn't too
necessary so it was nice to see Spire took the extra step
and included it anyway. |
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Bare Heatsink:
With 6mm area cut from the center of the heatsink for
the stainless steel clip, the Spire 5R266B1H3 is pretty standard as
far as fin design goes. The fins are smooth, with no scalloping effects,
and just two small cross cuts along the outer
edges. |
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Side A:
Fanner, the parent company of Spire
sent over the blueprints for this heatsink so we can tell you that
the three tab clip is made from heat treated SUS301 stainless steel. The
fulcrum is 27.9mm from the rear connector tab. The clip is entirely tool based
so get out those flat head screw drivers. |
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Side B:
The 27 fins are all 32mm
tall, 0.5mm thick and spaced 1.5mm apart, so this isn't a configuration we
haven't seen countless times before. The base is 10mm thick which
is thicker than what we typically see from extruded heatsinks. |
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Heatsink Base:
The base is machined flat, and after
pulling out the straight edge we can see that things are as
good as they look. The copper insert is 30mm in diameter and about 6mm
thick. The heatsink comes with a gummy thermal interface pad which we removed to
keep our tests consistent. |
76%
