Coolink U2L Heatsink Review
Built
with a body of nickel plated 6063-T5 extruded aluminum and a 2mm thick C1100
copper base, the
Coolink U2L is identical in shape to the high-powered U2P varient. Of course in the
search for ultimate cooling, manufactures are always looking for the best combination of heatsink
and fan, and in this case the U2L is built for quieter cooling. Using an 80mm fan
just means that this standard extrusion heatsink works a little better than smaller heatsinks with lower-RPM
fans.
Sitting
above the heatsink fin section is a 25mm thick 80mm 2900RPM fan that produces
about 50 dB of noise. This isn't a quiet heatsink in the class of Zalman or
Verax, but it is what I think we are going to start calling
"lower noise." If Coolink have the equation right, this nickel
plated aluminum extrusion heatsink with its' copper base should still be able to offer up some pretty good Athlon cooling.
 |
| Heatsink Specsheet: |
- Model Name: U2L
- Fan Specs: YSTech, ~2900RPM, 12V, 0.13A, 31dB, 34CFM
- Fan Dim: 25x80x80mm
- Heatsink Dim: 67x80x61mm
- HS Material: Extruded Aluminum, nickel plated, copper base
- Weight: 360grams
- Mfg by: Coolink
Sold By: www.coolinkcooler.com.tw,
www.xtwerkz.com
|
| |
 |
|
Coolink U2L From All
Angles |
 |
The Fan: YS-Tech make this fan which rotates
at just 2900 RPM - making it a quiet cooler compared to the absolutely
noisy U2P heatsink. A three-pin connector is used to connect to the
motherboard fan header so that RPM signals are still registered by the
BIOS. The fan is held in place by a wire bracket specifically designed for
25mm thick fans only. |
 |
Top: The fin structure of the Coolink U2L is pretty standard
as far as extruded heatsinks come. A few fins with no cross cuts,
and a single one-tab clip. The aluminum
fins are all plated in nickel, and the heights of the tips range by a few millimeters. The two
surface cuts on either side of the clip are for the wires which hold the fan in
place. |
 |
Side
A: The wire clip hooks into the frame of the heatsink to securely hold the large fan in place. Because of this type of mechanism it is not as easy to replace the fan with something smaller, or larger for that matter. The single clip used to hold the Coolink U2L on a Socket A processor is tool based and easy enough to engage. A three prong clip would have been preferred however.
|
 |
Side B: The fins vary in height by 3mm at
the tips. The fins are 1mm thick and spaced about 2mm apart. Springing up 30mm from the
6mm thick & 3mm thick copper base, the fins are all nickel plated, but smooth surfaced. |
 |
Heatsink Base:
The copper base is soldered to the rest
of the heatsink and offers a fairly level and smooth mounting surface. The processor really
only needs a small amount of thermal compound to make good contact with the
copper surface. |