Thermal Integration TI-A8641L Heatsink Review
Looking
over the Thermal Integration TI-A8641L it is easy to draw parallels with
Zalman's flower shaped heatsinks. Both heatsinks use punched out sheet metal
bolted together to form one entire heatsink - a process which is both
economical, and rather ingenuitive. Zalman have certainly cornered the market
with their style of bolted-together heatsinks, but I can also see Thermal
Integration's becoming a driving force in the more
economically sensitive mainstream users segment.
The TI-A8641L is a socket A AthlonXP heatsink which
weighs in at approx. 470 grams. The small heatsink is under 60mm tall, and is
made from several dozen aluminum and copper fins which have been cut from a
sheets about 0.3mm thick. Bolted together, the fins come together to form a
cohesive heatsink. The copper fins are located directly over the core of the
processor to aide in thermal transmission, and mounted above all of this is a
70mm fan.
Not only
are there full size aluminum and copper fins in the construction of this
heatsink, but between heat fin is a copper spacer 1mm thick. The copper
base that these spacers form measures 10mm thick, and helps to ensure heat
energy is transmitted laterally to the
outer fins.
Two relatively small screws and some steel brackets hold
the fins of this heatsink in place. Were the screws to loosen, the heatsink
would come undone and the processor below would ultimately fail.
85%
