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Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro PCU21-VG Heatsink Review
Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro PCU21-VG Heatsink Review
  89%   
Abstract: The 3DCooler-Pro is an an all-in-one aluminum and copper heatsink designed to support all processors currently available.

 Manufacturer  Category  Published  Author 
Gigabyte   Cooling / Heatsinks   Mar 02, 2004   Max Page  

Home > Reviews > Page: Final AthlonXP and Pentium4 Test Results

(Socket A - AthlonXP) Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)

Mfg. Model 15mm small copper block 15mm small copper block
50W 100W
Thermalright SLK800 15.8 29.9
Thermalright AX-7 15.4 30.4
Tocools Novasonic-AlCu 17.8 32.9
Coolink U1P2 19.8 36.1
Tocools Novasonic 17.0 36.5
Coolermaster (high) ASBV73U1 18.1 36.7
Thermal Integration TI-V77L 17.9 37.1
Arkua 628 18.2 38.4
Gigabyte (high) 3DCooler-pro 20.5 39.4
Sibak AC02625B 35.8 41.5
Thermalright SLK-900A 23.4 44.9
Sibak AC06725TH 23.7 45.2
Coolermaster HHC-001 23.1 46.4
Jetart JAKS29 25.2 46.8
Thermal Integration TI-A8641L 22.1 47.7
AVC Tundra2 26.5 49.1
Gigabyte (low) 3DCooler-pro 26.4 49.1
Thermaltake Silent Boost 24.6 50.3
Evercool CUF715 25.0 51.1
Aopen ACK7L 26.0 51.8
Thermalright SK-7 22.8 52.1
Coolermaster HSC-V62 31.4 53.1
Zalman CNPS6000-Cu 29.0 53.4
Scythe Kamakaze 27.2 53.6
Spire 5F263 29.2 53.6
Taisol CGK760092 37.8 54.1
AVC 112AM1 28.1 54.8
Arkua 728M-7N01 27.0 55.0
Titan TTC-CU9TB/SC 28.6 57.5
Thermalright SK6+ 30.7 58.7
Taisol CEK787172 32.0 60.5
Titan D9TBCu35R1 31.7 61.5
nPowertek TTIC NPH-2 30.0 61.9
Verax P14Cu 31.9 63.2
Spire 5U213C1H3G 34.6 63.5
Spire SPA04B4 33.6 65.1
ArcticCooling CuSilent2 37.0 66.6
Akasa AK821 34.5 70.5
Verax P11T 43.6 76.6
50W 100W

I think it is easy to see that the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro should make a pretty good low noise heatsink for the the K7 platform. The difference in thermal performance between the fan running at full tilt (4000RPM) and that at the quietest minimum speed (2000RPM) is only about 10 degrees Celsius on the 100W synthetic temperature test. At full speed the 3DCooler-Pro offers consumers good performance characteristics, but certainly not the best for the K7.

Where the 3DCooler really comes into its own is on the Pentium 4 synthetic temperature test platform - probably due to the increased surface area it is in contact with...

(Socket 478 - Pentium4) Rise Above Ambient Temp. (c)
Mfg. Model 27mm large copper block 27mm large copper block

50W

100W

Thermalright (high) SLK-900U 11.6 20.5
Cooljag (high) CJC66IC-A 10.4 21.3
Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu 12.4 24.9
Thermal Integration TI-RV104N 14.4 25.4
Alpha PAL8942 14.7 26.1
Gigabyte (high) 3DCooler-pro 15.6 26.6
Zalman CNPS7000-Cu 14.1 27.7
AVC 117140 15.2 27.8
JMC 401100 15.6 27.9
Coolermaster IHC-H71 14.0 28.1
Taisol CEP447181 14.6 28.7
Jetart JAP416A 11.8 29.1
Thermal Integration TI-A8736N 12.4 29.1
Arkua 8568 15.4 29.3
Intel Stock 3.06GHz 15.0 30.1
Jetart JAP407A 13.8 30.2
Taisol CCP445172 17.5 30.7
Thermal Integration TI-RV108N 15.9 31.7
Spire SP411C5 17.3 31.7
Arkua Q85X-7J 16.7 31.9
Dynatron DC1207BMX 17.2 32.4
Thermal Integration (high) TI-V7035TN 18.1 32.7
Cooljag JVC661A 17.3 33.5
TS Heatronics (6" fan dist) NCU-1000 15.6 33.6
Dynatron DC1206BMY 18.6 33.6
Scythe Kamakaze 18.9 34.1
Zalman CNPS6500-AlCu 17.2 34.3
Taisol CEP426151A 19.4 35.4
Spire SP420B8 17.4 36.2
Arkua 8456X-8T 18.6 36.3
Arkua 838T-7G 18.7 36.7
Intel Socket 478 19.4 37.4
Dynatron DC1207BMW 19.5 37.9
Zalman CNPS5700D-Cu 18.9 38.3
Titan CW9TB/SC 18.9 38.3
Evercool NW9F715CA 19.1 38.5
Aopen ACP4LC 17.9 38.8
Globalwin VA476 20.8 39.3
Dynatron DC1206BM-S 20.8 39.6
AVC 117160 20.3 39.8
Gigabyte (low) 3DCooler-pro 21.8 41.5
Arctic Cooling SuperSilent4 Pro 21.7 43.0
Dynatron DC1206BMV 22.0 45.1
Vantec GSN-7105 25.1 46.6
Arkua 848X-6B 27.3 53.2
Verax P16 27.4 54.0
Dynatron DC1U-B02 32.9 67.4

50W

100W

The results speak for themselves; when the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro is used on the Pentium 4 platform, with the fan at full speed, it is clearly in the class of performance heatsinks. Good for overclocking, and undoubtedly noisy as a vacuum cleaner, this little heatsink has a lot of power.

Since silent cooling is a heck of a lot more popular now than screaming fans and overclocking (my apologies to the OC'ers in the crowd), a twist of the included fan speed controller allows you to tune the speed down as low as 2000RPM. At that speed, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro functions as a very capable lower-noise heatsink. It's not the best in either world, but it does perform very well, especially if we consider this is Gigabyte's first foray into heatsinks. Obviously, adjusting the fan's RPM will net you results somewhere in between those we have illustrated.

One thing is immediately clear, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro is really best suited to the larger heatspreader-capped processors like the Athlon64 and Pentium4. Though, if you are looking to upgrade from one platform in the near future, an all-in-one heatsink such as the 3Dcooler-Pro is a good option for obvious reasons. True, support for K8 processors has segmented the heatsink market, but this is a better compromise than the K7/P4 heatsinks of old. The K8 and P4 share more common characteristics which make designing a heatsink ideal for either platform more straightforward. With companies looking to support both K7 and P4, or K7 and K8, the thermal design challenges are much more extreme. In any event, the Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro's rather revolutionary design definitely performs well, especially when noise is not an issue, and that two-tiered squirrel cage fan can be cranked up!!

Related Articles:

Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy as well...

1. Thermaltake Silent Boost A1889-01 Copper Heatsink
2. Tocools Novasonic-AlCu Heatsink Review
3. Thermalright SLK-900A Copper Heatsink Review
4. Scythe Kamakaze AthlonXP / Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
5. Thermal Integration TI-RV108N Pentium 4 Heatsink
6. Cooljag CJC66IC-A Copper Pentium 4 Heatsink Review
7. Thermal Integration TI-A8641L Heatsink Review

 Previous Page ° Heat Sink Review Index  

Table of Contents:

 1:  Gigabyte 3DCooler-Pro PCU21-VG Heatsink Review
 2:  Closer Examination of the Heatsink
 3:  Heatsink Thermal/Acoustic Test Parameters
 4:  Surface Roughness Comparison
 5:  Initial Temperature Test Results
 6: — Final AthlonXP and Pentium4 Test Results

List all Gigabyte heat sinks that Frostytech tested?

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