360° View - OCZ Vendetta 2 Heatsink Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here.
The 120mm PWM fan on the OCZ Vendetta 2 spins at a pretty low 800RPM to 1500RPM and draws power from a standard 4-pin PWM motherboard fan header. It is backwards compatible with 3-pin connectors. The three copper heatpipes are 8mm in diameter, and extend from the base up through all the fins. The two cuts in the aluminum base are for the AMD K8 mounting clip to lock into. The aluminum fins measure 0.35mm thick and are spaced 1.75mm apart.
The OCZ Vendetta 2 heatsink stands 157mm tall, the bottom-most fin is 41mm above the CPU socket for clearance of adjacent capacitors, northbridge heatsinks, etc. The three copper heat pipes are positioned side to side at the center of the aluminum block where they make direct contact with the processor. The base composed of a 14mm thick aluminum section to provide support for clamping.
The usable area of OCZ's Vendetta 2 base measures 40x35mm in size. The three 8mm diameter copper heatpipes have been swaged into the aluminum base block, and each surface made flush by a light sanding. Looking at the top of the heatsink, the small dimples and curve of the aluminum fins are apparent.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.