The FrostyTech Synthetic Temperature Test Platform consists of an aluminum block heated by a 120V 250 Ohm precision resistor producing 50W of heat. That heat is transmitted to the heatsink via the aluminum block and up through special copper die templates with thermistors embedded directly in them.

A temperature reading for a particular heatsink is taken once the temperature stabilizes in the copper die template. Since each of the die templates have the approximate surface area of either a silicon topped or heatspreader-topped processor the flow of heat to the base of the heatsink accurately mimics a real life configuration.

Shown with the copper die template for a silicon-topped processor, the synthetic heatsink test apparatus awaits a coating of silver-based thermal compound and the SwiftTech MC462-A Rev1 heatsink. A slightly larger copper die template was used to test the effective cooling ability of the MC462-A Rev1 atop a heatspreader-based processor like an overclocked PGA Celeron processor.

Before we could even begin testing the MC462-A Rev1 heatsink we had to modify the Synthetic Temperature Test Platform slightly. The platform is made to accept socket clips, and not the screw down mechanism the SwiftTech heatsink uses.

While we could have just balanced the heatsink on top of the copper die templates, that would not have replicated the downward force exerted by the compression springs in the actual mounting configuration. An upgrade of sorts was conducted on the Synthetic test platform and some special parts were added so that the MC462-A Rev1 could be properly screwed into place for accurate testing.