Heatsink Top:
The top of the nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big heatsink is bare except for the top of the 33mm diameter heat column. After being evacuated, the mechanicals of the tube are sealed with a glossy black resin to prevent tampering. The wire clips that hold the fan in position securely loop through a joint cut into either side of the heatsink, and latch onto the screw holes of the fan frame. The fan can be installed on either side of the heatsink, and in general should always be blowing towards the rear of the chassis. Each aluminum fin measures 126 x 77mm in size.

Heatsink Side A:
The nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big heatsink stands 148mm tall. The first aluminum cooling fin is elevated 28mm above the surface of the CPU. Each aluminum fin measures 0.5mm thick, and the fin pitch is ~2.0mm. The aluminum mounting bracket for attaching the NPH-K8 Big heatsink to socket 754/939/940 motherboards is flush to the copper base of the heatsink, so be very careful not to over tighten the mounting hardware. In our testing, we noticed dramatic temperature rises because the copper portion of the heatsink wasn't in direct contact with the CPU die of the synthetic temperature test platform. If there is one revision to be made to this heatsink, it would be in this area.

Heatsink Base:
The copper portion of the base measures 38mm in diameter - just the right size to virtually cover the surface of a socket 939 AMD Athlon64 processor. The aluminum mounting hardware surrounds this, and because the surfaces are flush it can prop the copper portion up off the CPU ISH if mounting hardware is excessively tightened. TTIC would do well to revise this area of the nPowerTek NPH-K8 Big heatsink a little. Surface roughness is on the order of ~12 microinches, which is considered excellent. The copper is machined perfectly flat, and is very smooth.