Eumax EU-0702 Copper Heat Sink (cont.)

Installation:

The Eumax EU-0702 heat sink does not have a pre-applied thermal pad, so the installation went faster than usual. I did not have to scrub for hours trying to get cheap thermal pad goo off; therefore, I was free to clean with alcohol and apply a rub-in layer of Arctic Silver 3. Once I had treated the surface of the heat sink, I did the same to the CPU core.

Installation from here was utterly basic; I clamped the handy 3 prong connectors onto the socket and plugged the fan in. Installation was about as easy as it can get, place a screwdriver at the right angle and apply a bit of pressure, to clamp the bracket down. It only took me a couple attempts to get the feel of the bracket.

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I did notice one strange thing: although the unit was clamped down via solid clasps, the heat sink could be shifted in a radial pattern along the surface of the CPU. There was a wide channel running down the center of the fins, which the clasp bar ran along, the slack provided the range of motion needed to allow shifting of the heat sink While this isn't the sort of abuse one would expect to see done to a heat sink, overtime the position of the heat sink could shift potentially reducing thermal dissipation performance.

Testing:

To really give this heat sink a grind, I tested it against one of the hottest CPUs out there, an Athlon Thunderbird 1.2GHz. For some reason these fellas always run really hot, the perfect CPU to test any heat sink The thermal results obtained for this test should be considered similar to results you could obtain with CPUs with speeds up to 2.8 AMD XP GHz.

* All temperature readings were taken from a diode in contact with the backside of the CPU core. The results were then obtained via Motherboard Monitor 5. The ambient air temperature was a static 24 degrees Celsius. To heat up the CPU I ran Prime 95 in 15 minute intervals.

The Volcano 5 results are depicted in the following snapshot of motherboard monitor 5. The image was snapped after five minutes of cool down from previous torture tests.

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Despite the fact that the case in which this heat sink was housed in, the test has plenty of airflow. The Volcano 5 reaches temperatures that should make anyone nervous. Any less airflow and lock ups would have followed. Hopefully, the Eumax cooler performs better!

The Eumax results are depicted in the following image in the same manner as the Volcano 5 results were obtained.

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Wonderful; the temperatures were more than I expected from this mid-level cooler. After five minutes of cool-down the heat sink was idling at 34. The idle temp varied slightly with activity but on average was between 33 and 36. This is nothing to worry about, and is actually a respectable idle temperature compared to the stock heat sink and a number of other cheaper offerings (i.e. the Volcano 5 and its kin).

The maximum temperature this heat sink reached was the same as the 5 minute cool-down temperature (so I guess I cannot really call it “cool-down” since it didn’t do much cooling down). The maximum temperature reached by this device was very pleasing, however what baffled me was how long it stayed at this temperature. Either the heat sink was so effective at keeping the temperature low or it was just poor at lowering the temperature back down. My guess would be that the mass of the heat sink kept the CPU from reaching frying temperatures, but this same mass kept the CPU relatively warm for a longer period of time after the high-loading. In either case the max temp was desirable and I was pleased by its performance.

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The aesthetic appeal of this heat sink is a whole different game. Alongside respectable thermal results are the great looks of this cooler. Simply put, the fan looks great all lit up. If you have a case with a window you will not be disappointed. It has a rich glow, and the colors contrast nicely. The fan is nice and quiet, but not as quiet as a Vantec Stealth fan. However, it was right on with what you would expect from a nice soft 80mm case fan.

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