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Thermalright SLK-600/800 & CB-7


Date
: 10/28/02 – 10:35:07 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Thermalright
Price:

SLK-600: N/A
SLK-800: $42 @ 2Cooltek
CB-7: N/A

Introduction

It has been a while since O² posted a review of a Thermalright heatsink, in fact the AX-7 was the last one we reviewed. In the meanwhile, Thermalright has released a few other fine heatsinks like the SLK-600, the CB-7 and of course the SLK-800, their current socket A flagship. Since it would be good to see how these three heatsinks perform against one another, Overclockers Online took all three of them for a spin and compared notes. Each heatsink has its target audience, depending on the circumstances the heatsink will be used in. Which one is right for you? Only one way to find out, and that's the O² way :). Sit tight, get ready … here we go!

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

Thermalright SLK-600

- All copper design for maximum performance
- Soldered fins to base to ensure effective contact
- Maximum efficiency thermal pad T725 by Chomerics
- Three pronged type heat sink clip
- Dimensions: L72 x W56.8 x H61mm
- Weight: 430g (heat sink only)
- AMD: Athlon XP Desktop CPU Palomino 2000+ and higher
- Intel: P-III Coppermine 1.33 GHz and above; Celeron 1.30 GHz and above

Although the SLK-600 was released a few months ago, it is still among the best performing heatsinks for socket A CPU's (AMD) thanks to its all copper design. The heatsink features 34 copper fins which are all soldered to the base, making sure there is good contact between the base that absorbs the heat from the CPU core, and the fins who will release the heat to the surrounding air.
The SLK-600 uses a retention clip that uses all six feet to stay put on top of your CPU. Especially if you move your case around a lot, this is a good feature as it ensures you the heatsink will NOT fall of during transport! Imagine the disaster if this 430g cooling beast would make a free fall on top of your expensive AGP card ;). Installing the heatsink is pretty straight forward, but you'll need a flat headed screwdriver to put the clip in place. The SLK-600 is designed to take a 60mm fan, either 25mm or 38mm thick; depending on your needs (and ears ;)).

Thermalright CB-7

- Aluminum base
- Aluminum fins design
- Dimensions: L77 x W77 x H80mm
- Weight: 480g
- AMD: Athlon XP Desktop Palomino CPU's up to 2000+ and higher

The CB-7 is clearly a less powerful heatsink, compared to the SLK-600 and the SLK-800. Unlike the other two, this one is made out of aluminum instead of copper, meaning it will remove heat slower compared to its bigger brothers. The CB-7 features eight fins in the center of the heatsink and 29 fins on two of the four sides as well. Just like the others, it uses a clip that uses all six mounting points on the CPU socket, keeping the block firmly attached to the CPU.
As far as fans, the CB-7 is meant to be used with an 80mm fan. Bigger fans mean more airflow and less noise (unless you decide to install one of those 80mm Delta's of course ;)). Thermalright seems to aim towards a well performing heatsink, with a good noise level that will be a perfect match for the "normal" computer user out there, whereas the SLK's are aimed towards to more demanding users who tend to overclock their processors to the max!

Thermalright SLK-800

- All copper design for maximum performance
- Soldered fins to base to ensure effective contact
- Maximum efficiency thermal pad T725 by Chomerics
- Three pronged type heat sink clip
- Dimensions: L87 x W56.4 x H48mm (top)
- Dimensions: L57.5 x W56.4 x H48mm (bottom)
- Weight: 505g (heat sink only)
- AMD: Athlon XP Desktop CPU Palomino 2000+ and higher

Last but certainly not least, there is the SLK-800. This baby is Thermalright's current top of the bill socket A heatsink featuring a total of 34 copper fins, soldered onto the copper base, just like the SLK-600. Again, this ensures a good transfer of heat, resulting in lower CPU temperatures and better overclocking results.
Unlike the SLK-600, the SLK-800 can not only use 60mm fans, it can also use 70mm
and
80mm fans, giving you a wide variety of heatsink/fan combo's!
Like the other two, the SLK-800 heatsink uses the same six mounting points retention clip, offering a perfect seal between the heatsink and the processor. The dark side of this is, you need a flat headed screwdriver to install it. With its 505g, the SLK-800 is the heaviest heatsink of the Thermalright family, which is pretty normal considering it is made entirely out of copper and can take 80mm fans.

Note that Thermalright includes white thermal paste with every heatsink, and that all heatsinks come without fan (although most stores will also sell it in a heatsink/fan combo).

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

Now, the $1,000,000 question is: how does each of the above heatsinks perform in live action? Overclockers Online investigated the matter and reports …

Test System

- AMD AthlonXP 1700+ CPU
- EPoX 8K3A+ KT333 Motherboard
- 256MB PC2100 Crucial DDR Memory
- ABIT Siluro GF3 Ti200 Video card
- Windows XP + SP1 + Latest drivers

In order to get the CPU warmed up, I ran prime95 + SiSoft's Sandra Burn-In tool for one hour to make sure the CPU is getting as hot as possible and also to make sure the Artic Silver 3 used in all tests has settled in well. Ambient temperature was 23 degrees Celsius at all tests. All tests were done with an 80mm Antec fan (on the SLK-800 and CB-7) and a 60mm Antec fan (on the SLK-600). Here is the Antec fans review.

Temperatures In Celsius

Temperatures In Fahrenheit

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

Thermalright has surely proven to be a worthy heatsink manufacturer. If we look at these three heatsinks, it is obvious that these guys know what they are doing. The SLK-600 is a perfect match for hardcore overclockers who want top notch performance for AMD or Intel P3 systems while using a 60mm fan. The CB-7, which is only intended for use with AMD based systems, is a well performing heatsink that will do just fine on slightly overclocked systems (or not overclocked ones :)) while using 80mm fans instead of 60mm ones … This results in less decibels, making it an ideal partner for quiet systems.
The SLK-800 is clearly the winner in this test: its performance is top of the bill and makes the heatsink a perfect match for die-hard overclockers and power users who only want the best of the best on their processors. Add to that the fact that the SLK-800 can take 60, 70 or 80mm fans and you just know this beast kicks ass! After playing around with these puppies, I'm sure we'll see more good things from Thermalright in the future … The SLK-800 is taking home the one and only
O² Power Award
!