Silencing The SOHO

As the name implies, the Ultra Products Copper Heatpipe CPU HSF utilizes three heatpipes that come in contact with the copper base and then protrude upwards into the copper fins. Mounted on both sides of the Ultra Products fins are two 80mm fans. Some of the other heatsink features include thermal control functions and advanced CPU cooling technology. For the thermal control feature, a small thermal probe is positioned underneath the fan to properly adjust the fan speed, and noise level, depending upon change in temperature. The sockets supported by the AMD HSF are A (462), 754, 939, and 940.

Cutting through the Ultra Products packaging, we were left with the actual HSF, a small syringe of thermal paste, an additional mounting clip, and the installation instructions for the various sockets. When looking around the heatsink we were fairly pleased with the construction, although it didn't have the feel of a Thermalright or Swiftech product, it still was well built. Covering the copper base was a thin layer of protection to prevent any additional scratches during shipment. When removing the protection for ourselves, the base was riddled with very diminutive scratches. Nevertheless, none of them was large and could all be lapped out quite easily. When it came time to install the heatsink into one of our AMD Athlon 64 testbeds, we were admirably impressed by the noise level of the new heatsink considering that there were two 80mm fans constantly spinning, and as expected the thermal function operated appropriately. Although the Scythe Ninja fanless heatsink, from part 1 of this article, is compatible with AMD's sockets the heatsink is quite large and for enthusiasts who would rather see an active heatsink for their AMD processor, the Ultra Products Copper Heatpipe CPU Fan for Athlon XP 3400+ or 64 4000+ may be just for them.