The VapoChill Micro comes to us snugly wrapped within a plastic blister package, held together by bumps and staples, allowing the packaging to be easily opened and re-used after the first excursion, perfect for those who need to store the sink for large periods of time. Underneath the glossy plastic surface, the most noticeable thing is the beast which is the cooler itself, framed by an information and product sheet. This sheet provides us with information on the sink's ability to dissipate heat, its socket compatibility, and the specifications of the fan included and a listing of goodies hidden deep within the base of the packaging.
Before moving onto the immensity of the heat sink section, let's pause to examine the other contents of the box. The small section at the bottom of the box contains everything you will need to install this cooler: a brief and effective instruction manual, four plastic fan rivets, a manual fan controller and accompanying cabling and finally the metal mounting plate. Considering that we have the Ultra Low Noise version of this heat sink, the fan controller is of nearly no use to us, as the slit-sided 92mm fan included with this cooler moves a good deal of air while barely whispering as it is – turning down it's speeds would only impair performance. Apart from this, there are no curiosities or quibbles to discuss, as installation will be a breeze, both due to the simple system and beautiful instructions, carefully disguised as the base of the packaging.
In the VapoChill Micro we can notice a few distinct and interesting design changes over the traditional heat pipe sink, the first and most obvious of these changes is the size of the heat pipes. Rather than choosing to use a number of smaller units, Asetek has gone about things in the simple way, by using three large 3/8" OD tubes connected to a common feed tube, further connected to a half spherical base with a crimped shut gassing port. As we turn to the base of the heat sink and pull away the plastic protection, we find a matrix of dots, Asetek's way of pre-applying thermal grease, a solution that is clean and effective – just make sure not to smudge the base! Perhaps the most baffling thing to those gazing on the sink for the first time is the seeming lack of fan mounts and motherboard holes. Both of these issues are easily addressed through the included plastic fan shroud and the locking base plate. The shroud slips on over the heat pipes, and connects to the fan above via Lian-Li-esque plastic fan rivets, which help to deaden vibrations. The base plate works via a similar principle, simply sliding over the base at an angle, then locking down around a ring just outside the protruding dome, finally being screwed into the motherboard's standard retention plate for a secure and stable mount.
