While installing the VapoChill Micro wasn't quite as easy as installing those clip heatsinks out there, you can rest assured that in a normal situation, the procedure will go smoothly and seamlessly, allowing you to get your system back up and running in mere minutes. However, with this simplicity comes a duet of issues. The first of these issues is the size of the actual cooler itself – it cannot stay in one place to have the mounting screws attached, but rather must be rotated out of the way to secure each, before being finally secured into the desired position by rotation. The next of the issues comes in the fact that while the VapoChill micro utilizes the standard motherboard mounting screws to clamp down onto the processor. The issue here comes with those who have plastic backplates, who will be greeted by a thunk as the screws are removed, watching the backplate fall onto the motherboard tray, out of reach of most screwdrivers.
Now, while this is no fault of Asetek, it still poses an issue, one that including an inexpensive steel backplate would easily solve. Along with that, fixing the size issue is simple too – just attach the plastic ducting and fan after the heatsink has been mounted, so both screws can be accessed at the same time. Apart from those issues, installation was simple and flawless the first time around, with the cooler having just enough wire length to tuck inconspicuously around our mounting bracket and plug into the header. With our mounting gripes aside, everything else went smoothly and according to plan.
Our testing methodology is as follows – we take four separate measurements to show different load levels for the processor: We have a no load 15 minute period as our idle, 30 minutes of Folding @ Home to show a low priority load, 10 Loops of SiSoft Sandra's Burn in wizard to demonstrate a high priority load, and a standard S&M processor test loop to demonstrate a critical load. At this time, we utilize a less popular method of the motherboard's inbuilt sensors. Yes, we know this is less accurate to some respect, but it does however prevent misrepresentation of data due to a jarred thermal probe or strangely mounted heatsink. On top of this, we run two sets of tests – one for Stock (200*9, 1.45V) performance, with the processor generating a paltry 49W of heat, as well as an Overclocked (280*9, 1.65V) test where our processor puts out just shy of 100W of heat.
Test Bed
- 3000+ Winchester Chip
- DFI NF4-DAGF
- 1.0 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR500
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT
- Ultra 600W Power Supply
- Open Air Test Bench
Stock Clock Results
Overclocked Results
As we can see, Asetek's VapoChill Micro clearly dominates the stock heatsink as well as its counterpart Spire's KestrelKing. Along with that, the revolutionary design has the power to out muscle the largest tower sink of the roundup – Gigabyte's 3D Galaxy – in many situations. It even has the power to compete closely with ThermalTake's much larger Big Typhoon, albeit being overpowered by its sheer size in the end. Overall, the VapoChill Micro Ultra Low Noise has proven to be able to compete with many of the strongest sinks out there on the market, while maintaining a silent and chilly composure.
