Date:
Wednesday, August 01, 2001
Author:
Kyle Bennett
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Alpha PAL8045 Heatsink

The Swiftech 462 Model cooler has been known to be the best cooling HSF on the market, but also packing the highest price of pretty much any air cooler aimed at the retail market. While Alpha has been dormant in the retail sector for quite some time now, they have decided to show back up on the scene, and not with just any old cooling solution. They are back and have their sights directly aimed at removing Swiftech from the throne.

continued...

The Performance:

Now we are finally down to the heart of the matter. How the hell do they work?! If you are not familiar with how we test, please go over and read up on our last HSF Roundup, as the specifics are there on the first page. Anything we have done different this time round will be brought to your attention. Ambient temperature was kept between 77 and 78 degrees F.

Test Systems: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz @ 1.46GHz/1.89volts, Delta 80mmX30mm 68CFM fan, ABIT KT7A-RAID. Prime95 run to load the CPU to 100%.

AMD Athlon 1.4GHz @ 1.65GHz/1.91volts, Delta 80mmX30mm 68CFM fan, ABIT KG7-RAID. Prime95 run to load the CPU to 100%.

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The first graph you see here pits our Alpha PAL8045 and Swiftech MC462A against the two best performing coolers from our last HSF Roundup while being used on an overclocked 1.4GHz Athlon. All the information on them can be found in the article. You will notice that in this particular test the Swiftech outperformed the Alpha by one degree. I can easily say that I don't think our testing procedure is above a error rate of plus or minus one degree. For all intents and purposes I don't have any problem saying they performed equally well. Our two other coolers pulled up the rear VERY close, and both have certain benefits, but wait for our next set of graphs as they really tell a story.

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In this test we have taken a 1.2GHz TBird on the ABIT KT7A and pushed it to the edge of its OCing ability using air cooling. What does "FAIL" mean? With the 1.2 TBird running at 1.466GHz, the Zalman 5000 and the Thermalright SK6 were not able to remove enough heat from the CPU to allow it to run Prime95. The program would error out and crash back to the desktop usually within 30 seconds of starting it. Sometimes you would see the crash at 114 degrees and sometimes we might see the temp go as high as 118 degrees. Bottom line is that the Alpha PAL8045 and the Swiftech MC462A were up to the job of OCing our CPU to the same speeds that the other two failed at. We left both the Swiftech and Alpha running for hours with no problems. Now also to be considered here is the fact that we could drop the clock to 1.45GHz and all four coolers would cool our CPU successfully under load.

Conclusions & Delusions:

UPDATE: mE=EdiOt. Ok, here is the deal. If you have read the Alpha 8045 review, you will have noticed in the conclusion we discuss pricing. Well, my pricing was incorrect. Not on one but both units. The US$50 to US$60 for the Alpha PAL8045 was pricing WITH a 68CFM Delta and pricing of US$73 to US$81 is for a Swiftech WITH a 68CFM Delta. So basically I fully stand by my conclusion, I just got some of the math wrong. You will be seeing the PAL8045 on shelves in about 45 days or so.

No doubt Alpha has come out swinging, as shown by the results we have gotten in our testing. Alpha is showing us the Alpha of a couple years ago when they threw down the first HSF gauntlet with their Slot 1 solutions that were so popular because of their tremendous performance.

I think it can be said that the Alpha and Swiftech were equal in performance in our testing, and if you are shopping for the best performing cooler out there with a high CFM fan, you might very well find yourself with all but these two crossed off the list. So what else is going to come into play here as we try to decide which one to buy? Can you say "pricing"? I thought you could. OCers know the value of a dollar and we damn sure know when we have enough change left over from a purchase to buy a six-pack...or better.

From what we are being told by Alpha, we might very likely see the Alpha PAL8045 (fully equipped with a Delta 68 CFM fan) retail from between US$50 to US$60, whereas the MC462A runs from about US$53 (at one single retailer I could find) to over US$63 in cost without the fan. It is likely that you will see the Alpha be more expensive than mentioned here at first. Of course supply and demand come into play, and whatever retailers gets its hooks into them first will certainly make a few extra dollars till the supply chain gets more stock built up. Capitalism at its finest!

What other factors should you consider here? One issue that comes to mind is weight. Both of these units are extremely heavy compared to the normal HSF you might be used to. The Swiftech is the heavier of the two and according to them is 560 grams without the fan and 760 grams with the Delta fan installed. While the Alpha PAL8045 exact specs are not hammered down yet, they did share that the unit outfitted with the Delta fan should run in the neighborhood of 600 grams, and I think that is conservative.

When I say the specs are not hammered down yet, I want you to know that Alpha has expressed that the performance we are seeing with this model is exactly what the retail box unit will deliver. Things like springs, nuts, shoulder washers, and stuff like that are liable to change.

Neither of these units comes with a fan, so you will incur cost beyond the heatsink itself...unless of course you choose to run without one. The Delta we tested with is a very loud unit, and some may not find it suitable for use around the casa if there is someone else within earshot. If you are familiar with the 7K RPM fans that are out now, the Delta 800x630 is as loud as the 7Ks but not near as high pitched. I can tolerate the 80mm Delta whereas one of the 7K fans sitting out in the open on the workbench will drive me nuts. Also remember that this heatsink is not going to fit on all mainboards. I advise you to check things out and maybe ask some questions in the [H]ardForum and see if you can get some feedback.

Swiftech has dominated this high-end market and they have been steadfast in their exorbitant pricing as we see it. I don't know if the pressure from Alpha will cause them to drop back their profit margins or not, but I bet we see something happen. There is not a doubt in my mind that if I am going to purchase a heatsink in this class, Alpha is going to earn my hard-earned green just like they have done a few times before. Congratulations to Alpha for pushing performance forward and cost backwards with the PAL8045, as I know many of our readers will be investing in one soon. I think we should be seeing this cooler for sale within 30 days or so. I will update when I get more information.

Here are a few folks that sell heatsinks that we suggest you support, as they in turn support the [H]ardOCP: OutsideLoop, Plycon, 2CoolTek, AZZO, 3DCool.