Hi Guys
Well I managed to get my hands on a Thermalright XP-90C heat sink (a huge thanks goes to enVias for that :worship: ). As I already had an XP-90, I must admit, initially I was a little hesitant as to whether this upgrade was really going to improve my CPU temperatures enough to warrant it's purchase. You will notice I have included pictures of the installation process, this is intended both as a guide but to illustrate any problems I encountered. As for the improvement on temperatures, you shall have to wait and see.
Background
When the original XP-90 was released last year, many people were somewhat disappointed that it wasn't all copper like many of Thermalright's heatsinks. By popular demand the XP-90C was released, featuring the exact same design as the XP-90 except that it is the much anticipated all copper design. This new copper model is almost double the weight of its aluminum-copper predecessor!
Specifications:
* All copper design for maximum performance
* Multiple heatpipes for well spread heat around aluminum fins
* Soldered fins to copper base (nickel plated) to make effective contact
* Light weight and easy installation
* Compatibility across multiple platforms (socket 478/754/775/939/940)
* Enormous wingspan gives extra cooling to MOSFET or NB chipset
Dimensions:
* L116 x W96 x H75 (mm) Fin only, without fan
* L116 x W96 x H96 (mm) Fin only, with 25mm thick fan
Weight:
* 690g (heat sink only)
Packaging
The XP-90C comes in the same style box as the XP-90, inside everything is neatly packaged to prevent damage during shipping. There are a lot of accessories included with the heatsink, a manual, sticker, thermal compound, screws, two sets of fan clips (80mm & 92mm), and two sets of retention brackets. An all-metal S478 retention bracket and 'X' bracket is new to the bundle, as it was not included with the original XP-90. My guess, is that due to the additional weight of the all copper design was putting too much stress on some of the cheaper S478 brackets included with motherboards. For S775 users, a special bracket can be purchased separately.
Installation
Step 1.
In order to install the 'new' XP-90C retention bracket, obviously the old one must come off, and to facilitate this you need to first take the white plugs out (pls see pic below). The best way I found to take them out was by using a small flat bladed screwdriver and lever them up gently.
Once the four plugs have been removed, the motherboard needs to be flipped over and there are four plastic lugs that hold the retention bracket to the motherboard. These need to be squeezed gently (and I mean gently) together with either, pointy nosed pliers or regular pliers to allow the bracket to lift (pls see pic). I actually destroyed mine during the process of removal, and I was being careful...be warned.
Step 2.
Included in the XP-90C's bundle are the 'X' bracket and a transparent plastic sheet with four holes to allow the screws to pass through. The purpose of the plastic sheet is to prevent any metal contact with the motherboard traces, and in turn prevent short circuiting of the board. The 'X' bracket is then placed over the top of the plastic sheet after removing a white paper tab in the middle, that reveals a 'sticky dot', which sticks to the underside of the motherboard and helps hold the bracket in place.
Step 3.
Next, you need to take out the metal retention bracket out of the box, and place it on top of the motherboard. Make sure that all four holes are aligned with the motherboard holes. Here I actually encountered a slight problem, which I wasn't honestly expecting...two of the holes lined up but the other two did not, now this may be simply put down to motherboard mass production issues or QC issues at Thermalright. Regardless, the problem was rectified by applying pressure to two of the legs on the 'X' bracket when screwing the retention bracket down. The reason why this could have been an issue was because the screws supplied had a really fine thread, that if tightened while off centre, would have either stripped the screw threads or the thread on the 'X' bracket.
Step 4.
Using the four screws supplied, tighten them in a criss cross pattern until the screws reach the bottom and no longer turn. The retention bracket is now ready for the XP-90C. One thing I shall say at this point, is that, I'm not sure as to whether the picture below is indicative of a design flaw or not, and whether this would apply to all motherboards.
You will notice that the retention bracket seems extremely close to the ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) lever on my motherboard, so close in fact, that it actually hit the retention bracket when I raised the lever. Also, I found that with the bracket in place, I couldn't raise the ZIF lever to it's full position and as a direct result my processor didn't fit in flush with the surface. This could be a problem if it went un-noticed, this could lead to possible bent CPU pins (on a socket 478 anyway) or worse. In order to rectify the problem, I had to undo the screws, raise the ZIF lever, insert the CPU, close the ZIF lever and then re-tighten the screws.
Step 5.
The next step was to apply a little AS5 to both the CPU and HS, and then 'wiggle' them around a bit to get a good thermal contact. Then you need to place the front retention hooks of the XP-90C into the retention bracket and then gently push down far enough to enable you to get the back retention hooks locked in with a flat bladed screwdriver. Hook the fan wire clips on, I used the 92mm ones for my Sunon fan (119 CFM), place the included rubber strips on the side (to reduce fan vibration), put on your fan and then lock the fan wire clips in place...and you're ready to rock-n-roll.
How the Equipment is rated
In keeping with the review style of the past, I have decided to keep what seems to be a successful format going, and rate gear upon what were important factors in helping me decide to purchase gear. I came up with 4 areas where I think its important for equipment to rate fairly high and these then became the benchmarks for my review. The areas I considered essential were:
1. Build quality;
2. Value for money;
3. Functionality, and
4. :anisx: factor.
Each of these areas were given a marking scale of 10, the marks were tallied and the end result given as a percentage. We here at SysXtreme forums pride ourselves on using nothing but top quality gear, and so have come up with a scale of :anisx: yness for our members. Any gear coming through the review section shall be given the following awards:
*90% and upwards- :anisx: Top Performer*70-89%- :anisx: Recommended *Any gear that has serious bang for the buck value- :anisx: Bargain buy
Build quality
I cannot fault the build quality of this the XP-90 HS itself!!! Its solid and built to last, apart from the possible design issues that I mentioned previously, the build quality is second to none in its price range. 9/10
Value for money
This is an awesome HS and well worth the money.
9/10
Functionality
Hey it's an after-market heat sink, it's big, it's sure as hell...heavy but it does it's job extremely well. The XP-90C has further reduced my load temps on the standard XP-90 by 3 deg C. I'm currently running my P4 at 36 deg C now while at 100% load doing F@H with 2 consoles. I'd expect the temp to drop perhaps another degree or two once the AS5 has cured.
9/10
:anisx: factor
I'm really impressed with the performance of this heatsink.It stands out from the crowd and would make a fine cooling solution to any rig, and to boot it's as sexy as hell. This product has the SX factor by the bucket load. Well done Thermalright on making an outstanding product!!!
9.5/10
91%
:anisx: Top Performer
You can discuss the review here
Well I managed to get my hands on a Thermalright XP-90C heat sink (a huge thanks goes to enVias for that :worship: ). As I already had an XP-90, I must admit, initially I was a little hesitant as to whether this upgrade was really going to improve my CPU temperatures enough to warrant it's purchase. You will notice I have included pictures of the installation process, this is intended both as a guide but to illustrate any problems I encountered. As for the improvement on temperatures, you shall have to wait and see.
Background
When the original XP-90 was released last year, many people were somewhat disappointed that it wasn't all copper like many of Thermalright's heatsinks. By popular demand the XP-90C was released, featuring the exact same design as the XP-90 except that it is the much anticipated all copper design. This new copper model is almost double the weight of its aluminum-copper predecessor!
Specifications:
* All copper design for maximum performance
* Multiple heatpipes for well spread heat around aluminum fins
* Soldered fins to copper base (nickel plated) to make effective contact
* Light weight and easy installation
* Compatibility across multiple platforms (socket 478/754/775/939/940)
* Enormous wingspan gives extra cooling to MOSFET or NB chipset
Dimensions:
* L116 x W96 x H75 (mm) Fin only, without fan
* L116 x W96 x H96 (mm) Fin only, with 25mm thick fan
Weight:
* 690g (heat sink only)
Packaging
The XP-90C comes in the same style box as the XP-90, inside everything is neatly packaged to prevent damage during shipping. There are a lot of accessories included with the heatsink, a manual, sticker, thermal compound, screws, two sets of fan clips (80mm & 92mm), and two sets of retention brackets. An all-metal S478 retention bracket and 'X' bracket is new to the bundle, as it was not included with the original XP-90. My guess, is that due to the additional weight of the all copper design was putting too much stress on some of the cheaper S478 brackets included with motherboards. For S775 users, a special bracket can be purchased separately.
Installation
Step 1.
In order to install the 'new' XP-90C retention bracket, obviously the old one must come off, and to facilitate this you need to first take the white plugs out (pls see pic below). The best way I found to take them out was by using a small flat bladed screwdriver and lever them up gently.
Once the four plugs have been removed, the motherboard needs to be flipped over and there are four plastic lugs that hold the retention bracket to the motherboard. These need to be squeezed gently (and I mean gently) together with either, pointy nosed pliers or regular pliers to allow the bracket to lift (pls see pic). I actually destroyed mine during the process of removal, and I was being careful...be warned.
Step 2.
Included in the XP-90C's bundle are the 'X' bracket and a transparent plastic sheet with four holes to allow the screws to pass through. The purpose of the plastic sheet is to prevent any metal contact with the motherboard traces, and in turn prevent short circuiting of the board. The 'X' bracket is then placed over the top of the plastic sheet after removing a white paper tab in the middle, that reveals a 'sticky dot', which sticks to the underside of the motherboard and helps hold the bracket in place.
Step 3.
Next, you need to take out the metal retention bracket out of the box, and place it on top of the motherboard. Make sure that all four holes are aligned with the motherboard holes. Here I actually encountered a slight problem, which I wasn't honestly expecting...two of the holes lined up but the other two did not, now this may be simply put down to motherboard mass production issues or QC issues at Thermalright. Regardless, the problem was rectified by applying pressure to two of the legs on the 'X' bracket when screwing the retention bracket down. The reason why this could have been an issue was because the screws supplied had a really fine thread, that if tightened while off centre, would have either stripped the screw threads or the thread on the 'X' bracket.
Step 4.
Using the four screws supplied, tighten them in a criss cross pattern until the screws reach the bottom and no longer turn. The retention bracket is now ready for the XP-90C. One thing I shall say at this point, is that, I'm not sure as to whether the picture below is indicative of a design flaw or not, and whether this would apply to all motherboards.
You will notice that the retention bracket seems extremely close to the ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) lever on my motherboard, so close in fact, that it actually hit the retention bracket when I raised the lever. Also, I found that with the bracket in place, I couldn't raise the ZIF lever to it's full position and as a direct result my processor didn't fit in flush with the surface. This could be a problem if it went un-noticed, this could lead to possible bent CPU pins (on a socket 478 anyway) or worse. In order to rectify the problem, I had to undo the screws, raise the ZIF lever, insert the CPU, close the ZIF lever and then re-tighten the screws.
Step 5.
The next step was to apply a little AS5 to both the CPU and HS, and then 'wiggle' them around a bit to get a good thermal contact. Then you need to place the front retention hooks of the XP-90C into the retention bracket and then gently push down far enough to enable you to get the back retention hooks locked in with a flat bladed screwdriver. Hook the fan wire clips on, I used the 92mm ones for my Sunon fan (119 CFM), place the included rubber strips on the side (to reduce fan vibration), put on your fan and then lock the fan wire clips in place...and you're ready to rock-n-roll.
How the Equipment is rated
In keeping with the review style of the past, I have decided to keep what seems to be a successful format going, and rate gear upon what were important factors in helping me decide to purchase gear. I came up with 4 areas where I think its important for equipment to rate fairly high and these then became the benchmarks for my review. The areas I considered essential were:
1. Build quality;
2. Value for money;
3. Functionality, and
4. :anisx: factor.
Each of these areas were given a marking scale of 10, the marks were tallied and the end result given as a percentage. We here at SysXtreme forums pride ourselves on using nothing but top quality gear, and so have come up with a scale of :anisx: yness for our members. Any gear coming through the review section shall be given the following awards:
*90% and upwards- :anisx: Top Performer*70-89%- :anisx: Recommended *Any gear that has serious bang for the buck value- :anisx: Bargain buy
Build quality
I cannot fault the build quality of this the XP-90 HS itself!!! Its solid and built to last, apart from the possible design issues that I mentioned previously, the build quality is second to none in its price range. 9/10
Value for money
This is an awesome HS and well worth the money.
9/10
Functionality
Hey it's an after-market heat sink, it's big, it's sure as hell...heavy but it does it's job extremely well. The XP-90C has further reduced my load temps on the standard XP-90 by 3 deg C. I'm currently running my P4 at 36 deg C now while at 100% load doing F@H with 2 consoles. I'd expect the temp to drop perhaps another degree or two once the AS5 has cured.
9/10
:anisx: factor
I'm really impressed with the performance of this heatsink.It stands out from the crowd and would make a fine cooling solution to any rig, and to boot it's as sexy as hell. This product has the SX factor by the bucket load. Well done Thermalright on making an outstanding product!!!
9.5/10
91%
:anisx: Top Performer
You can discuss the review here
