Spring is in the air and with it come the new spring lines of PC accessories.  We are fortunate today to have the new spring lineup of performance heatsinks from our friends over at Kingwin.  The new heatsinks feature both classic and innovative designs and they all look pretty sweet!  Joe and I took the opportunity to put each of these new cooling products under the knife for you, right here at the Club!

     There is something exciting about a stack of fresh new Kingwin parts!  Our review heatsinks arrived in these nondescript boxes with only the logo and a part number to tell them apart.  I am certain that the retail packaging will look quite different.

The four heatsinks are packed securely in fitted foam that hints at the different styles hidden within.

At A Glance:

     While each of the different heatsinks has a very different design they are all based around copper four heat pipe  designs.  Each of the different designs use this proven foundation in a very different way.  As a result it seems Kingwin has provided a cooling solution to fit every performance need. 

     We will be testing each of these heatsinks separately to help you decide which Kingwin heatsink is right for your system.  Follow along with us or use the index below to jump to the heatsink that interests you most!

Testing Methodology:

     To test the effectiveness of the Kingwin heat sinks, each will be compared to the XP-90.  Our XP-90 is equipped with a 92mm Panaflo fan.  We used SpeedFan to log CPU, PWM and Chipset temps over a 20 minute period: 5 minutes at Idle, and 15 minutes at Load.  To create the CPU load, we will be using the Orthos version of SP2004. Each heat sink was be tested both at default speeds and overclocked.  For testing the system was left open on the bench and all fans are set to run at 100%.  The ambient temperature during the tests remained at about 19C.

Test Setup:

• CPU: Opteron 170

• Stock:  2.0GHz @ 1.35V

• Overclocked: 2.75GHz @ 1.5125V

• RAM: OCZ Platinum PC4000 2x1GB Run 1:1 for all tests

• PSU: Antec NeoPower 480

• Motherboard: DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D

• GPU: eVGA 7800GTX

• Soundcard: X-Fi XtremeMusic

• Hard Drives: 2x36GB Raptor, 1x500GB Seagate Barracuda

• Case: Chieftec Dragon, 4x80mm case fans

     The Thermalright XP-90 is widely regarded as one of the best heatsink designs on the market.  By design the XP-90 uses four heat pipes to channel heat through a massive heatsink.  Available also in a larger 120 mm size, we have chosen the 90 mm size as a more direct comparison to the Kingwin designs.  In addition our XP-90 is outfitted with a highly rated Panaflo 92 mm H1A fan making this setup an even tougher foe.  Although the XP-90 can be found for just under $40 the added fan placed this heatsink at a price point closer to $50.

     Here is our baseline for stock speeds.  The highest temperature hit for the CPU is 37C, the PWM is 41C, and the chipset is 37C.

     Here is the baseline for our overclocked settings.  The highest temperature hit for the CPU is 46C, the PWM is 56C, and the chipset is 40C. The AMD Opteron 170 is known for its overclocking ability but it is one of the worst AMD processors when it comes to heat as well. This will give us a good comparison for the Kingwins.