Introduction:

   Antec sent me their new CPU heat sink, a small inexpensive performance cooler. Antec has not been big into the CPU cooling market, but anyone who has been into computer cases, or power supplies, you have probably come in contact with something with the  Antec name on it.

Looks:

Compact

The shroud

Heat pipes

  The heat sink is a compact design, only slightly taller than the stock AMD64 Cooler. The base is made of aluminum, with 2 copper heat-pipes going up into more aluminum fins (it looks like 4 of course, but it's just 2 "U" shaped copper pipes). The fan is also the same size as the stock AMD64 Heat sink

   If you’ve read some of my other reviews, you might know where I put “looks” in the order of things, but it’s always a nice bonus if something has a nice clean look that fits in well. A very simple cover plate holds the fan on the side, and covers the top of the cooler, the mounting screws also give it a unique look. There are no annoying LED lights either, which is a huge plus. It won't stand out like a sore thumb in most cases. There are some highly visible machine marks on the CPU contact area, for those who worry about that sort of thing.

Specs:

• Lightweight copper heatpipe and aluminum fin hybrid design

• Ball bearing fan for extended life.

• Performance is compatible with:

• – Intel® socket 478 Celeron®, Celeron® D, Celeron® M, Pentium® & Pentium® M

• – AMD socket 754, 939 & 940 Sempron™, Turion™, Opteron™, Athlon™64 & 64FX

• Air Flow 30 CFM

• Acoustic Noise 34.9 dBA (max)

Install:

Bottom sticker

AMD Bracket

P4 mount removed

   There is a wide range of methods to install heat-sinks these days. I generally pigeonhole them into only 2 categories, “The right way” and “The wrong way”. Antec, placed themselves nicely into the “Right way” section. For socket 939 chips, simply remove the plastic mounting bracket, spread some paste on the CPU, and screw the cooler down. Once the screws are at the right tension, you won’t over tighten them unless you are using a pneumatic screwdriver.

Stock  AMD HSF

Roomy Antec

Similar width

   The fit and clearance on the Asus A8N-VM and in the Antec Minuet was actually better than the stock cooler. Because of the close proximity of a power supply on one side, and chipset on the other, it was difficult to flip the lever and lock the heat sink down. Where as with the Antec cooler, even a fairly large screwdriver easily accessed the screws to tighten them. Height wise, unless you have a small HTPC case, you won't have to worry at all. It was a tight fit in the minuet, but it does fit without modification.

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