Microcool NorthPole XE

Introduction:

    Microcool is considerably a new company to enter the cooling market. To date they offer two cooling products: a passive type heatsink for chipsets and MOSFET power regulators, and the NorthPole XE Whisper, which is a chipset cooler which can cool a chip of up to 35watts. The NorthPole XE whisper is on deck for today's review.  

About the Company:

The Microcool company
    Microcool was founded in 2003 and specialises in designing and developing component heat control products for computers.  It made its debut on the international market with the first high-performance Northbridge cooler: NorthPole. Over a short period of time, the chipset coolers produced by Microcool have become a real reference point and have gained widespread approval amongst the specialist press and customers alike.

    Microcool aims to cater for even the most demanding users. It operates in the constantly evolving IT market, where rapid technological growth and competition between companies in the sector mean that the market offers a wide range of electronic components which always need suitable, efficient cooling systems.

    Microcool seizes this challenge by proposing unique products, paying particular attention to the choice of materials and the components that make up its end products, and to design, combining compatibility with heat control standards and optimization.
*This was translated from Italian*
 

The Product:

    The NorthPole XE whisper is one tiny product, but don't let that fool you. This little guy has some weight to it. The NorthPole XE whisper consists of a copper base with cooling fins on top, and above the fins is a small fan. The fan and fins are encased in an aluminum cover, thus forcing all the air down over the fins and out through the openings on the sides. A three-wire harness from the fan attaches to a motherboard fan header.

Retail box	Inside the box	NorthPole XE
Fins/side vents	Aluminum cover	Copper base

Installation:

    The folks at Microcool couldn't have made this any easier to install, unless they come to your house and install it for you. Simply remove the stock heatsink if the motherboard came with one. Most chipset heatsinks may be installed with double sided tape, so take care in removing it.

   Another thing to keep in mind are the included posts that help with the retention of the fan. The Socket 479 posts are 59mm in length and the post for the AMD are 55mm in length. If the wrong posts are used, damage can result, either by poor contact with the cooler and chip by using the longer posts, or damage from over-tightening if the short posts are used in the wrong applications.

    Once the stock heatsink is removed and the proper posts are chosen, simply thread the post through the motherboard and secure with the nuts, making sure the plastic washer is in between the motherboard and nut.

   Once that task is done, it's time to choose the correct clips that mount to the cooler. Three styles are included with the kit: Socket 479, AMD, and Intel.

   To install the clips, remove 2 screws from the top of the NorthPole XE whisper cooler catty-corner from each other. Then fasten the clips down with the screws that were just removed. Place the cooler over the installed posts and fasten down with the springs and nuts. See... I told you it was easy!

Underside of mobo	Posts secured	Top Side
2 Screws removed	Clips being installed	Clips over the posts
Springs in place	1 nut attached	Chipset cooler secured

Testing:

   I did some minor testing with this. What I did was used an external temperature probe and measured the temperature of the stock heatsink with a fan blowing over it. The temp held around 82.2F. With the NorthPole XE whisper installed the temps dropped to 74.6F. So with that info at hand, this little cooler does the job it was intended to do, and that's to keep the northbridge chipset cool.

Tight Fit

Really Close

Conclusion:

   Its difficult to write a long conclusion on such a small product, but here is my best shot.

   The NorthPole XE whisper is one of the smallest coolers with a fan I have worked with to date. It has one job function and does job well. The copper base and fins conduct the heat well. The aluminum cover with fan goes over the fins and forces cool air over them. Oh... the whisper part about the fan, its true. This thing is just about dead silent, only measuring around 18db. So if anyone is looking for a cooling solution for their chipset, give the Microcool NorthPole XE whisper a shot.