Introduction

CPUs have certainly advanced the consumer and aftermarket heatsink business, and as a result, heatsinks that were considered performance models only just over a year ago are no longer viable for those who pursue CPU-cooling nirvana. Newer heatsinks have been released, and they are larger, more massive and usually use loud fans. A while back I looked at a heatsink that I considered to be the best at the time, the Alpha PAL8045, and it turns out that Swiftech was also taking notice of it. They have since released what they hope will take the crown of heatsink performance, the MCX-462. Like the earlier MC-462A, this heatsink is based on a full-copper base design with aluminum pins. However, the design of the pins has been drastically altered, and they now have the same helicoid-pin design as the MCX-370, which was reviewed here by Sn1per. Will the implementation of this new pin design allow the MCX-462 to eclipse the PAL8045? I am sure that is the question on everyone's mind, and it was the first thing I wanted to know. So without further delay, let's get down to the process of testing this beast of a heatsink.

Lots of stuff to play with here.

Even without the fan, the heatsink is impressively large.

Side view.

Specifications

• Base: C110 copper base; 3"W x 3"L x .375"H; flatness better than 0.001".
• Dissipation: 371 Pins made of High Thermal Conductivity aluminum alloy (6063)
• Dimensions without fan: 3" x 3" x 1.56"
• Dimensions with fan: 3" x 3" x 3.2"
• Weight: 26 oz (730g) with fan, 20 oz (560g) without fan.

  What's included:

• Delta 80mm x 38mm thick 68cfm(rated) fan.
• Standoffs & washers + securing nylon nuts for motherboard mounting.
• Spring-tensioned screws to hold heatsink to standoffs.
• Fan-mounting screws.
• Thermal Paste.

I'm guessing the first thing that'll you'll notice is the weight of this unit. With the 80mm Delta it weighs more than 1.5lbs! Quite a bit, and this demands a proper mounting system that Swiftech has provided for. The mounting of this unit is very similar to the mounting of the earlier MC-462 and the Alpha PAL8045 in that you must remove your motherboard to install standoffs, which are then used to secure the heatsink to the motherboard. A process that no one wants to do, but is undoubtedly necessary. A package of AOS Thermal Compound is included, but I opted to test this heatsink, like all the others, with AS-II. Still, it is nice that Swiftech included it. An inline rheostat fan controller is also available separately and can be used to adjust the resistance in the line going to the fan to lower the fan's RPM for a quieter mode of operation.

Another side view.

Top down view of the pins and the fan mounting holes.

Close-up of the fan mounting hole.

The biggest difference between the MCX-462 and the MC-462 are the ribbed helicoid-pins that are used on the MCX-462. As you can see, these pins have an increased surface area vs. polished pins and therefore should be able to dissipate heat better. The pin count, at 371, is up from the count of 261, and this, coupled with the ribbed pins has prompted Swiftech to claim a 50% increase in surface area for the unit. The pins have been directly mounted into the base. The other major differences are the bevelled corners of the base that serve, to my knowledge, to allow for the heatsink to fit into spaces with capacitors that may be in the way. This created the need for the fan mounts that protrude out from the heatsink. The bevelled area around the corners was where the fan previously screwed into, and since it was removed, the fan mounts now serve as an attachment point for the fan. As you can see, each side's bracket runs the width of the heatsink, so it is properly braced and secure.

The fan bracket is riveted to the base.

Fan brackets run the along the width of the heatsink, making them stable.

Unlike the PAL8045, the copper base is not embedded in a larger aluminum body, but rather the entire base is made of copper, all 3/8" of it. The base is VERY flat, and though it may not seem shiny, that is not necessary. Rubbing my finger along it, I could not discern any artifacts of any sort. Swiftech says it is the result of a "micro surface finish 8 or better". While I do not know exactly what that means, I can testify that this base will give you a *very* good mating surface between itself and the CPU. Lapping of this surface is not needed, in my opinion.

The base.

Very flat.

No need to lap this surface...

Finally, the fan that Swiftech chose to include was a Delta 80mm x 38mm thick unit (model no. FFB0812SHE) that is rated to flow something like 68cfm. As you can guess, this fan is loud, and in fact it is the loudest 80mm fan I have heard. However, those of you who have been using the popular 60mm Deltas will be pleased. Most of the noise this 80mm fan puts out is not in the upper-frequencies, so it does not sound whiny. Instead, most of the noise that comes from this fan is in the form of a lower-pitched rumble. A very nice feature of this fan is the RPM-monitoring ability that one can take advantage of. This fan draws .87A @ 12V, for a power consumption in excess of 10w. It is safe to say that you would definitely *not* be able to safely let this fan draw power from a motherboard header, so Swiftech has instead separated the power wires and the RPM wire into two connectors, so that you can power this fan from a PSU connector and plug the 3-pin header into the motherboard header to monitor the fan's RPM. I applaud Swiftech and Delta for this feature, as it really seems like they were catering towards members of the overclocker community, who like to use a program like Motherboard Monitor to keep an eye on fan workings.

The Delta 80mm x 38mm fan.

It receives power directly from the PSU, but supports RPM monitoring as well.

Installation

As mentioned before, a heatsink of this caliber requires a secure mount to the motherboard. No clip could possibly contain this behemoth, so a screwed-down mount was needed. Overall, the installation is very similar to the installation of the PAL8045. The motherboard had to be removed from the case, and as a result, so did the expansion cards and other cables. I'm starting to think that I should have cut a hole in the back of the motherboard tray to facilitate a process like this. Once the motherboard is removed, you must check to see what kind of holes are used around the socket. If they are large holes, you must use the shoulder washers. If they are small holes with no grounding, you must use the black washers. Finally, if they are small holes that are grounded (indicated by the metal ring around them), no washers are needed at all. The standoff is then installed and held in place at the back of the motherboard by a nylon nut. Swiftech recommends that if you are going to frequently remove the heatsink, you should use a drop a crazy glue to hold the standoff and nylon nut in place. Definitely a good idea.

Four inner holes are used to mount the heatsink.

What goes where.

Easy to interpret instructions.

After you've installed the standoffs and after you've applied thermal compound to the CPU, the heatsink goes on. Note that the heatsink should be attached without the fan in place. The screws holding the heatsink in place each will have a nylon washer, a spring, and then another nylon washer on them. Put all screws into place and then tighten them down in a criss-cross pattern to make sure the heatsink does not go onto the CPU in a tilted fashion. There is no need to tighten the screws to an extreme level, only enough to get the screws down to the bottom of the standoff, as the springs do exert quite a bit of tension. The fan is easily screwed down to the fan brackets and held in place by four screws. Overall, the Swiftech was just as easy to install as the PAL8045.

The MCX-462 is compliant with AMD specifications regarding heatsink size and restrictions, so you should have no problems installing it on your motherboard. However, on my Asus A7V-133 it came a little close to the nearest DIMM slot, but did not inhibit its use.

Testing

I tested this heatsink against its main competition, the Alpha PAL8045. I used two fans, the first of which was an 80mm Sunon (Model No. PTBX) rated to flow at 50cfm. The second was the Delta 80mm x 38mm thick unit mentioned above. The CPU that was used was an AMD T-Bird 1.2GHz@1.33GHz with a voltage of 1.80. All the heatsinks were installed with a thin layer of Arctic Silver II thermal paste over the CPU core. Temperature readings were taken from the Asus onboard thermister using MBM, and the CPU was put at 100% utilization with the distributed.net client crunching RC5 for 1 hour. Here are the results I obtained:

As you can see, the MCX-462 slightly outperformed the PAL8045 with the 50cfm unit but really shined with the Delta 68cfm fan. Looks like the design of the Swiftech really payed off!

Conclusion

Pros

• The best performance of any heatsink I have tested to this date.
• Excellent construction and finish on the heatsink.
• Thermal Paste included.
• Fan support RPM monitoring while at the same time draws its power directly from the PSU.
• Delta 68cfm is IMO, less annoying than the popular Delta 60mm.
• Secure installation method.

Cons

• Expensive.
• Delta fan can be loud to some.
• Installation more involved, but needed.

If this review has sounded similar to my review of the PAL8045, it is because IMO, the Swiftech and Alpha deserved to be compared to each other. Several factors enable me to rate the Swiftech higher than the PAL8045, the first of which is the performance. For an air-cooled rig, the Swiftech MCX-462 can't be beat. In addition, the RPM monitoring ability cannot be overlooked. The only major downside is the price, which is around $72USD. (But you may find it for less.) The PAL8045 is quite a bit cheaper than that. But if you want the best, you're going to have to pay for it!

Many thanks go out to Gabe over at Swiftech, who provided the MCX462 review sample along with the 80mm Delta rated at 68cfm. Thanks man! If you wanna discuss this review or have any comments on it, post it here in this Forums thread.

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