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Published: Oct 06, 2009 Author: Ville Ilonen Editor: Amber Lupala Provider: Arctic Cooling Share this article:

Closer look & testing

Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

The cooler itself isnt much larger than the AMD:s boxed one. With 92mm fan it should provide enough cooling performance for normal desktop / HTPC use. The cooler has 31 aluminium plates in it and the fan is attached using rubberfeet to prevent the vibration sounds.

Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

The surface of the cooler has pre-applied thermal compound ön it. Some manufacturers prefer using pre-applied compounds because it's easier for the user, however it is a well known fact that some thermal combounds dissipate heat better than others. The finishing of the surface is definitely not the best I've seen so far and is in the same category as the AMD:s boxed cooler. Good enough for basic use for sure, but in heavier use you should look for a larger cooler with better surface finishing.

Test results:

Following test setup was used during the tests:
AMD Phenom II 705e
Asus M3A
2x2GB A-DATA DDR800
Club-3d Radeon 4890
Seagate 7200.11 500GB HDD
Nexus Clodius case

All tests were done while the case was closed. Idle temperature is measured after 1hr idle time and stress results after 30minutes of prime95.

Idle:
Alpine 64 Pro: 34-36c
AMD Stock: 35-37c
Noctua NH-12UP: 30c

Stress:
Alpine 64 Pro: 44-45c
Stock: 48-48c
Noctua NH-12UP: 41c

As we can see, Alpine 64 pro fights pretty good with AMD boxed cooler. Keep in mind though that Alpine 64 Pro is far more silent than the AMD boxed one, thanks to the PWM controlled fan. Even at the highest fan speed (2000rpm) Alpine 64pro is more silent than AMD Stock cooler (2850rpm). Against Noctua NH-12UP Alpine 64Pro is a no go. Noctua is shown just as a reference of what hightened aircooling can do, there's no sense to compare these two as Alpine 64 Pro costs 13€ and Noctua is priced around 60€.e

Conclusion:

Priced around 13€, Alpine 64 pro shows pretty decent performance against AMD boxed cooler. I can see Alpine 64 pro finding its place in home computers which have no need for high end cooling solutions. This cooler is definitely not for overclocking, but being relatively silent and small, I'm sure it's perfect for lower end machines. Despite the fact that the finishing of the surface was poor quality, Alpine 64 pro showed us pretty good test results. That's why I can recommend this cooler to anyone who is building a HTPC or for any basic home computer.

Pros:
+ Price
+ Relatively silent
+ Performance against other coolers in same price range

Cons:
- Finishing of the surface