Athlon Heatsink Roundup (February 2000)

The VOS32 has better versatility (it's also compatible with SECC2 CPUs, the fans can be mounted on the side to avoid blocking a DIMM slot) and much lower price (around $30). However, it needs a small modification to fit the Asus K7M rev 1.04, so either buy a premodified VOS32, or use a side cutter to shorten some of the fins.

The Alpha's advantage is its embedded copper plate, which further improves performance if you mount the Alpha directly on the CPU core, without the thermal plate. Keep in mind that this requires modifying the heatsink, which will take time and skill. The disadvantage of the P7125 is the high price (around $50), high weight, and the fact that it blocks a DIMM slot on some motherboards.

Both VOS32 and P7125/YS Tech are also very noisy.

The Alpha is more efficent and a bit louder, it's also very expensive and not very widely available - nevertheless, the P7125 with Sanyo Denki fans provides a better noise/performance ratio than the P7125 with YS Tech fans.

The ArcticCircle is more silent and more compact (does not block any DIMM slots). Also, the ArcticCircle can be mounted directly on the Athlon CPU core, without the thermal plate. Since many Athlon overclockers remove that plate anyway, to find out which CPU core they have, it definately makes sense to mount the heatsink without the thermal plate.

It's not as efficient as the dual fan heatsinks in this comparison, but thanks to its smart "bonded fin" design, it will keep all current Athlon CPUs cool enough with only a single 52x15mm fan. The K701 is inexpensive, not very loud, and fits all motherboards without blocking any DIMM slots.

Another heatsink that is relatively inexpensive, but provides good performance without being excessively loud is the Global WIN FKK50. It is more efficient than the K701, and is also suitable for some moderate overclocking. However, it does not fit the Asus K7M rev. 1.04.