Now that we are all out from under the watchful eye of the IRS and have successfully cashed our income tax checks, it’s time to put some of that stimulus money back into the economy. I was nice to myself and bought a few creature comforts. A new hi-def, and Xbox 360, and some cushy leather furniture. My gaming area has gotten quite comfortable over the last month or so. Thing is, I have been ignoring my first love. No, not my beautiful girlfriend, you silly asses. My computer. Summer is coming, the heat is rising, and it’s time to prepare my baby for the possibility of overheating. Tis the season to invest in some coolin’ gear!
Evercool is come out with a new CPU cooler for i7 and LGA775 systems that is not only compatible with the latest breeds off Intel processors, it’s low profile and actually looks fairly cool compared to some of the other gawful heatsinks that are roaming the virtual shelves of my favorite hardware sites. Here’s a little info on the HPK-10025EA before we down to the nitty gritty on that biznitch:
The Evercool HPK-10025EA Package
Fully equipped for maximum cooling efficiency, the Evercool HPK-10025EA CPU Cooler is an effective way to help regulate the interior temperatures of your PC. To obtain such an excellent cooling efficiency, this Evercool CPU Cooler features 4 heatpipes in 6mm and HDT Tech, as well as an extremely quiet fan that is built to provide more air flow within your system. Compatible with an impressive number of motherboards, the Evercool HPK-10025EA CPU Cooler is an ideal application for Intel Core i7 & P4 LGA775 series.
Features:
Specifications:
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Compatibility:
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Now that we have all that mumbo jumbo out of the way, here’s what I think of it. Out of the box, there’s an assortment of goodies to get you on your way to installing. The instruction book is an excellent guide to get you started, but if you’re like me, you’re probably willing to just attempt it all over and over, screwing up until you get it right. The heatsink itself is nestled tightly inside the box, right on top of the baggie of assorted screws and adapters for affixing the cooler to your CPU. It’s minimal and straight to the point. Nothing at all wrong with that.
On the next page we install the heatsink…
Installation is a breeze, with the LGA775 backplate on my motherboard not needing a switchout to work with the screws that comes with the heatsink. It’s entirely possible that if you don’t intend on using this on an LGA775 board, you will probably end up having to remove your motherboard to switch out the backplate. Obviously installations will vary here, so keep that in mind when you make your purchase. If you don’t mind gutting your PC (was and is one of my favorite hobbies) then you probably won’t give a minor inconvenience such as this much thought.
Here are the stats of my test machine.
As I said before, installation is fairly straight forward if you are a DIY kind of person, with a guided pamphlet to get you through. I am a realist when it comes to my testing. I know that unless you are working nonstop as a graphic designer or editing video for hours on end, you usually don’t need much more than an aftermarket cooler for your heat management. That’s why I run my tests in a real world environment. I don’t have a temperature controlled lab in my basement, and I don’t have a thousand dollars worth of testing gear at my disposal. I wouldn’t use it if I did. Because I review for those who are actually going to be using this stuff. And they all have their gear in some random room, just like me. On the next page we test the cooler… |
So I’ll be running my rig under two conditions. I’ll be testing checking the temperature during an idle load, with the computer running as it normally would, and again under full load, after about half an hour to forty-five minutes of gaming. Seems like a real world testing scenario to me, and it gives me a reason to play games without my girlfriend yelling at me to do the dishes or taking those yapping dogs out. There is a method to my madness.
I ran my rig for half an hour under idle conditions with nothing running but the background applications such as my anti-virus. When time was up, I checked to see what the final verdict was. I was clocking a steady 35.9 degrees Celsius. Not the best temperature I’ve ever seen, but not the worst compared to some of the gigantic heatsinks I’ve reviewed before. It’s crazy how they’re making heatsinks bigger and bigger and at the same time making them do less and less.
Performance chart comparing HPK-10025EA to other heatsinks
Now it’s time for my favorite part. I get to game for a while. After a good hour or so of Farmville, I was all set. Just kidding, I would never play that crap. I put some time into Fallout 3 and then checked the temperature to see what kind of results I had. The highest average temperature was al verdict was 60.4 degrees Celsius.
When we compare these temperatures to other heatsink results on the same processor, there are some major fluctuations. The Tranformer 4 got 36.3 degrees Celsius on idle load, while the stock Intel that I originally had on it was getting around 43 degree Celsius. From there the variations became more apparent. On the load test, the Transformer 4 was getting 60.1 degrees Celsius, while the stock Intel was getting a brain-melting 68 degrees Celsius. That’s over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. And you stock-loving jerks are submitting your CPUs to this torture? You should all be drawn and quartered. We tested a few other midrange heatsinks we had in the lab of similar size and weight, and they all performed pretty much the same.
On the next page we render our verdict…
To conclude, I am fully satisfied with my adventure in HPK Land. Its low profile is beautiful, especially compared to some of the ugly behemoths I’ve had over the last two years. It has an intelligent design and is lightweight, reducing the risk of motherboard fracture. The temperatures were more than sufficient for even the most hardware-minded gamer. Best of all, the price is more than right. It can be had online for under $30. So if you are ready to make the leap from stock, this is good a beginner heatsink as you could hope for. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
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