Arkura was established in the year 2000 and started producing heatsinks, this particular model is the 628 which supports up to an Athlon XP 2100+. The design of this heatsink resembles that of the Doctor Thermal and the Thermoengine. This heatsink is designed for quietness which seems to be a big trend in the heatsink market, I guess less people want to deal with those screaming Deltas. Below are the specs of the heatsink part of the unit.
The box of the Arkura is pretty plain from the outside, and as you can see the inside is packed well. The inside packing looks similar to the Dr Thermal.
The Arkua 628 comes with the heatsink, a fan, thermal compound and a manual which explains how to install it. I like that this heatsink does not come with a thermal pad.
The clip of this heatsink looks to be really good, there is a great slot for a screwdriver but also you will be able to use your finger to install it.
This heatsink is designed to be quiet which is why the fan on it is only 33db. The fan is an Everflow model # R126020DU, below is a picture and the specifications of it.
The middle of this heatsink is hollow, as you may or may not know it has been disputed whether a solid or hollow core is better. I can’t really say because I haven’t done any head to head testing, however I don’t think it plays a big part in it all.
The base of this heatsink has a blue piece of plastic which is protecting the core from scratches and corrosion. I removed the tag to see that the core of this heatsink is finished very well.
Test Bed
- AOpen AK77 Pro(A)-133
- 1.2Ghz Thunderbird
- 256MB Crucial PC2100
- Asus Geforce 2 GTS 64MB
Globalwin YCC-8870 caseLike always I will be using Artic Silver 3 for testing, I will also be using an external Compunurse thermal probe for the temperature readings. I installed the heatsink to my test bed and installation was good. The clip was easy to use and did not require any tools, however if you do need to use tools you can. The heatsink is quite small so it will fit on any motherboard.I booted up my test bed and let it idle for about 20 minutes then took the readings from the probe. After I had the idle temps I torture tested with Prime95 and took the readings after about 15 minutes. As you can see this heatsink idles really well and even at load the temps don’t hit 50 degrees Celsius.
Conclusion
As always I like heatsinks which are able to produce good results while not sounding like a jet taking off which this heatsink can do with no problem. The clip on this heatsink is great and very easy to use, if you need to, which you should not you can use a screwdriver to install and uninstall this heatsink. I also like that this heatsink is packed well, that the base is protected, and that they include thermal compound rather than a thermal pad. I would not suggest this heatsink to you if you want to overclock unless you want to put a delta on it but then it wouldn’t be a “quiet solution.” Overall I would give this heatsink a 7.5/10, and I would like to thank Arkua for sending this heatsink to me to review.
Pros
- Easy to install
- Great clip design
- Will fit all motherboards
- Base finished well and protected
- Thermal compound included
- Quiet
Cons
- Not the best for overclocking
