| Microcool NorthPole Chipset Cooler and ChipSinks - Page 2 of 2 |
Testing:
Testing the Microcool NorthPole consisted of comparing the cooling performance and noise production as compared to the stock Abit cooler, as well as a passive cooler from Soyo. As shown from left to right below we have the NorthPole, the Abit cooler, and the Soyo cooler. The cooler provided on this Abit motherboard has a minimal aluminum heatsink with a high speed 40mm fan that seemed out of balance from day one. It made a good deal of noise, and didn't leave me with much confidence for a long life. The Soyo cooler was intended for use on their own i865PE motherboard, and was purchased directly from Soyo for about $5. It is a much taller aluminum heatsink, and is obviously silent since there is no fan.
Each cooler was installed onto the northbridge chip and an independent digital thermometer was used to monitor temperatures. The probe of the thermometer was securely affixed to the base of each cooler, millimeters from the chip itself. The system was powered up, and applications such as SiSoft Sandra 2004's Burn-In Wizard and Folding@Home 4.0 were allowed to run for several hours to stress the system. All testing was conducted at a default system bus speed of 200 MHz on an Intel Pentium 4 2.6C.
When the system was first started with the NorthPole at full speed (reported as 8400 RPM by Motherboard Monitor), the noise was very annoying. My ears were met with a fairly loud, high pitched whine which was not going to fly in my near silent system. I immediately hooked the NorthPole's fan to my fan controller and continued on with the testing in order to provide results at both full speed, and at the lowest speed possible with the fan controller.
The chart below details the maximum consistent temperature monitored for the 3 coolers, with the NorthPole tested twice at a high speed of 8400 RPM (H), and a low speed of 4600 RPM (L). Ambient conditions of 21-22 degrees Celsius were maintained throughout the testing.
The NorthPole results were so impressive that I initially assumed they couldn't be correct. I reseated the cooler, confirmed the connection of the thermal probe, and continued running for several days. Even when run at what I consider to be low speed, the other coolers compare so poorly to the NorthPole that they can't even be considered competition.
Of even greater interest to me is that when the speed is reduced from 8400 RPM to 4600 RPM the temperature only rises 1 degree Celsius, which is still well below what the stock cooler could do at full speed. As previously mentioned, the noise at 8400 RPM was noticable (and annoying), but when run at 4600 RPM it is hushed to a whisper. I recommend that anyone interested in the NorthPole also consider a fan controller, as the performance gains can still be reaped without any of the noise!
Testing of the ChipSinks performance was a bit restricted, as measuring temperatures is a bit trickier. The Abit IS7-G does provide a PWM temperature in its hardware monitoring software, and I used this to compare the before and after temperatures. PWM stands for pulse width modulation, and refers to a few small MOSFETs near the CPU socket the control the voltages to the cpu and other circuitry. Generally regarded as a prime candidate for extra cooling, my results followed suit. With no cooling, the PWM temperature reported by the software was 56 degrees Celsius, and with ChipSinks installed on each PWM MOSFET, the temperature was a much nicer 43 degree Celsius. A simple step helped reduce temperatures by 13 degrees and may provide extended life and reliability to the system as a whole.
Conclusion:
The performance of the Microcool NorthPole on my i865PE northbridge was extremely impressive, and much better than I anticipated was even possible. Many overclocks are hampered by poor northbridge cooling, and the solution to this common problem is available from Microcool for both AMD and Intel platforms.
Although installation on an Intel based motherboard isn't particularly difficult, it does require a bit more time than a standard cooler which mounts to the embedded hooks. The Microcool Hook Adaptor is an excellent innovation which allows for the cooler to be securely mounted to the chip, and ensures a nice tight fit for efficient heat transfer.
In the USA, distribution of Microcool products is quite limited at this time, and the following three retailers are currently your only choices: FrozenCPU.com, Sidewinder Computer Systems, and E POWERHOUSE PC. Browsing these sites shows that the best selection and prices are presently available from SideWinder, where the NorthPole cooler for AMD style northbridges sells for about $30 and a Hook Adaptor for Intel Pentium 4 style northbridges adds about $7 to this cost. This price may be a bit more than some would want to spend on a chipset cooler, but it is in line with the price of Swiftech's MCX-159 cooler, and much less than a water cooling solution. The quality and performance of the Microcool NorthPole are incredible, and for someone serious about cooling their chipset for optimum performance, the price really isn't that prohibitive.
Although a few ChipSinks are included with the NorthPole, they can also be purchased individually and range in price from $1.35 for the Micro Sink and about $7.00 for the South Sink. A ChipSink kit is also available for around $13.
Although minimal scientific results were analyzed regarding the ChipSinks, it has been shown in other articles and reviews that many small chips on a motherboard could benefit from added cooling. Using this article featuring an nForce2 motherboard seen through a thermal imaging camera as one example, it is clear that many applications exist for ChipSinks.
Due to the extremely impressive cooling performance, I award the Microcool NorthPole Chipset Cooler with Hook Adaptor 5 out of 5 stars... Highly Recommended!!!
Final Rating (5 out of 5 stars): 
NorthPole Pros:
• Incredible cooling performance
• High quality design
• Can be run at low speeds, and it still outperforms the competition by double digits
• Price may seem high initially, but compares quite well to comparable products
NorthPole Cons:
• Fan controller essential to reduce noise experienced at full speed
• Limited availability
ChipSink Pros:
• Easy installation with built in adhesive
• Effectively cools key chips in a system
• Available in a few sizes for different applications
ChipSink Cons:
• Adhesive needs to be heated by chip to form solid bond
Special thanks to Microcool for providing the NorthPole Chipset Cooler and ChipSinks to BigBruin.Com for review!
Please drop by the BigBruin.Com forum and feel free to discuss this review!
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