Socket-A & Socket-370 Cooler Roundup - November 2000

Agilent ArctiCooler HACA-0001

In the x86 world, CPUs that dissipate up 50W or more heatare relatively new. But manufacturers of high end UNIX workstations have been confronted with the problems related to 'hot' CPUs long ago (e.g. HP has shipped computers with PA-RISC CPUs that dissipate over 100W), and therefore developed their own cooling solutions. Over a year ago, HP decided to make their proprietary cooling technology available to the public, and created a spin-off company called PolarLogic. Today, the HP Technology is sold under the name Agilent ArctiCooler.

Agilent's cooler for Socket A CPUs is very compact - it is the smallest of the coolers tested here, and it is much smaller than HP's coolers for PA-RISC CPUs.

Agilent seems to focus rather on the OEM market; it is very hard to find the much anticipated ArctiCooler CA on the retail market.

The Agilent ArctiCooler looks a bit similar to the Chrome Orb. However the ArctiCooler is milled, whereas the Chrome Orb is extruded. Milling is more expensive, but allows finer fins. This explains the higher performance and higher price of the ArctiCooler as compared to the Chrome Orb.

Performance

Considering the small size of the ArctiCooler and the fact that no excessively strong fans are involved, the ArctiCooler's performance is absolutely amazing. It performs as well as the Alpha PAL6035, Thermaltake Super Orb, the Taisol unit, and the Global WIN FOP32 - but it is much smaller and also quieter than these. This clearly shows the superiority of Agilent's design.

On the left, the Agilent ArctiCooler tested here. On the right, an older heatsink from HP using the same design. The large HP heatsink was designed for PA-RISC CPUs. It does not fit any x86 CPU, so we could not include it in the comparison - but considering the performance of the small ArctiCooler, we can guess how impressive the cooling power of the ArctiCoolers will be, once they start offering really large models for PC CPUs.