Performance

Temperature data was obtained by directly reading the Athlon64 thermal diode with a MAX6655 reader which offers an accuracy of 0.125°C. The CPU, cabling, diode reader setup has been calibrated in a water bath over a 0°C - 75°C range. Room temperature was kept at 20°C, data has been normalized if necessary.

Idle means Windows sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load is after 30 minutes of Prime95. The different clock/voltage settings are representative of an un-overclocked, medium overclocked and heavily overclocked system. The high voltage settings were used to get a sufficient heat output on the CPU, not to reach the overclock.


It took me a few tries to get the mounting right. Because of the great base plate finish you have to use only very little thermal paste.
When looking at the results I find it interesting that compared to the other coolers the Scythe Infinity gets better the higher the load is. To me this is an indicator that it can deal with much bigger heat loads, so it is future proof.
The data is also telling you that there might be cheaper coolers out there that work well if you have a non-overclocked or little overclocked system

Fan Noise

To measure fan noise we used an IEC Type 2 sound level meter on the dbA setting. Measuring distance was 10 cm from the heatsink fan hub. The short distance of 10 cm is necessary to get proper readings with very silent fans. All fans were tested outside of the case at 12V supplied by a lab PSU. On fans that come with a fan controller or allow control of fan speed in any other way, "low" and "high" indicate the settings on the fan controller.


These numbers completely confirm my first impression. The fan is exceptionally quiet, even at 12V. If you run the fan at 7V or when using adjusted fan speeds you can easily build a silent, yet powerful system with the Scythe Infinity.

Now imagine the cooling performance of a 120mm leaf blower Delta fan, when used with this heatsink - keep small animals away from the fan, they might get sucked in.