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Quiet
Cooling AKASA Style, AK 821Q and Silver Mountain 2Q
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Author : Wayne
Date : 12th August 2002
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Introduction :
Probably AKASA's greatest claim to fame comes
in the shape of their high performance Silver Mountain cooler,
a cooler that came under criticism for being nothing more than
a clone of the inconsistently performing Kanie Hedgehog. That
was until a round dozen of them were sent over to the crew at
[H]ard|OCP who confirmed that in addition to being a very impressive
performer, it was also a very consistent performer too. Not
only that, AKASA were very quick to point out that despite the
undoubted similarities the Silver Mountain was no silver plated
Hedgehog, it was a very different beast entirely with a more
robust consrtuction and ground up design philosophy, something
AKASA seem very good at.
Recently the name AKASA has been associated with
a range of quality products from acoustic absorption kits to
rounded cables but one thing that tends not to get a lot of
press is their more mainstream and their noise limiting cooling
solutions. It's all too easy to forget that for every 'Netizen
who's prepared to shell out $50+ for the latest copper heat
shifter there's probably a dozen more who want nothing more
than a reliable, well priced cooler that they know they can
fit and forget.
Today I want to take a look at AKASA's latest
assault on the "quiet cooling" sector in the shape
of their AK-821Q and Silver Mountain2Q CPU coolers, two heat
sinks that are designed for those who need a good cooler that
won't leave them with permanent hearing damage and won't have
them loosing all control of their bowels when they see the price
tag. As AMD systems partners and INTEL approved cooler manufacturers
they should know a thing or two about keeping your CPU cool.
Question is, can they do it on a budget? Let's find out.
First up let's examine the value oriented AK 821Q.
A Closer Look :
At first glance you can't help but notice the
similarity between the AK-821Q and the Swiftech MCX370 but other
than a passing similarity the similarities are few. The AK-821Q
has a thinner base, is considerably cheaper and built in a completely
different way.
What gives the AK-821Q an edge over most other
coolers at this price point is that fact that it's manufactured
using a cold forged pin design. This means that the cooler is
essentially stamped out of a block of aluminium under massive
pressure that creates the pins and base without the need to
press, pinch or solder them in later. To make this possible
AKASA have to use a relatively soft aluminium which also means
a relatively pure aluminium too so in all it's actually a fairly
expensive way to go about creating a budget cooler. It also
ensures a better thermal efficiency than would an extruded unit
of similar dimensions, not that you could extrude a sink of
this nature. I use the term "budget" cooler loosely
because although its price positions it squarely at the budget
end of the market it's in fact not the cheapest offering in
the AKASA range and in many ways the low price betrays its appeal
to users who would perhaps normally be shopping in a higher
price bracket entirely.
The "Q" at the end of AK-821Q represents
"Quiet" and to achieve this AKASA have opted to use
a Sanyo Denki 23CFM fan with a rated noise level of
33 dB(A). Sanyo Denki make some exceptional fans and this counts
as one of them but some may find the relatively low 23CFM rating
a little disconcerting. I've actually used some quality Pabst
fans in the past that offered much higher CFM ratings at very
similar sound levels but other than this the choice of a Sanyo
Denki can't really be faulted, particularly as it features a
more reliable ball bearing system rather than the slightly quieter
but shorter lived sleeve bearings often found on coolers in
this range.
Something that AKASA have only recently changed
is the clip. So recently in fact that at the time of writing
this they still show the single lug version on the product shot
that features on their site. The use of a three lug retaining
clip may seem like overkill for a product that is actually very
light by today's standards but personally I'd like to see all
heatsinks mounted this way. It also means that if you've damaged
the centre lug on your socket from earlier heat sink swops you
can still clip the AK-821Q straight on with no problems.
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