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As
it transpired, the fan is manufactured by ALRO, Taiwan.
Other than identifying it as a type 8025, there was
no useful information about it on their site, so all
we know is what CoolSonic tells us, that it's a ball
and sleeve design with a 2500RPM rotational speed
and an airflow figure of 50,20
m³/h,which is only about 29CFM in old money. Hardly
a tornado, though I must say it felt like it was shifting
more air than that using the patented "palm-of-the-hand"
method.
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Fan
Type
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With
the fan removed we can see how the two heatpipes curl
around in order to make contact with the copper contact
plate in the base. There are small copper fins soldered
to the base presumably to dissipate heat until the
heatpipes get up to operating temperature then to
just help things along afterwards.
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Fan
Removed
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As
you can see, the heatpipes run up through the centre
of the fin arrays but I wonder if they're not a little
too close together to operate optimally..
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Card
- Memory Sink
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I'm
also not completely convinced that they're attached
to the base plate in the most efficient way possible.
They're clearly soldered but don't make contact across
the entire plate length. Also, if the underside of
the flattened pipes is as undulating as the top surface
we're unlikely to have a great deal of contact area.
I
wonder if CoolerMaster didn't have a better idea when
they used a thicker base and drilled holes in the
base into which the heatpipes were inserted and soldered.
Just a thought.
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Heatpipe-Base
Attachment
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Heatpipe-Base
Attachment
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By
looking at where the heatpipes emerge from the top
aluminium fin you can see how the holes are flared
to increase contact between the two. It kind of works
but the two are hardly pressed tight together and
you can move the fin plates up and down on the pipes
without too much effort.
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Heatpipes
Emerge Through Top Fin Plate
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Though
it seemed extremely flat, there is no attempt at creating
a super-slick mirror-like base finish here. There
were no particularly offensive machining marks though
and I'd certainly class the surface finish as good.
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Base
Surface Finish
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