3DVelocity would like to thank Bacata, France and especially Jean-Christophe Agobert for their help and courtesy in providing this HSF for review.

Introduction :

Kanie almost single handedly kick-started the Copper HSF revolution when they introduced their original Hedgehog, the 238M. Although Copper sinks had been available prior to its introduction, the 238 was the first to capture the imagination of PC sector because of its solid performance and reasonable price. Despite the claims that the original offering was giving a very mixed bag of results because its construction method was not consistent, Kanie have decided to stick with this same construction technique with its latest model, the 294M.

As you can probably guess from the model numbers, the cooling pin count has been raised from the original 238 to 294, an increase of some 24%.

Cooling technology has moved on since the original Hedgehog was released, and although at the time it was considered one of the premier coolers, current models like the Swiftech MCX370-0A and the Zalman CNPS500+ have made it look very ordinary indeed. Can the 294M put Kanie back amongst the elite pack, or is it too little too late? Let's take a look.

The Cooler :

Although the box supplied with the 294 is very basic and uninspired, the contents are pretty well secured and shouldn't do too much dancing around in transit. The sink itself is wisely entombed in heat-sealed plastic, and inside the plastic a thin layer of light machine oil stops any oxidising from spoiling the appearance.

As you can see below, very little has changed since the original 238M. The fan mounting brackets and shroud remain unchanged, though Kanie have at least addressed the weight problem by now supplying a retaining clip that utilises all six socket lugs. Though fitting this clip was a touch fiddly, it certainly feels a lot more secure once on and I'd like to see more HSFs switch to this method. The fan supplied was a Melco 5400RPM unit which delivers a slightly disappointing 24CFM of air in exchange for a reasonable 38dBA of noise. It also features RPM sensing and is fitted with a standard three pin plug for connection directly to a motherboard header.

The angle and design of the clip makes it hard to actually apply pressure and swing it out to locate it at the same time, but you do get better at it with practise.

The new 294 pin layout still leaves plenty of space for air to circulate, but perhaps the pins could have been made a bit bulkier to increase surface area a little.

The method for mounting the fan remains unchanged over its older brother. First the locating brackets are placed over the two raised rows of outer pins and the fan then screws into these. The brackets stop the pins spreading and allow the fan screws to bite in firmly.

 

Page 2, Fitting, Performance and conclusion >>>