Intel TS15A thermal solution

[th3t1nk3r3r]

I am currently in the process of a new build. For fun and enjoyment I have decided to use the 6700K as my CPU with no plan of overclocking save the strange thing with RAM speeds. I decided to give Intel's somewhat mysterious and much lesser known offering a shot. Does anyone have any experience with this new cooler?

 

[aigomorla]

lmao....

i am willing to bet a Hyper Evo 212 will give that cooler a hard spanking and cost cheaper.

 

[th3t1nk3r3r]

lmao....

i am willing to bet a Hyper Evo 212 will give that cooler a hard spanking and cost cheaper.

Not a very helpful comment! It is designed by Intel specifically for the socket 1151 K designated CPU's. Don't you think Intel has any idea what they are doing?

Here's an interesting comparison

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4...nt-testing-of-the-cpu-cooler-intel-ts15a.html

 

[aigomorla]

Not a very helpful comment! It is designed by Intel specifically for the socket 1151 K designated CPU's. Don't you think Intel has any idea what they are doing?

Here's an interesting comparison

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4...nt-testing-of-the-cpu-cooler-intel-ts15a.html

do you really want a technically assumption?

Ok..

1. The Heat sink you listed is a alu fin with a copper core heat sink.
Its design was very common on LGA775 Quadcore cpu heat sink.

LGA775 Quadcore Heat sink:

TS15A Heat sink:

What is the difference?
From the looks of it the height of the copper core.
Also the density of the alu fins which is wraped around the alu core.

Now Copper is a better thermal conductor then alu.
This is physics, so its undisputable, however many vendors have marveled on the idea to hybrid the heat sink copper / alu for weight and cost reason.
Copper is really expensive per gram vs alu, and also a lot heavier.


Now lets look at the heat sink evolution.
We used to have a lot heat sinks like the intel which used hybrid copper / alu.

A good example would be the zalman 7000 series.

what did we learn from it?
It sucked... that's why no one really got it over the full copper version from zalman.

So how did heat sinks evolve?

Heat pipes... thermal bridges which carried heat from source A to Source B using a evap process similar to what air conditioners use.
These heat pipe coolers now currently dominate the heat sink world due to how much more efficient they are in the ability to move heat from A to B much quicker and then dissipate it.


So now lets look at the cost of the TS15A
Newegg has it for 30.44 for this heat sink.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835203026

The other i recommended which is a heat pipe heat sink
Hyper Evo 212 is 29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...99&cm_re=hyper_212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product

So do i think intel knows what they are doing?
Of course they know what they are doing, but they dont like what we are doing its that simple.

Also intel has no interest in the heat sink market, outside stock configurations, and if your looking at stock config, i dont see any real benifit over you getting a TS15A when a perfectly working and functional stock cooler comes with the cpu.

So if your looking at getting a cooler replacement, get a hyper 212evo, unless its too tall to fit inside your case.
if thats the case, there are much better sinks then even the hyper 212 which are low profile, but cost a bit more like a noctuna or a thermalright.

Here's an interesting comparison

http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4...nt-testing-of-the-cpu-cooler-intel-ts15a.html

im sorry but i used to be a sponsored tester for cpu water blocks, and heat sinks.
And to me that article shows no form for credibility because he lacks to mention a lot of things for a test like that to be credible.
But without going into major details on how flawed his test bed can be, i'll just end it at that.

 

[crashtech]

The TS15A is about the biggest, heaviest cooler that Intel thinks can ship installed without damage. It also installs from above, with no need to access the back of the motherboard. It's a near certainty that the 212 Evo will cool better, but it is tall, heavy, should be removed for transport if it will not be in your care, and might require motherboard removal on cases without a windowed tray. For a new build, the last thing is not a real consideration, as long as one remembers to install the retention mechanism before installing the motherboard.

 

[aigomorla]

oh crash is correct on the torque comment.

Intel has been thinning out the PCB on the CPU which makes torque a very dangerous equation, damaging cpu sockets and frying the cpu on some occasions.

So it could be addressed for issues like that.

But again, why would you want to replace that sink over a stock cooler which is free if your running stock?

 

[crashtech]

I don't know the exact figure, but I think the TS15A can certainly dissipate more than the regular copper-cored cooler that used to ship with CPUs like the 4790K. That cooler is not typically able to prevent 100C temps under synthetic stress testing, where the TS15A probably is. It's honestly a great choice for integrators who want to ship completed systems that feature the ability to overclock but don't want to charge for an AIO.

 

[th3t1nk3r3r]

I read on a few pages that the fin design is actually different from the old models and indeed uses a heat pipe. I actually purchased this cooler for my new build and with no plan of overclocking, I expect this will be a great combination for my machine. I just like to get opinions and I do appreciate your input. Do you mean that Intel is purposefully selling crap because they are mad at us or something? According to this page, they are adopting what other coolers are doing. I also doubt that this will damage the chip due to the lack of a mounting plate.

"The thermal solution features a large copper base along with the company’s copper “heat-column” with a heat-pipe inside, which has been used by Intel for some time. For the first time, Intel uses assembled high-density fin design for the heatsink of its coolers to maximize heat dissipation area. Previously the company utilized solid-state heatsinks with curved and bifurcated fins, but it appears that it is now adopting the same construction as leading makers of thermal solutions."

http://www.kitguru.net/components/c...-cooler-to-date-ts15a-for-lga1151-processors/

Oh, I also forgot to mention I bought the 6700K you know, it does not come with a cooler.

 

[crashtech]

This cooler will handle a stock 6700K with ease if you have sufficient airflow through your case. I would guess that it should be able to handle a mild overclock as well, should you decide to explore that feature.

The reason it's not going to get much respect here is that as a group, most of us who reply are enthusiasts who prefer higher performance solutions. The cooler you have chosen, while significantly better than the old copper cored Intel cooler, would likely not support a maximum effort overclock the way that other, much larger air coolers would. Since that doesn't matter to you, you are good to go.

I'd hope you would follow up on this thread with some stress test results like LinX or Prime95 and tell us what the maximum CPU temp was with this cooler.

 

[th3t1nk3r3r]

This cooler will handle a stock 6700K with ease if you have sufficient airflow through your case. I would guess that it should be able to handle a mild overclock as well, should you decide to explore that feature.

The reason it's not going to get much respect here is that as a group, most of us who reply are enthusiasts who prefer higher performance solutions. The cooler you have chosen, while significantly better than the old copper cored Intel cooler, would likely not support a maximum effort overclock the way that other, much larger air coolers would. Since that doesn't matter to you, you are good to go.

I'd hope you would follow up on this thread with some stress test results like LinX or Prime95 and tell us what the maximum CPU temp was with this cooler.

Well, no stress test yet. There may never be one. However after a single game of Battlefield 4 (roughly 30 mins) at max settings, CPU was around 40-45 degrees Celsius. I figure that it will probably never go much above that, I haven't checked the Witcher 3 or Heroes of the Storm yet. I can say that the new rig is screaming and so far my only complaint about the cooler would be that it can get pretty loud. She's my baby, no overclocking needed.

Here's the rig...

Antec Solo II Case & 3 Antec True Quiet 120's
EVGA 650 P2 PSU
EVGA Z170 Classified K Motherboard
Intel Core i7 6700K Skylake CPU
Intel TS15A CPU Cooler
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 FTW+
Mushkin Blackline DDR4 16GB @ 2400mhz RAM
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
Western Digital 1TB Black
ASUS DRW-24B1ST Optical Drive
Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit OS

 

[Magic Carpet]

The one thing I hate about Intel coolers is those plastic clips, if not handled with care, they can brake easily, making the whole heatsink a paperweight. I'd rather add more and get something of a higher quality, that is easy to remove/clean, and last you a lifetime (regardless of your target socket). Something like this.

 

[TrantaLocked]

do you really want a technically assumption?

Ok..

1. The Heat sink you listed is a alu fin with a copper core heat sink.
Its design was very common on LGA775 Quadcore cpu heat sink.

LGA775 Quadcore Heat sink:

TS15A Heat sink:

What is the difference?
From the looks of it the height of the copper core.
Also the density of the alu fins which is wraped around the alu core.

Now Copper is a better thermal conductor then alu.
This is physics, so its undisputable, however many vendors have marveled on the idea to hybrid the heat sink copper / alu for weight and cost reason.
Copper is really expensive per gram vs alu, and also a lot heavier.


Now lets look at the heat sink evolution.
We used to have a lot heat sinks like the intel which used hybrid copper / alu.

A good example would be the zalman 7000 series.

what did we learn from it?
It sucked... that's why no one really got it over the full copper version from zalman.

So how did heat sinks evolve?

Heat pipes... thermal bridges which carried heat from source A to Source B using a evap process similar to what air conditioners use.
These heat pipe coolers now currently dominate the heat sink world due to how much more efficient they are in the ability to move heat from A to B much quicker and then dissipate it.


So now lets look at the cost of the TS15A
Newegg has it for 30.44 for this heat sink.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835203026

The other i recommended which is a heat pipe heat sink
Hyper Evo 212 is 29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...99&cm_re=hyper_212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product

So do i think intel knows what they are doing?
Of course they know what they are doing, but they dont like what we are doing its that simple.

Also intel has no interest in the heat sink market, outside stock configurations, and if your looking at stock config, i dont see any real benifit over you getting a TS15A when a perfectly working and functional stock cooler comes with the cpu.

So if your looking at getting a cooler replacement, get a hyper 212evo, unless its too tall to fit inside your case.
if thats the case, there are much better sinks then even the hyper 212 which are low profile, but cost a bit more like a noctuna or a thermalright.




im sorry but i used to be a sponsored tester for cpu water blocks, and heat sinks.
And to me that article shows no form for credibility because he lacks to mention a lot of things for a test like that to be credible.
But without going into major details on how flawed his test bed can be, i'll just end it at that.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/10500/stock-cooler-roundup-intel-amd-vs-evo-212/7

The TS15A is only a few degrees behind the 212 EVO even at 150W. 5db louder than the 212 EVO.