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XP-120 Heat Sink

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imported_Aelius

Golden Member
I received my XP-120 Heat Sink about 15 minutes ago from Sidewinder Computer Systems Inc.

I ordered it last Thursday the 5th using the only shipping method allowed for a Canadian order. Nice to see the super quick turnaround time.

I made this thread to note both good and bad points (yes there is one).

The kit includes the following:

HSF Body with 2 mounting clips X1
Blue Rubber vibration damper strips X2
120mm fan wire clips X2
Thermal paste in syringe X1
K9 Adapting RM X1
M3 0.5*15mm screws X2

First of all the heat sink is really light despite its massive appearance and let me just say it is massive. The pictures don't do it any justice until you hold it on your palm and realise that it is virtually larger than your hand.

You will be happy to know the kit includes instructions on how to install the XP-120 on both an Intel P4 as well as an AMD K8. It comes with a single CPU Adapting RM to allow installation for both types of CPUs. The CPU bracket appears to be made out of some sort of high quality composite ABS plastic. It isn't flimsy at all and I doubt its easy to break.

The construction of the XP-120 seems high quality as well. You can see some heat marks on the aluminum but that's normal from my experience.

My real concern is the base of the XP-120. Unlike some other heat sinks you can get a fair ammount of reflection if you put something next to it, which would confirm that they tried really hard to make the base smooth for a good contact.

Unfortunately my XP-120 came with a tiny machining scratch on one side of the base (thankfully not the middle). The rest of the base has clearly seen fine machining mark all over it. Much like any other heat sink.

I have no doubt in my mind that despite Thermalright's suggestion that we don't lap the heat sink it might be a very good idea to do just that.

Personally mine can't get any worse than it already is. Although I doubt that every XP-120 comes with a scratch on the base it doesn't make me very happy to know that I lucked out.

Having said that the scratch doesn't appear to be very deep and I'm confident that laping will remove it altogeather.

My next step is ordering a couple of laping kits to make sure the base will get perfect contact.

I can't provide pictures because I don't have a digital camera at this time. Priority goes to my new system. The toys come later.

Hopefully I can provide some #s later on once my system is up and running in the next 3-4 weeks (damn you MSI). I'll start a new thread for that.

I know this was somewhat limited but hopefully helpful to some of you.
 
I got the Enermax UC-12FAB-B fan with the heat sink (can order togeater from Sidewinder). Manual adjustible 1500-2300RPM. Max it does aprox 95-96CFM @ 30dBA.

It's quiet as a tomb compared to similar performance fans that hover around 50dBA doing similar CFM.

Technically it is a case fan. 😀
 
Just a couple of things I'd add from my experience with the heatsink:

Mine didn't come with an adapting RM for K8 installation, but that could just be the Australian shipping version.

Also of note, not all 120mm fans will fit on the cpu. The way the mounts are set up for the fan, you can't have any protectors for the screws on the fan, like the coolermaster fans that come with the stacker case (sort of like columns at the corners of the fans for long screws). The clips come in from the side of the fan and need to fit into holes where the screws would go. These protectors I'm talking about block access to those holes when coming in from the side of the fan.

Mine didn't come with any scratches or anything on the base, so it probably is just your bad luck 🙁.

As for cooling, it's great. I've only got a pretty slow fan on there (runs at 1100rpm max), not even held properly (that coolermaster fan is all I've got atm), and yet I can even turn the fan down with my fan controller and still have the cpu keep the same temps as stock. The psu fan probably helps - the intake for my psu (Antec TrueControl 550W) takes air almost directly out of the heatsink.

Anyway, in summary, it's a great heatsink - just that I need to find a better fan 🙂.
 
Well I never thought that my fan might not fit. You were right, my case fan had those massive screws holding down the fan grill on 4 points and had plastic filling those holes from top to bottom that the retention brackets need to hold onto.

Having said that I was wondering why on Earth would Sidewinder make it an option, one of 4 I belieave, to buy this fan then?

Well I put the retention brackets on the heat sink and put the case fan on top of the heat sink and the first set of "teeth" went right into the spot next to where the plastic column is holding the screw. The other set of "teeth" went a little past the second column. The same was true of the other side of the fan.

It didn't look very steady but that's when I grabed the whole thing by the fan and shook it like a mad man trying to get the heat sink to fall.

Nope, the SOB refused to fall appart. Increadible.

All that happened was the fan slid about 5mm towards the ends where the "teeth" were not pointing to the inside of the plastic column but rather were sticking on the outside. That was it.

I'm going to try to bend the "teeth" so that they stick into the inside of the columns and if that works there's no freaking way you can move that fan and I'm willing to bet that I can easily lift and probably shake the whole thing once its mounted on a motherboard. Not that I'm going to do that or anything. 😀

Awesome engineering!!!!
 
Yeah, I've pretty much done that with mine, but mine certainly isn't very stable... The fan will fall off when moving the case.
 
Well I turned my thumbs and index fingers to mush "ouch" but the "teeth" now point inside of the plastic columns. Not sure if it is any better. I guess time will tell.

Having said that I can hold the heat sink up while holding onto the fan regardless of how it is oriented and it doesn't budge even if I shake it a little.

I suppose I'm lucky in that regard.

I just need to find someplace in Canada that sells laping kits. So far I can only find US companies selling it.
 
Does the scratch cause any metal to be sticking out from the rest of the heatsink? If not then I wouldn't worry about lapping it - if the rest of the heatsink is fine, then just having that thin line where the scratch is not making contact with the cpu won't affect performance much, if at all. Especially if the scratch is at the side as you say.
 
True but it is still worth laping it since I will be overclocking.

If I wasn't overclocking I wouldn't care to do this. I probably wouldn't even have gotten this heat sink and fan if I wasn't overclocking.
 
Only problem is you'll lose some of the tension on the clamps, and hence less pressure on the cpu, which'll mean a lower heat transfer (just how much depends on how deep the scratch is). Seems like it could be more trouble than it's worth to me. I doubt you'll get more of an overclock by lapping, as I'd say the temps won't change much, if at all. Up to you I guess though.
 
If I do it wrong yes you're right. I won't.

Some people put too much presure on the heat sink when lapping it.

I'm not putting any presure on it or a very tiny bit while moving the heat sink around. The weight of the heat sink is usually sufficient. Some people don't realize that.

I'm not crazy about lapping either but a mirror finish compared to a coarse surface is preferable for a perfect contact. So long as too much metal isn't taken off. That's the trick.
 
I'm not talking about how much pressure you use when lapping, I mean you'll lose pressure when mounting after having lapped the bottom. There'll be less height distance from the bottom of the heatsink to where the clips are for mounting, and so with less distance, there'll be less pressure put on your cpu. This will lead to a lower heat transfer between the cpu and the heatsink. Just how much less, I'm really not sure.
 
A mirror finish compared to tiny machining marks isn't going to make a difference. That's what TIM is for.

Also, it's been well documented that only a few fans fit the fan mounting device for this heatsink. Globe, Acoustifans, and maybe Pabst and Panaflo, I don't remember the last ones too well. This is due to the little screw holes in the corners.
 
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