Cooler Master XDream HAC V81

Author's product rating:   

Reliability	Excellent
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Quality	Excellent
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Efficient cooling, speed control
Disadvantages:	Noisey at full power

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This was the very first heatsink I ever purchased. Coolermaster are renound for there cooling products from there cases right down to there fans. There are many heatsinks on the market and all have there own unique way of removing heat. The typical heatsink consists of a metal block usually made from copper or aluminum due to there heat conductivity being so good. On top of this block a fan is attached to keep the block cool and disperse the heat.

First Impressions - When i first had the XDream in my hands i was shocked at the size of it. Even a bit worried if it would actually fit in my case its very wide. Non the less i took out my old heatsink and started the frustrating part of attaching the new heatsink.

Installation - This part had to be the most worrying part for me. When installing the heatsink i was working very close to the processor and any static from my hands could damage the processor. Also there are many other things around the processor that can easily get knocked.
In actual fact it was a very simple process to attach the heatsink. You hook a catch over one side of the processor board and then pull the other side until the other catch is secured in place and thats it.
It was then a case of attaching a spare 4-pin power supply to the heatsink and plugging the fan into the motherboard. Refer to the motherboards user manual for the specific position to plug the fan into.

Fan Controller - The XDream comes with its own fan controller allowing the user to manually adjust the fan speed. On low the fan isn't as powerful or efficient but much quieter. On full power its the total opposite. The fan is loud at full power. I found that having the fan at roughly 1/4 power was perfect for cooling and noise.
The fan controller fits into one of your spare PCI slots and consists of a simple dial that you turn clockwise or anticlockwise for speed control.

Efficiency - If you have been thinking about buying a new heatsink then i would presume you too are also intrested in the cooling side of computers. The heatsink is brilliant for AMD processors and pentiums alike up to about 2ghz i would say. I have a 1.4 and at high power it kept the temperature 8 degrees lower than my older processor. At lower speed i was seeing a 3 degree drop in temperature which is still good.

Further Additions - For all the hardcore computer modders i would recommend you pay around £7 for a silver compound paste. Basically before installing your heatsink you rub some of this paste onto your processor and onto your heatsink and then place the two together. What this paste does is create a permanent join between the processor and metal heatsink. Silver is a excellant conductor and takes heat away from the processor and disperses it onto the heatsink. With this paste alone you will get another 2 degrees drop in temperature.

Conclusions - This heatsink is brilliant and when combined with a decent heatsink paste is probabaly the best heatsink for cooling processors that are to be worked hard or overclocked.
If you are an advanced computer user i would recommend buying this product. If your a beginner at using computers and dont feel confident around your computer then get someone experienced in to fit it for you. What you dont want to do is go about fitting this heatsink but in the process of doing so damage your motherboard or processor.

Important Note: You will have to buy specific heatsinks for specific processors. Heatsinks can only cool up to a certain processor speed. For example the XDream supports AMD Duron upto 1.7Ghz, and All Athlon CPUs upto 2800+ and higher. Also supports Intel PIII CopperMine upto 1.13Ghz. Celeron/(Tulalatin) upto 1.6Ghz. Just keep this in mind if you have a faster processor.

P.S The cooling temps for this report were tested using an AMD athlon 1.4 and a K7AMA motherboard so results will vary from component to component.