ThermoLab BADA Review

Testing:

Testing the ThermoLab BADA begins with installation. Once the mounting bracket and arms were installed, I added thermal paste to the heat pipe gaps and then some to the CPU IHS. The heat sink was then plugged in and bolted to the motherboard. Testing occurs in two phases – idle and load, and at two speeds – stock (2.66GHz) and overclocked (3.33GHz) CPU speeds. Each run is tested for thirty minutes apiece and the temperatures are then averaged out and reported in the graphs below for comparison against other heat sinks.

Testing System:

• Processor: Intel i7 920
• Motherboard: MSI X58 Platinum
• Memory: Mushkin HP3 12800 3x2GB DDR3
• Video Card: nVidia GTX260 216sp
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800 watt Modular power supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Western Digital Green 1TB SATA
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit SP1

Comparison Heat sinks:

• ThermoLab BADA
• AMA Orc
• ZEROTherm Core 92
• Evercool Transformer 4
• Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ(RB)
• Stock Intel i7 Heatsink
• Gelid Silent Spirit
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366

At stock CPU speeds, the BADA performed very well at load and average at idle. The results are similar for the overclocked CPU testing with the BADA coming within 1 degree of the best performing heat sink – the Fenrir.