Vantec Aeroflow 2 Heatsink Review

Admin - 2007-02-24 18:05:03 in CPU Cooling
Category: CPU Cooling
Reviewed by: Admin   
Reviewed on: April 5, 2004
Manufacturer: VantecUSA
Provided by: VantecUSA
Price: $22 USD
Introduction
Today we will be looking at Vantec’s successor to the Aeroflow the Aeroflow 2. Vantec had great success with the original Aeroflow despite the high fan failure rate of the T.M.D (tip magnetic drive) fan. For the Aeroflow2 Vantec has done away with the T.M.D fan going with standard axial fan. The Aeroflow was known for its great cooling ability at an affordable price. Can the Aeroflow2 repeat the success of its older sibling the Aeroflow? Read on to find out.


Specifications
Model VA4-7245
CPU Socket 370/7/A (462)
Rated Voltage 12v
Rated Current 0.24A
Power Consumption 2.88W
Bearing Type Ball Bearing
Fan Speed 4000 RPM
Fan Dimension 70x70x20mm
Airflow 34 CFM
Noise Level 35 dBa
Dimension 85x71x72mm
Weight 468 grams
Life 50,000 hrs



Closer Look

Packed inside the plastic clam shell we have the heatsink, instructions, and thermal compound.
  
One of the first things I noticed with the Aeroflow 2 was the silver plastic fan grill. I’m not a big fan of decorative fan grills as sometime they tend to restrict airflow somewhat, but removing the fan grill in this case yielded no difference in temperatures.

This time around Vantec replaced the YS tech 70mm T.M.D fan with a standard black 70mm ball bearing fan. This is a good move on Vantec’s part as there was a high failure rate associated with the T.M.D fans on the Aeroflow.

  

Underneath we see the slightly different design of the Aeroflow2 compared to its predecessor. The new design allows more air to reach the CPU, and adds more surface area to the heatsink compared to the Aeroflow. The base of the heat sink came with a protective plastic sticker to ensure no damage to the base during shipping. The finish of the base was pretty good the only gripe I had was the dimple in the center of the copper slug directly over where the die of the CPU is located.
The Aeroflow 2 is held in place with clip designed to use all six cleats of the socket. This is a must as the Aeroflow 2 weighs in at 468 grams; that’s 168 grams past AMD’s recommended weight of 300grams. Installation


The Aeroflow2 was a bit of a pain to install on my Asus A7N8X DLX. There was a row of capacitors that prevented me from tilting the heatsink 45 degrees as per instructed. I ran into the same problem on my Abit NF7-S but this time it was the height of my Swiftech MCX-159 n/b cooler.


Testing

Testing Method
Temperatures were recorded from the CPU thermal diode using MBM5. Artic Silver 5 was applied to the heatsink according to the directions available at Arctic Silver's website. The compound was given 3 days (72 hours) to set before any testing was done. The idle temperature was recorded after 15 minutes of inactivity. The load temperature was taken after running Prime95 for 15 minutes. Temperatures were taken at stock speeds (11x166@1.65V 1.83Mhz) and overclocked speeds (11x200@1.7V 2200Mhz).

Testing Setup
  • Asus A7N8X DLX rev2.0
  • AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton) (1.83GHz)
  • PMI Turbo series 3200 1024-DP CAS 2
  • Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

    Results
    •
    Above we can see both heatsinks performing very well. The results were very similar with the Aero7+ having a 1C lower idle and load temp.
    In the overclocked test the Aeroflow 2 couldn’t keep up with the Aero7+. The all copper design and cage type blower gave the Aero7+ a 3C lower temp.


    Conclusion

    I have to admit I expected the Aeroflow 2 to deliver slightly lower temps than the Aero7+, but this was not the case. Nothing really excited me with the Aeroflow 2 unlike the Aeroflow that got much of its hype from its T.M.D fan. Installation could be a hassle for some users of the A7N8X or motherboards with large N/B coolers. At 35dbA it’s not the quietest fan I've seen but falls into the middle of the pack. Having never owned the Aeroflow I can’t say if the Aeroflow 2 is a better performing heatsink. I guess I just had to high of hopes for the Aeroflow2, now don’t get me wrong the Aeroflow2 is a solid heatsink with a good price vs. performance ratio just nothing really stood out at me. The Aeroflow 2 would make a solid upgrade from something like the stock AMD cooler.

    Pros

     

    Cons