Microcool Mosfet Chipsink Page: 1
Introduction

What is a mosfet? A mosfet is a small transistor that handles current flow between drain and source. There are hundreds of mosfets in your computer, handling the voltages that go to your CPU, RAM, etc etc. When you overclock or overvolt anything, mosfets tend to get hotter because of a higher power load. When they get hot, they can cause voltage fluctuation which can make your computer unstable at a certain point. At the least, it can hinder your overclockability. To keep your mosfets cool, Microcool came out with their mosfet heatsink.

Packaging





The Microcool heatsinks come in a small clear baggie. Let's take a closer look at these babies, shall we?

A Closer Look

 

When you take them out of the little baggie, you'll first notice the height of these things. They're quite tall, so be careful when purchasing them as they might interfere with other components. They each have 9 fins, for dissipating heat quickly and efficiently. On the bottom you'll notice they come pre-applied with a thermal adhesive. Just peel off the transparent blue backing and stick it on the component of your choice. This is fine for most users, but some may feel the need to use an aftermarket solution, such as Arctic Silver Adhesive.

Specifications
From Microcool's Site

Dimensions: 12(L)x12(W)x18(H) mm
Material: Extruded aluminum 6063
Coating: Anodized aluminum
Adhesive: Chomerics T405 Thermal interface pad
Weight: 4g




Microcool Mosfet Chipsink Page: 2
Mounting

 

The Microcool heatsink has a white, soft thermal pad. Making good contact and adhering to the chip is always important. You don't want to hear the heatsinks drop off your card when you're gaming, now do you. The culprit, my X1800XT. Everyone knows the X1K series card's are pretty much the hottest running cards out there. Overclock them and they're unbelievable. For most people, the voltage regulation area of the card runs the hottest, or the mosfet area. This can cause instability, artifacting, or even pre-mature death of the card. Let's mount these heatsinks, shall we?

 

With one mounted to make sure it had good contact, I continued to mount the rest. It's very simple. Just take the heatsink, set it on the chip carefully, and apply pressure for a few seconds. With all of them on, it looks good! They're a bit un-even, but you don't see them anyway.

 

I oriented them a certain way to the airflow from my side fan would pass through them, making sure they get the job done right.

 

While I was at it, I decided to sink my vDimm mosfet, too. You can view before & after pictures above. Anyway, on to testing!!


Microcool Mosfet Chipsink Page: 3
Testing

For testing, I ran ATi Tool's artifact scanner. I recorded the temperatures of the voltage regulation area at idle, and after three minutes of load. The card was clocked at 500/500 idle, 700/800 load.



That's quite the drop from such small heatsinks! I have to say I had my doubt's in the beginning but I can see now that these heatsinks perform great.

Conclusion

If you're looking to get the most out of your overclock, or you just want to keep your components cool and running smoothly, I highly recommend you pick a few of these up. You can find them at many retailers if you are outside of Sidewinders shipping zone. For $1.25 each , they're a great investment.

Pro's
-Lightweight
-Cool well
-Good Price

Con's
-May be too tall for certain components




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