The number one question Frostytech readers ask us is "what's the best silent heatsink?" Much of the time, readers find themselves asking us this question after they've built a media center PC using the standard type of heatsink one normally finds in local computer stores. Those heatsinks almost always prove too loud, or have a distracting whine that takes away from the benefits a home theatre PC affords.... or don't cool well enough.

If you need a silent heatsink, and I do mean silent, the Scythe Zipang (SCZP-1000) is the next best thing to a passive block of aluminum (the only truly silent option). Equipped with a 138mm wide fan that spins at a lazy 1000RPM, the Scythe Zipang heatsink stands a moderate 112mm tall with the bulk of its body elevated 55mm above the CPU for good motherboard clearance. The tightly packed aluminum cooling fins are stacked 145mm across, and the Zipang has no less than six 6mm diameter copper heatpipes threading through, and under its fins.

Scythe designed the 815 gram Zipang heatsink to work with all current Intel and AMD processors (775,478,939/AM2), so you can migrate from Intel to AMD or vise versa without having to buy another heatsink.

The fixed speed fan has 7 impeller blades and generates no more than 33 dBA according to Frostytech's real world sound measurements. To put that in perspective, a heatsink that clocks in with 35dBA noise in our test environment is whisper quiet. To hear the Scythe Zipang you have to lean in and hold your ear to the heatsink; that makes the Zipang a great option for media and home theatre PCs where low noise cooling is a must... assuming the wide-body cooler will fit.

Read more...