Product Reviews

The standard Intel reference heatsink and fan does a good job, but you can get your processor cooler for overclocking or to extend its lifespan by using a third-party cooler, such as ZeroTherm's CF800. Better cooling usually means a larger heatsink and fan, but the CF800 is just 77mm high, around the same height as the reference Intel cooler.

The CF800 uses clever techniques to keep the processor's temperature down. To start with, you have to remove your motherboard and attach the metal backing plate. The cooler screws into this plate, which makes it more securely attached than

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with Intel's standard plastic plugs. The polished copper plate then attaches to four heat pipes that run into the heatsink and its cooling fins.

The fins also house a thermistor, which senses the temperature of the heatfins and adjusts the fan speed to compensate, so you don't need to adjust any BIOS settings. When you first turn on your PC, the fan is very quiet as the heatsink is still cold. When you perform more processor-intensive tasks, the fan picks up speed. This doesn't mean it's particularly loud, as the fan operates between 16dB and 30dBA, although you'll be able to hear it operating at full speed.

We tested the CF800 on a Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz). The reference Intel cooler managed 41°C when idle and 45°C under load; the CF800 managed 35°C when idle and 40°C when we ran the processor at full load. This gives quite a bit of room for overclocking should you want to try it and keeps your PC cooler than when using the reference cooler.

For £20 including VAT this is good value, but the temperature difference over the reference cooler means it's better as a replacement for a broken cooler rather than as an upgrade.