Thermalright CB-L6 Review

Thermalright CB-6L

Specs:
For AMD Socket A CPU
Feature:
Copper heat spreader, High performance Aluminum based HSF, Light weight 225 Heatsink mass. Low profile to fit major chassis
Dimension: L75 x W64 x H32 (mm)

Weight: 225g
Fan Maker: Sunon
Model: 16010V1
Size: 60 x 60 x 10 (mm)
Bearing: Vapor Bearing System
Voltage: 12V
Speed: 4800 rpm
Air Flow: 19 CFM
Noise Level: 33.5 dBA

Test System:2xPIII 1ghz Cco@1100mhz ,Abit VP6 Artic silver, Dnet RC5 to keep the CPUs under full load.Motherboard Monitor 5.08.We chose to use the socket temp sensors rather than building some other setup.Room temp was kept at 80F

First Impressions

Now I have always been told that first impressions are important and I've come to believe this is true.When I opened the box two things caught my eye.First thing I noticed was wow these are small.And secondly was the fan.Do people still use fans that small????? And does it actually push any air?Like many today Im stuck in the "Bigger is better" way of thinking.One thing that did catch my eye in a positive was was their appearance.They look to either be polished or plated in some way.Very pleasing to the eye.To say the least I was not expecting mind blowing results from the CB-6L.

Installation

Now after looking them over I've found nothing to out of the orinary.You have your standard single lug clip with a notch to ease installation via a flat headed screwdriver.The copper plate soldered to the bottom seemed fairly flat and smooth.Also being fairly low profile I cant see space being a problem installing these on any of the motherboards used today.Thermalright includes a TIM on the bottom but as most of you will do I simply scraped it off and used Artic silver So compared to other heatsinks the CB-6L went on with little trouble.

Testing

After firing up the machine I expected to see the temps rise fairly quickly.So I sat their watching them go up.And they rose to about 40c then 41 and up to 42c under full load.Hmmm not quite as high a temp as I would have expected.In fact I was determined to prove that these small shiny heatsinks couldn't handle Dual PIII 1ghz@1.1ghz.So with the Dnet client keeping both CPUs at 100% load I started up a game of UT.Surely I could get the temps up to 45c at least.Well after an hour of blood shed and destruction I was amazed to find the temps still sitting at 42c.

Is it possible my love for large copper heatsinks with fans moving more air than a small tornado was misguided?And what was all this silence??? I mean I could actually hear something else besides the high pitch whine of a Delta fans.At this point my goal to prove the CB-6L unworthy was foiled. Below are screen shots of MBM with the temps at full load and idle.

Conclusion

Pros:Pretty,quiet,low profile

Cons:Price is just a little on the high side

Well now that my way of thinking has bee ripped apart what is their to say?Thermalright has come through with a solid performer.The CB-6L can handle quite a bit of heat.I wouldn't recommend using it when trying to push your 1ghz Tbird to 2ghz but for average overclocking it shines with its low noise and small footprint.It proves itself to be the "Little heatsink that could" The only improvement I could see would be a small drop in price I have seen them selling for about 25$ US and tho that still is not terrible at 20$ or less the CB-6L would be a steal.

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