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Swiftech MCX-370
Manufacturer: Swiftech
Supplied by: Sidewinder
Computers
Price: Sink only $30, Fan additional charge.
by Dean Barker (8/11/2001)
Introduction
The Swiftech MC-370 heatsink is a favorite here at the Penthouse Labs. This is
because the sink seems to have been engineered for the more hardcore overclocker.
This and the attention to detail Swiftech has put into it’s manufacture.
Having said this, we were eager to get our hands on the MC-370's successor, the
MCX-370. Special thanks go out to Sidewinder
Computers for hooking us up. They have this heatsink in stock now but
they are currently selling it as a sink only purchase then you purchase the fan
you want separately.
As with any worthy successor, the MCX-370 has
retained the best of the MC-370's design. Actually, the MC370 and the MCX-370
are identical with the exception of three things. The first and most notable is
the introduction of Swiftech’s patent pending technology, the Helicoid Pin
design. The Helicoid Pin basically is a standard pin but it is threaded. The
threads are really numerous circular ribs on the pin.
MC-370 on left, MCX-370 on Right.
The Helicoid Pin provides a greater surface area
in which heat may be dissipated via the convection process. Swiftech claims that
this pin increases surface area by a two to one ration over the pin design of
the MC-370. We all know that the more surface area you have the more efficient
the heatsink will be for the most part. Another advantage of the Helicoid Pin is
that the threads or ribs create turbulence in the air flow which helps the
efficiency of the heat/air exchange.
The second design chance is in the addition of four grommets that elevate the
fan above the heatsink. The foremost purpose of this is the dampen out vibration
via the rubber grommets subsequently reducing the MCX’s noise signature.
Swiftech gets an “A” for effort here but even with the Papst fan (we’ll
get to in a minute) this sink is anything but quite. While we don’t have the
ability here to measure decibel levels, we put our trust in our ears. The MCX
and the MC-370 sounded the same to us. The second benefit of the elevated fan is
it addresses the arguable “dead zone” that exists with heatsink that have
the fan mounted directly on top of the sink. The logic of the argument is that
on the underside of the fan is the motor. This is where you will see the fan’s
label or in the case of a Black Label Delta, you will see a black round sticker
covering the area. Anything under this is not getting the direct airflow that
the rest of the sink gets. Thereby diminishing the sink’s potential
performance. This is also important because believe it or not, those
heatsink fan motors DO make their own heat. Having the fan's heat building
underneath the motor with minimal airflow can't be all that good. Some
other larger manufacturers are addressing this as well with an example being the
Global Win CAK38. We are going to address this issue head on in our testing.
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