Written
: 2/15/99
Written by:
Moto
Price: $48.99
Alpha P7125 Supplied by:
AMK Services
OK. You searched high and low and finally got
yourself one of those Athlon 500's that are really Athlon 650's. You got
yourself a little "Gold Finger Device" to go with the
Asus K7M motherboard and you're ready to overclock the baby. Before you do
that you need a big heatsink to keep it cool. Now comes the problem. The K7M has
its ATX power connector on the wrong side of the Slot A rails and most of the
big coolers will be blocking that off. The original
Alpha P125 will mount on an Athlon but you won't be able to install it on
the Asus K7M because the fins block off the ATX power connector. The system
doesn't work too well if you can't get power to the motherboard, he he he. :-)
Enter Alpha with its new P7125. The P7125 is
basically a P125 with a few fins cut shorter so it clears the power connector of
the Asus K7M or similar motherboards. Alpha tossed in a copper base plate to
bring the performance of the unit a bit higher than what can be achieved by a
standard P125. Overall, the P7125 shares the best features of the
P3125 and the original P125.
The Alpha P7125 is one huge heatsink.
Although it will clear the ATX power connector of the Asus K7M, you will still
lose one DIMM slot because the heatsink will block it off. You should check to
make sure it'll clear your system before buying. Alpha coolers come unassembled
and without fans. This unit was supplied by
AMK Services. AMK sells Alpha with or without fans. If you chose the unit
with fans, they will ship it with a couple of powerful Global Win 60mm x 25mm
units that are rated to move 27.2 CFM of air each. Unlike most coolers, Alpha
recommends you mount the fans so that they suck air out instead of blowing in.
There has been huge debate over which method is better. In our testing, we have
found it doesn't matter that much and is more dependant on the room temp. On hot
summer days, the unit will perform better when the fans are blowing out. In a
colder climate, the unit works best with the fans blowing in.
Next page: Taking a closer look
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