Thermal Take Aircooler Socket "Golden Orb"

Initial Thoughts and Impressions:

The first heatsink I'm going to talk about is the socket "Golden Orb."  Thermal Take came into existence and introduced the Aircooler (affectionately known as "Golden Orb") in 1999.  Since then they've been hard at work to become a formidable player in the PC cooling solution arena. The "orb" itself is identical to the SECC version of the Aircooler that I reviewed last week.  "The a gold anodized aluminum heatsink.  The "orb" seems to be constructed of a 45mm length of extruded aluminum stock with the fins part of the extruded bar stock.  The fan recess feels as if it was machined after the fact and the waves in the fins seem to have been bent in after the machining process.  There is a small round contact area on the bottom that was press fit into the retaining plate.    It's more than looks, though... There's substance to this heatsink!"   Its circular design has 60 fins (yes, I counted them...) which in concept allows the fan's airflow to  more efficiently dissipate the heat produced by the CPU.  This design is the reason why Golden Orb does so well considering that it's fitted with a quiet 20CFM fan.

Specifications and Features:

Installation:

Thermal Take uses its patented "TCS01" retention clip with its Aircooler assembly.  I was impressed with the concept from the start.  The installation is fairly simple:

• Install CPU in socket
• Align retention clip with socket and secure accordingly
• Once clips are in place twist the "orb" counterclockwise to lock into place

Installation Issues:

There were only two slight issues I had with the Golden Orb installation:

• The power cable just didn't seem long enough.  It was just barely able to reach my on board three pin power lead.
• It seemed as if I had to use too much force to get the heatsink retention mechanism to lock in at first.  It did become easier with subsequent installations.

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