Xilence Black Hawk

A chunky heatsink, the Black Hawk consists of a tower of heat-exchanging fins stacked one top of the other and made from aluminum. 

The airflow, therefore, is directed towards the motherboard to ensure that it is kept cool.

The base, in direct contact with the processor, is made from copper, as are the six heatpipes that carry heat away to the fins.

Because of its weight and large frame, this is a heatsink that's best left to medium and large towers.

A 120 mm fan is supported by a rubber base which reduces the amount of vibration caused when it is turning at full speed, and if you have your fan on the side of your case, you'll enjoy the red LED which glows through the heatsink.


Far too loud

This is a heatsink whose performance can best be described as erratic.

With its fan turning at its slowest setting, its cooling capabilities are limited for dual-core processors and insufficient for quad-cores.

To make it more effective, you need to turn the fan up a notch, which produces excellent results and puts this heatsink ahead of much of the opposition.

The usual compromise soon comes to bear, though, as excellent ventilation is accompanied by a very noisy fan.

Even though it's practically silent with the fan at its lowest setting, a mere 10% increase in performance noticeably lifts noise levels, and at half-speed and above, this heatsink is too loud to use in an office.