[Rumor] Hexa core Core i7 980X gets new OEM cooler

Robert Hallock 10 Mar, 2010 at 10:46am ET Article published in Tech

According to a Chinese-language report from a forum on Yesky.com, the upcoming Westmere-based Core i7 980X will ship with a new OEM cooler to keep its six cores frosty.

Little is said of the heatsink aside from captions describing its various angles, but the numerous images create a convincing case for its existence.

Considering the design, we must say that it’s spartan, but functional. Six heatpipes connect to a rectangular copper slug that’s fixed to what we assume is a nickel-plated base. You’ll notice that the copper slug is very small with respect to the size of the base, but we can only guess as to the reasoning behind such a relatively small thermal interface. The top of the heatsink is also equipped with a toggle switch, which appears to be labeled with the markings “M” and “8;” the switch’s purpose is not known, but it could easily be an RPM toggle.

Intel’s Core i7 980X will launch in the March/April time frame. For more information about the new CPU, we invite you to check out our brief overview.

Comments

10 Mar 2010 ~ 11:18am Cliff_Forster As a dozen heatsink manufacturers cry out in terror!
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:12pm mirage Cliff, you are funny ... and right. They could have just bought the thing from Arctic Cooling if they felt Zalman was too expensive. This is looking like a fake Art Nouveau piece.
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:20pm AlexDeGruven Wow... A non-crappy HSF solution from a manufacturer?
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:29pm mirage This one was the first non-crappy I know.
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:31pm Ryder Oh, it is still probably crappy, just less crappy.
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:33pm Cliff_Forster Said the guy that represents a manufacturer of heatsinks....
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:34pm Ryder We don't make heatsinks anymore
10 Mar 2010 ~ 1:35pm Cliff_Forster

RyderOCZ wrote:

We don't make heatsinks anymore

thwarting my chances to have any fun!!
10 Mar 2010 ~ 6:06pm Cliff_Forster First time I have ever seen a manufacturer boast that their stock heatsink was ready for a little overclocking.

Its against my nature to say anything nice about Intel, but you know what, I dig this, thats a step in the right direction. If your going to charge an obscene amount for a cutting edge CPU the extra $10 to throw a decent cooler in the box should be a no brainier.

AMD's stock cooler for the high end models has been good for a few years, effective, but loud as hell. Maybe this will prompt a response. Honestly, I don't think aftermarket heatsink manufacturers will be thrilled when they see this thing. Sure, their products are bigger and better, but how many people were replacing Intel heatsinks, not because they wanted to overclock, but because they just needed to replace a complete hunk of junk? I'm curious to see what this thing can do under a 130W heat load.