Introduction

Heatsink designs have needed to undergo many changes recently, especially due to newer motherboard heatsink layouts and more compact cases.  This is especially true for many of the LAN party cases and even some HTPC cases that are used for regular or gaming systems.  With the cases shrinking and room becoming a scarce find, heatsinks have needed to shrink in size and/or height, but still be able to perform under pressure of performance based systems.  Again, this is especially true for gaming systems that are built in a LAN party or HTPC case to preserve room in the entertainment system or be ultra portable for LAN parties.  These gaming systems, though compact and portable, still pack a performance punch, which means one simple thing, they produce more heat.  The answer would have to come in the form of a compact heatsink that can fit a multitude of cases, yet perform well in a system that is potentially overclocked and is producing a decent amount of heat.

Recently I built a decent AMD/ATI based system for gaming that was built in the NZXT Guardian 921 case, which is a normal size mid tower gaming case.  This case, though roomy enough to accommodate a 4870 X2 graphics card, was unable to house a tall heatsink, such as the Titan Fenrir or Thermaltake ISGC 300, comfortably without removing the case's side fan and having the heatsink touching the side panel acrylic window.  Now this left me considering taking the system back out and using a different case, but then I realized that I had received a new heatsink that might just fit and provide the performance I would need, and it was even a part of the silent gaming series from Thermaltake.

The Thermaltake ISGC-400 CPU heatsink is compact to fit a variety of cases.  The main feature of the Thermaltake ISGC-400, however, is the silent fan technology.  This series of heatsinks feature the variable speed fans that provide a quiet gaming experience.  The features of the fan and the compact design really make the Thermaltake ISGC-400 a CPU of great interest to those who build LAN party systems in smaller, more compact cases.