The design of this cooler is very unusual, so I’ll explain how it works. The poles screw down onto the holes around the CPU socket, which secures the aluminum plate on to the CPU. Heat is transferred from the plate over the copper heat pipes to the aluminum heat sink, which is cooled by the upward blowing fan.
Build quality of the Taisol HSF is quite good, with shiny and cleanly cut aluminum. Thankfully there is no useless thermal tape on the bottom. The cooler comes with a small pouch of thermal compound, which was used in the test. Even though the cooler is mostly aluminum, it does a very effective job of keeping the CPU cool. If the cooler were solid copper, it would add greatly to its cost as well as weight.
