The KA-9226ACU

Features:

• Intel: Celeron D~2.93 GHz (340J), Core Duo 2.33 GHz (775 Dual-Core), Pentium 4 3.73 GHz (775 Prescott), Pentium EE 3.73 GHz (775 Dual-Core), Pentium D 3.4 GHz (775 Dual-Core).
• AMD: Athlon 64~4800+ (K8), 64 FX-51 (K8), 64 FX-53 (K8), 64 FX-55 (K8), 64 FX-57 (K8), 64 FX-60(K8), Opteron 2.6 (K8), Sempron 3300 (K8).

• Special 4 copper heat pipes thermal cooling technology.

• Easy installation by specially design clip.

• All copper heatsink w/ copper base.

• 90 x 90 x 25 mm blue LED ball bearing fan.

Specifications:

     The KA-9226 is also a tower style heatsink.  This time the Kingwin design team has chosen to go with an all copper design to create an even more effective heat wicking system.  The fan has become imbedded into the center and the overall effect is a much cleaner look.  Of course this comes at a higher price point making the KA-9226 the most expensive heatsink in this roundup.

     From the side aluminum fan brackets frame the copper fins.  This makes the 90 mm fan replaceable but does make me wish they had kept with the all copper look on the sides as well.

     The bottom view gives a better idea of just how much of the heat sink is copper fins and how much is the fan.  The KA-9226 uses the same mounting method as the KA-9225 and the contact surface is much the same as the KA-9225 leading me to believe these units are all using the same manufacturing process and polish.

Installation:

     As before, installation of the KA-9226 requires removing the motherboard and also the standard heatsink bracket.  With the correct hardware attached to the heatsink, the unit is attached using the supplied screws from the back of the motherboard.  Padded spacers are also provided to keep the heatsink and mounting from contacting the motherboard directly.  For maximum cooling efficiency, mount the heatsink so the internal fan blows towards your case exhaust fan.

     The KA-9226 is slightly larger than the other heatsinks at 100 x 98 x x94 mm but the extra height still provides a tight squeeze for the first RAM slot on our DFI test motherboard.  Most motherboards will find the extra height of the pipes will clear the common motherboard components found around your CPU socket.

The fan LEDs provided more light than I would have expected giving the KA-9226 a stunning blue glow.

Testing:

     Once again, we started the test system running at the stock speeds and ran our test suite.  The KA-9226 recorded the highest temperature hit for the CPU at 40C, the PWM at 48C, and the chipset at 38C.  These are some pretty nice numbers, let see how the overclocking goes.

     Off we go to run our overclocking profile and start up our tests.  This time the highest temperature hit for the CPU was 55C, the PWM was 64C, and the chipset was 39C.  To our surprise the Orthos test failed again.  Just like the KA-9226 testing our CPU temperature was within range so it seems again the point of failure was most likely the speed of the temperature change brought on by our torture test.

KA-9226ACU Conclusion:

     The KA-9226ACU is definitely one sick looking heatsink.  The stealthy blue 90 mm fan combined with the all copper fin design can't help but turn heads.  The design and copper construction looked so good we were caught by surprise when the torture test failed so close to the end, Kingwin competes with some of the stronger performing heatsinks we have come across with a MSRP in the $50 range and that's a tough crowd to hang with for our pretty boy.  Still I cant help but warm to the sexy glow that would easily fit in with a nicely modded case or window install.  If only the aluminum fan cage would hide less of the copper when viewed from the top.  The KA-9226ACU would be a terrific choice for installations where space is too limited for a full size tower such as a HTPC build.  I would also expect the all copper design to perform much stronger in a high airflow case like the popular Antec Nine Hundred.  Not using a Opteron? Your mileage may vary.

Innovation:	8.0 out of 10
Performance:	7.5 out of 10
Quality:	9.0 out of 10
Stability:	8.0 out of 10
Overclocking:	7.5 out of 10
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	6.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 7.5
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	4 out of 10