The KA-9228

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.

• Copper base.

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

Specifications:

     The KA-9228 reminds me of a lot of tried and true designs we have seen over the years.  Like the KA-9227, the design uses four heat pipes to draw heat away from the CPU through aluminum fins.

The 90 mm fan is mounted on top of the heatsink with two clips on the sides.

     With the fan back on top, the heatsink is able to fill the space and make direct contact with the base.  The polished copper base is slightly overlapped by the fins.

Installation:

     The heat pipes extend the installation to one side further than the others.  With the fan on top the entire heatsink is covered.  The ability to easily replace this fan with another 90 mm solution is a nice plus.  Even the Panaflo 92L might make a good paring!

     As you can see from this picture, the heat pipes extend out the right and the first memory slot is finally available for us with a little coaxing.  For once adding a DIMM before the heatsink seems like a good idea!

With the lights down the fan really dominates the install.  Now we just need a fancy custom fan grill!

Testing:

     After a quick switch back to the stock profile and our test suite is launched.  The KA-9228 is very similar to the KA-9227 in the heat sink design, only the fan is in the traditional top position. The numbers also reflect this similarity recording nearly a mirror image of the stock test.  Our temperatures peaked for the CPU at 41C, the PWM at 43C, and the chipset at 39C.  Will the overclocking show the same similarities?

     We switch back to overclocking profile and start up the tests.  The KA-9228 survives the test! the line and completes a successful overclock!  This time the highest temperature hit for the CPU was 56C, the PWM was 59C, and the chipset was 42C.  The increased height of the fan has shown the most effect on the PWM numbers while holding the CPU and chipset numbers to a marginal increase.

KA-9228 Conclusion:

     The KA-9228 may be the least innovative of the series with a design not unlike the OEM AMD design or even the lab favorite XP-90 setup.  But the design can't be bad with that kind of recommend!  Once again, the 90 mm fan can be easily replaced to increase performance or color match your vanity project.  During the testing, the performance stayed remarkably consistent.  even out torture test resulted in some of the best numbers we have seen with this build.  With a price near $30 this heatsink brings tremendous bang for your buck.  Looking for a budget friendly upgrade with a time tested design?  You have found it.

Innovation:	8.0 out of 10
Performance:	8.0 out of 10
Quality:	8.0 out of 10
Stability:	8.5 out of 10
Overclocking:	8.5 out of 10
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	8.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.5
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	4 out of 10