By just a slim portion of a degree the Thermoengine managed to out-perform the Zalman CNPS3100 copper fan heatsink. The 0.4 degree difference, which is oddly enough the difference between the Zalman and the Blizzard as well is very slight. The actual impact on a processor would be fairly muted, if anything.

The key point to take note of here is that with the addition of a higher RPM fan on the Thermoengine it literally blows everything away. 37.0 degrees compared to 47.0 degrees is a significant enough of a difference (although it comes with a large increase in fan noise).

When looking at the performance of the ThermoEngine with the large copper die template it comes in very close to that of the GlobalWin WBK-38 which was a bit interesting, considering the poorer standing of that heatsink on the small copper die template tests.

The results for rise above ambient temperature always seem to separate those close calls. While it would seem that the Zalman managed to tie the Thermoengine, the performance of the Zalman on the large copper die template is markedly poorer than that of the Thermoengine. Hence the Thermoengine scores in at the top position thus far.

Conclusion:

The numbers really speak for this heatsink. While comes equipped with a very good fan for your average systems cooling requirements, performance users may immediately want to trade it in for a higher RPM variant. With the Thermoengine, Thermosonic have managed to produce not only a heatsink that challenges many of the traditional conceptions of what an extruded heatsink should look like, but they also managed to make a heatsink that works really well.

The design is very simple, and the Thermoengine is well manufactured. If you are looking for an upgradeable heatsink, that just has to offer performance above all other criteria seriously look towards the Thermoengine.