Jetart JAK802A Socket 754/940 CPU Cooler

With the AMD64 line of processors getting more and more popular, it’s only natural for more cooling solutions to hit the market. If you’re into decent aluminum sinks with high speed fans, then you might want to check out this review of Jetart’s JAK802A HSF.

Introduction

Jetart is definitely not a household name when it comes to cooling solutions, at least not here in the U.S. When someone asks for cooler advice, ‘big names’ like Thermaltake, Zalman, Thermalright and Cooler Master invariably get mentioned. Like any smaller or less known company, Jetart is hoping to grab your attention away from the big boys.

Today, I’ll focus my attention on one of Jetart’s K8 coolers — the JAK802A (no silly ‘super duper heat killer’ type marketing names here, just the model number), which Jetart labels as an “Advanced Skived Tech” solution for AMD Athlon 64 (socket 754/940). Before we dive into the review, here’s a little more information about Jetart.

Jetart Technology:

Jetart was established in 1989 and is currently based in Taiwan. The current focus at Jetart is the manufacturing of computer accessories, especially those related to thermal solutions. All products are produced under strict quality control, and Jetart has the capacity to produce 12 million cooling products per year. Each Jetart product carries the brand name of HICOOL. The company’s mission is “Innovation, Quality and Customer Satisfaction.”

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. For comparison, I’m testing out a K8 cooler from Ajigo (it came with the Athlon 64 3400+ that I recently reviewed).

Specifications, Features and Package

Features:

• CNC cutting fins design
• Unique X-Shape airflow
• Mirror polish finish, perfect matching with CPU
• Triple-buckle clip design to enhance stability
• Patented clip, no tool required

Specifications:

• Material: Aluminum Alloy
• Rated Voltage(V): DC 12V
• Rated Current(A): 0.3A
• Power Consumption(W): 3.6W
• Fan Dimensions: 70x70x25 mm
• Fan Speed: 5000 RPM
• Airflow: 40.6 CFM
• Bearing Type: Ball bearing
• Weight: 425g

Package Contents:

• JAK802A heatsink
• Thermal grease (1.5g)
• Screws (A) M3 x 32mm – 4 pcs
• Screws (B) 6# x 30mm – 2 pcs
• 70mm fan
• Fan grill

       

Not surprisingly, the package includes everything you need, even thermal paste. Although the paste isn’t your top-end stuff like Arctic Silver 5, it is probably adequate for the average user. I like the touch of color the blue fan adds. Speaking of the fan, you may have noticed in the specs above that this is a high-speed air pusher. It’s rated to run at 5000RPM and push air at over 40 CFM. Not bad, but it’s going to be loud! You can also see the ‘X-Shape’ heatsink design in the first picture above. That’s a pretty good-sized piece of metal!

You might have noticed the retaining clips on the JAK802A and wondered, “Where is the locking lever I’ve seen on other Socket 754 coolers?” Interestingly enough, it’s not here. Both sides of the cooler feature a ‘triple-buckle’ clip, which should secure the cooler adequately. I’d rather see the locking lever style though, especially after the trouble I had installing this thing. After getting one clip in place, I had to push very hard to get the other side down far enough to lock into place. I was thankful for that metal support that’s under the socket because I was starting to worry about my board!

Before I move on to the testing, let’s quickly look at the heatsink base finish. Jetart is claiming that the base has a ‘mirror polish finish.’

While the base didn’t exactly remind me of my bathroom mirror, it does have a decent finish to it. I’ve seen better, and I’ve seen worse. Overall, I’d say the base is okay, but it could probably use a good lapping to get rid of the rougher machining marks and to really create a mirror-like reflection.

Testing

When testing, I compared the JAK802A to Ajigo’s MF043-044A. The Ajigo cooler has a copper base, and its fan operates at 3000-3200RPM as opposed to the JAK802A’s 5000+RPM.

I used Arctic Silver 5 on both coolers and ran Motherboard Monitor 5 for temperature monitoring. The temperature in the room was probably around 70-72 degrees Fahrenheit. For load measuring, I ran Sandra Burn-In Wizard, which I set to include the CPU Arithmetic, CPU Multimedia, and Cache and Memory benchmarks and set it to loop ten times.

Test System:

• Chaintech ZNF3-150 Zenith (nForce3)
• AMD Athlon 64 3400+
• 2 x 256MB XMS3500 Corsair DDR
• Leadtek GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
• Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB 8MB Buffer HDD
• MSI 52/24/52 CDRW
• Windows XP Pro SP1, ForceWare 53.03, DirectX 9b

Test Results:

CPU Cooler	System Temp (C)		CPU Temp (C)
	Idle	Load	Idle	Load
Jetart JAK802A	31	33	43	58
Ajigo MF043-044A	31	33	48	59

Although the Jetart cooler keeps the processor cooler at idle by a considerable margin, it doesn’t do any better job than the Ajigo under load. Also, the JAK802A is very loud, which is no surprise considering the 5000RPM 70mm fan that sits on top of it. It was actually running at about 5500RPM according to MM5. I put my hand in front of it and was impressed by how much air it was pushing out. I don’t think I’ve ever felt another PC fan blow that hard. As I mentioned before, the consequence of that is the noise. The case I had the JAK802A in isn’t a very quiet case to begin with, but I could hear the JAK802A’s fan over the rest of the case noise easily. Plus, I could hear it still when I reached the other end of my apartment (a couple rooms away). I’m not an anti-noise freak, but even this is too much for me. The heatsink seems to be a decent slab of metal though, so it would be worth the effort to slap a quieter fan on there.

Conclusion

Overall, I have mixed feelings about the Jetart JAK802A. If it isn’t too expensive and you don’t mind a loud cooler, then it might make you happy. On the other hand, if you want an efficient, quiet cooler, this is not it. The heatsink did have a decent finish on it though, and Jetart includes everything you need in the package, which is great.

I would prefer the locking lever type of clip mechanism, but others who don’t like that might actually appreciate the clip design implemented by Jetart on the JAK802A. It took too much effort for my tastes though.

Pros:

• Decent cooler
• Good looks
• Good heatsink
• Everything you need is included
• Fan pushes a lot of air

Cons:

• Clip design is not easy to work with; I’d prefer a locking lever
• Fan is very loud
• Finish on base needs work