A Closer Look

The XP-90C is made the same as its older brother, the XP-90. It consists of four heatpipes and 49 thin fins, 28 of which are attached to its copper base. However, that's where the similarities end. The XP-90C is all copper, where the XP-90 had a nickel-plated copper base and aluminum fins. On the XP-90C the base does not have a mirror finish (as Thermalright heatsinks never do), but it is flat and relatively smooth. Since the actual size of the base is not much bigger than the CPU heatspreader, the effectiveness of the heatsink has been increased by extending the fins past the base, nearly doubling its size. This adds extra cooling power for the CPU and the surrounding components.

The chrome-plated clips that flank the heatsink allow it to clip onto the retention module. Usually users of a heavy copper heatsink like this would prefer it to be bolted on, but Thermalright has done a wonderful job of making sure this heatsink mounts securely.

The base is made of an extruded piece of solid copper that gets machined flat. The heatpipes rest half in the base and half in the fins. The fins have a near-perfect mirror finish on them, but they smudge and tarnish easily due to the unprotected copper.

The four heatpipes exit the base and curve upwards to the top, where they extend through all 49 fins. Thermalright made sure these pipes extend outward from the heatsink only as much as needed to make sure they do not interfere with any surrounding components.