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AVC Tundra 2 & Avalanche
Page 1 - AVC Heatsinks: Tundra 2 and Avalanche
Unannounced to me, the Taiwanese based company, Asia Vital Components (AVC),
has quite an assortment of CPU cooling units available on the market. In
this article I will be reviewing the Tundra 2 and Avalanche. Both of the
coolers I am taking a look at are complete heatsink and fan units. However,
both heatsinks use different strategies for achieving their cooling results.
| AVC Avalanche |
| Construction |
Aluminum w/ Copper core |
| Rated for |
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ up and all Duron |
| Heatsink Dimensions |
77.5 x 60.5 x 57.5 mm |
| Fan Size |
60 x 60 x 15 mm |
| Fan Speed |
4500 RPM |
| AMD Approved |
Yes |
| AVC Tundra 2 |
| Construction |
Copper |
| Rated for |
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ up and all Duron |
| Heatsink Dimensions |
70 x 63.5 x 37 mm |
| Fan Size |
70 x 70 x 15 mm |
| Fan Speed |
3800 RPM |
| AMD Approved |
No |
Avalanche Package
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Tundra 2 Box
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The Avalanche box isn't much to look at but the Tundra 2 packaging is quite
snazzy. Packing doesn't always say a lot about the product inside but at
least it's nice to look at while you're trying to open the package.
Inside the Avalanche box included nothing but the cooler. This is because the Avalanche
is affixed with a square TIM (Thermal Interface Material) "sticker", if
you will. However, in order to compare all the heatsinks fairly, I scraped off the
sticky TIM and used Arctic Silver. In the Tundra 2 box there was the heatsink and
a little bag of Dow thermal paste. Normally there is a magnet included with the
Tundra 2 but it was omitted from my package (for obvious reasons).
The Heatsink
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In the box...
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Upon closer inspection, the Avalanche has a shroud-type fixture to assist with fan
air focus. Also, the fins are spaced out further than on the Tundra 2 and aluminum
unit feels bigger despite the smaller fan.
The TIM pre-removal
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Fin Close-up
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The Tundra 2 construction is a completely different beast than the Avalanche.
The fins are tightly packed and in plentiful quantity. The fan is larger (and
cooler looking in my opinion, especially when it's spinning) and, of course, the
unit is completely copper except for the fan mounts.
Tight Copper Fins
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Installed and Ready
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Next up on my agenda is installation. AVC is not going to get any awards from me
in this department but they will not be receiving any angry emails either. The
clips were adequate but far from marvelous. They didn't break the chip but they
were far from a pleasure to apply. This applies to both units and the retention
mechanism appeared very similar (and functioned as such). Alright, moving on...
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