A new test platform was needed for the LGA775 cooler. For this purpose we modified a Springdale motherboard from Abit (AS8), with an Intel 865 chipset and an LGA775 socket. This allows us to measure the actual power consumption of the CPU when in operation.
We used a Pentium 4 560 CPU with a clock speed of 3.6 GHz to calculate the thermal resistance of the cooler. The CPU was put under full load for an hour at a time using the Prime95 program. Prime95 is actually used to calculate prime numbers; as a side effect of this intense calculation work, the CPU runs continuously under full load. The program offers special loading modes for that purpose.
great forum Its good that you all focus on low end coolers.next time add a little info on how thermal paste works in conjunction .I painted my whole heat sink with the stuff.