Features:
The new HOC technology is where the name of the cooler itself is derived from. Standing for "heatpipes on core", you can flip the cooler over to see just what this is all about. Where traditionally a very smooth lapped copper or aluminum base would make contact with the CPU core, this is now replaced by the exposed ends of the four heatpipes themselves going through aluminum channels to hold them all perfectly parallel. Not to loose any surface area, the pipes are flattened at this point and are perfectly smooth across with the aluminum channelling to ensure maximum contact on the CPU core. By putting the copper heatpipes directly on the CPU core, it is now possible to eliminate one point where heat would have to be transferred; from the base to the pipes. Now the heat can flow directly off the CPU and up the heatpipes to the aluminum heatsink fins where it can be dissipated. On top of that small aluminum piece that holds the heatpipes together is also the holes and grooves where you screw on or mount either the Intel or AMD installation brackets.

  
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Looking at the cooler from the side, you can see the two pairs of heatpipes going up in a sort of V shaped fashion. These are 8mm heatpipes that are entirely copper with a flashy looking nickel plating on the outside which could easily have them mistaken for being an aluminum or nickel pipe all together. Going directly through the heatsink portion of the cooler, you can see about a half centimeter of them protruding out the other end.

My next subject is another area with some new improvements over traditional heatsinks, the heatsink portion of the HOC-9000 itself. With a very subtle V-Shape design under the fan, the fins of the heatsink are designed to help reduce obstruction to the fan's airflow. This will result in a slightly more stable fan speed and reduced noise generated by airflow obstruction. As can be seen on the outside fins, all of the fins have very strategically placed dimples along their lower sections. These slight bulges actually provide a slight cooling increase by allowing the air from the fan to make a greater and more intense contact with the aluminum to help transfer the heat from it. Comparing that to traditional coolers where the fan's air is simply blowing across a perfectly smooth and flat piece of aluminum, this new idea actually does make a lot of cooling sense.