The aluminum fins are not as densely packed along the heatpipes as some I've seen and, in conjunction with the staggered arrangement of the ‘pipes, should take maximum advantage of the 92mm fan.
From the rear, we can see how the red plastic diverter in the center of the cooled directs the airflow outward to the fins. The 4-pin PWM connector can also be used to connect the fan to a 3-pin header, should the motherboard not support PWM fan speed control. Each heatpipe loops through the fins, effectively turning the cooler into an “8-piper”.
Viewing the BTF-80 from the top, it strongly resembles a butterfly. When I reviewed the BTF-90 earlier, I was apprehensive of this apparently gimmicky design. My fears proved groundless in that case, so I have high hopes for the BTF-80. We'll find out how it performs a little later.
The heatpipes are sandwiched between a solid copper base and a steel cap. Soldering is evident here, so heat transfer should be very good. A plastic sheet protects the base during shipping. The sheet must be removed and the surface cleaned of any adhesive residue before installation.
The base is flat and has a very nicely polished finish, which should yield good performance. There is some odd discoloration or “staining” on the base. While this won't affect performance, it does mar an otherwise near-perfect base.
While not always grammatically correct, the user's manual is really quite good. Illustrations, in color and on glossy paper, are welcome compliments to the text. The mounting solutions are elegant in their simplicity. The AMD bracket on the right could be applied with the board still in the case. The Intel solution, on the left, requires that the motherboard be out of the case to apply the backplate. Removing the white paper on the backplate exposes adhesive to hold the plate in place. I would encourage users to leave the protective paper in place. I've heard horror stories of motherboard damage trying to remove similar plates on other brands. Notice that the AMD mount is square, allowing the cooler to be oriented in any of four directions, depending on the application. This is not an issue with the Intel solution. A small zip-bag contains the four mounting screws and a tube of “high performance thermal compound”. We'll be using the old standby, Arctic Silver 5, during testing.
