CPU Coolers Roundup Jan 2011
15. Measurements
Review Pages
2. Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
3. Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 rev 2
4. Arctic Cooling Freezer Extreme Rev 2
5. Arctic Cooling Freezer LP 11
6. Glacialtech Alaska
7. Glacialtech Igloo 5751
8. Glacialtech Siberia
9. Prolimatech Super Mega
10. Scythe Ninja 3
11. Scythe Rasetsu
12. Thermaltake Jing
13. Titan Fenrir Evo
14. How we test
15. Measurements
16. Summary
We start with the temperature measurements with our system (Intel Core i7-920) running at stock voltage - which is already producing enough heat. We have gathered the results for all the coolers of this roundup in the following graphs. For the first graph, the coolers we tested today are colored in green. In cases where a cooler supports the PMW function, we have taken two measurements with the fan(s) spinning at their minimum RPM and their maximum RPM.
As it was expected, the AC Freezer LP11 cannot competed with the rest coolers of the test as this small heatsink has been designed for HTPC systems. The surprise here was the performance of the AC Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2, which was not as high as we expected. Galcialtech's Igloo 5751 ranks somewhere in the middle of the performance list, offering a decent cooling efficiency, while the Freezer 13, Freezer Extreme Rev.2, a single fan Alaska and the the Glacialtech Siberia are well-positioned to the rank and efficiently lowered the temperature of our CPU to around 47~48 degrees Celsius. This is also the performance you should expect from the capable Skythe Rasetsu with its single fan spinning at low speeds, as well as from the double-fan Thermaltake Jing coolers.
It is also obvious that in order to have a more efficient cooling you 'd better chose a model among the Scythe Rasetsu (High Speed RPM), the great Skythe Ninja 3 , the Prolimatech SuperMega - even with a single fan installed as well as a 2-fan configuration for the Glacialtech Alaska. All these coolers kept the temperature of our test CPu down to 45 degrees C.
The stock speed of the Core-i7 920 is not very demanding for the Scythe Ninja 3 (High RPM) and the Prolimatech SuperMega (dual-fan), as these two heatsinks are listed at the top-three coolers we have tested so far.
The next step is to overclock the CPU to 3.60GHz. Here are the results for each cooler:
Overclocking the Core-i7 920 to 3.6 GHz make things harder for all the coolers. According to the above graph, the best performance among the coolers of this roundup comes from a dual-fan Prolimatech SuperMega cooler, the Titan Fenrin EVO as well as the Scythe Ninja 3 (High RPM).
Noise levels are illustrated below:
And of course, here are the retail prices for each cooler:
Price wise, the Scythe Rasetsu is a great deal for its performance, as well as the Scythe Ninja 3. The Arctic Cooling Freezer Extreme Rev2 could be a little bit cheaper, while the Thermaltake Jing is a little bit pricey but definitely worth's the extra spend as it comes with 2 fans. A Prolimatech's Super Mega would cost you a lot more but that's the deal when it comes with strong and efficient coolers.