Performance Testing
Testing heatsinks always involves evaluating how they can handle CPUs during idle and load conditions. It also involves pitting them against stock coolers that come with the CPU. Additionally, we paired the CNPS10X Extreme against Intel’s stock heatsink, the Vigor Monsoon III LT, and the CNPS9900 LED. Our idle results came right after booting into Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit. Our load tests were recorded after running three instances of Cinebench 10 (64-bit version). Here are the results from our tests:
The CNPS10X Extreme edged out its older brother the CNPS9900 LED by only a few degrees during both idle and load testing. The Monsoon II LT also held its own, but the Intel cooler was demolished by all three coolers. What impressed me the most was that the load results for the CNPS10X Extreme and CNPS9900 LED were way below Intel’s thermal limits for the Q8400 that are set at 71.4c. This means we have plenty of head room to overclock this processor using either one of these heatsinks. The ability to keep the CPU cool during load conditions as well as leaving enough space for users to overclock their CPUs are two key components any power user should consider when purchasing a quality heatsink.
