Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
To verify that the CPU cooler operates up to specs, the Phanteks PH-TC12DX cooler was tested with the CPU running in both stock and at a known stable overclocking speed using a Z77-based system and at stock speeds using a Z87-based system, so that comparative results could be provided for both Ivy Bridge and Haswell-based systems. The results are presented for the cooler under review as well as other top-rated water and air coolers for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the cooler's capabilities so that you, the reader, can make a more informed purchasing decision. The comparison coolers were selected based on their superior performance capabilities.
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Test System Setup |
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CPU |
Intel Z77-based system Intel Core i5-3570K Stock – 3.4GHz, 34 x 100MHz Base Clock Overclocked – 4.4GHz, 42 x 105MHz Base Clock Intel Z87-based system Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock) |
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Motherboard |
MSI Z77 MPOWER MSI Z87 XPOWER |
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Memory |
Intel Z77-based system G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 modules Stock – 1600MHz, 11-11-11-30-1T Overclocked – 1960MHz, 11-11-11-30-1T Intel Z87-based system Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules (1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T) |
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Hard Drive |
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Intel 520 240GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
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Sound Card |
Onboard sound |
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Video Card |
Intel Z77-based system AMD Radeon HD 5870 1GB Intel Z87-based system NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB |
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CPU Cooling |
Phanteks PH-TC12DX CPU Cooler Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 Watercooling Kit |
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Video Drivers |
AMD ATI Catalyst 12.8 NVIDIA 320.18 |
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Power Supply |
Corsair 650 Corsair HX750 |
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Operating System |
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
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Thermal Paste |
MG Chemicals 860-60G Silicone Heat Transfer Compound |
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for LGA1155 board testing includes an Intel Core i5-3570K CPU, 8GB of DDR3-2133 memory, an AMD Radeon 5870 1GB video card, and an Intel 520 240GB SSD drive. The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Intel Z87 LGA1150 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB video card, and a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD drive. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the cooling system's capabilities rather than that of the system components.
Benchmark Tests used for evaluation:
- LinX Intel Linpack Benchmark v0.6.4 (Intel Z77-based testing)
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition v3.00 (Intel Z87-based testing)
- Geeks3D FurMark v1.10.2
I own the PH-TC14PE and it’s
I own the PH-TC14PE and it’s the first air cooler I bought in a long time that impressed me. Moving from an AIO Asetek unit it was night and day, both temps and noise. The best part of their products is they all feel and look like solid pieces of hardware. At the time if this was available I would’ve probably gone with this one. Still I can’t complain it pushes my 2600K to 4.5GHz on stock voltage.
One question on sound part.
One question on sound part. Since this fans are PWM why is sound level same for idle and load .
It should of ramped down for idle unless you set it up in bios to run 100% ?
But that would not be fair as it seems corsair 100i does use lower idle speeds .
testing was done with fans at
testing was done with fans at full speed only…