Cooler Comparison Testing
Cooler Testing Methods
To best gage the quality of the system coolers under review, system CPU temperature and cooling system audio measurements were taken with the CPU idle and under load. To replicate CPU idle conditions, the system was rebooted and allowed to sit idle for 10 minutes. To replicate a stress system load on the Z77-based system, a combination of LinX and FurMark were run over a 30 minute period with LinX running for 500 loops with Memory set to All and FurMark running at 1280×1024 resolution and 2x MSAA in stress test mode. For the Z87-based system testing, Aida64 System Stability Test was used in conjunction with FurMark for 30 minutes per run. After each run, the system was shut down and allowed to rest for 10 minutes to cool down. Then the CPU cooler was removed, cleaned, and remounted to the CPU with fresh thermal paste applied. This procedure was repeated a total of 12 times for each cooler – three times each for the stock and overclocking speed runs on the Z77 and Z87-based systems.
Temperature measurements were taken directly from the CPU thermistors using RealTemp (the newer Tech|Inferno edition). For the Z77-based systems, the highest recorded value for idle and load temperature were used for the run. Because of the volatile nature of the Haswell thermistor readings, the Z87-based system temperatures were measured in a different manner. For idle temperatures, the highest recorded value was used for the run. For load temperatures, a series of three values were notated: the average (high and low) across all cores, the average (high and low) across the single highest core, and the high temperature.
To adequately measure the Cooler Master Glacer 240L liquid cooler performance, performance testing was done for all scenarios under two operational conditions – dual fan and quad fan. In both modes, fans were directly connected to the PSU and run at full speed. In quad fan operating mode, the included Cooler Master fans were used in addition to two Antec 120mm fans with a run speed rating of 2500RPM.
Note that the temperature values are reported as deltas rather than absolute temperatures with the delta value reported calculated as CPU temperature – ambient temperature. For all tests, room ambient temperature was maintained between 23-27C. Sound measurements of the system cooler where taken with the sound meter placed 3 feet away from the system with all other devices in the room silenced. The Sound Meter Pro applet on a Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone was used to measure decibel level.
Intel Z77-based Ivy Bridge System Testing
CPU Stock Speed Testing
The CPU stock speed testing was conducted with the BIOS defaults set (including enabling of the CPU-integrated graphics processor) with Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 3.4GHz CPU speed, 1600MHz memory speed, and 100MHz base clock. The Intel Speedstep functionality remained enabled for the duration of the testing to get realistic CPU idle performance conditions.
In conjustion with a stock speed Ivy Bridge-based CPU, Cooler Master's Glacer 240L kept the processor cool as a cucumber. The processor temperature using the Glacer matched the highest performing coolers with the temperatures decreasing with the two additional fans. This means that the Glacer 240L has some massive performance potential given the right fan combination.
CPU Overclocked Speed Testing
The CPU overclocked speed testing was conducted with known stable settings from a previous board review with Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 4.4GHz CPU speed, 1960MHz memory speed, and 105MHz base clock. Also, the CPU-integrated graphics processor was disabled to reduce the processor heat generation. The Intel Speedstep functionality remained enabled for the duration of the testing to get realistic CPU idle performance conditions.
Board voltage settings were configured as follows:
- CPU Core Voltage – 1.2750
- CPU I/O Voltage – 1.150
- DRAM Voltage – 1.6255
- System Agent Voltage(SA) – 1.0850
- CPU PLL Voltage – 1.7500
- PCH 1.05 – 1.0995
With the overclocked Ivy Bridge processor, the Glacer 240L continued to perform well keeping pace or matching performance with the lead coolers in both configurations. The difference between dual and quad fan configuration remains minimal with quad fan configuration reducing temperatures by 2C over the stock configuration.
Intel Z87-based Haswell System Testing
CPU Stock Speed Testing
The CPU stock speed testing was conducted with the BIOS defaults set for the CPU (including enabling of the CPU-integrated graphics processor) and Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 3.4GHz CPU speed, 1600MHz memory speed, and 100MHz base clock. The Intel Speedstep functionality remained enabled for the duration of the testing to get realistic CPU idle performance conditions.
With a stock speed Haswell CPU, the Glacer 240L easily takes the top performance spot with its quad fan mode besting the closest coolers by at least 2C.
CPU Overclocked Speed Testing
The CPU overclocked speed testing was conducted with known stable settings from a previous board review with Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 4.68GHz CPU speed, 1780MHz memory speed, 4.0GHZ ring bus speed, and 167MHz base clock. Also, the CPU-integrated graphics processor was disabled to reduce the processor heat generation. The Intel Speedstep functionality remained enabled for the duration of the testing to get realistic CPU idle performance conditions.
Board voltage settings were configured as follows:
- CPU Core Voltage – 1.25 + 0.005
- VCCIN Voltage – 1.90
- DRAM Voltage – 1.55
- CPU Ring Voltage – 1.125 + 0.005
- CPU SA Voltage Offset – +0.100
- CPU IO Analogue Voltage Offset – +0.100
- CPU IO Digital Voltage Offset – +0.100
- PCH 1.05 Voltage – 1.120
The Glacer 240L continues to perform well with the Haswell processor overclocked, maintaining cool processor operation in stock configuration. In quad-fan mode, the Glacer cooler matches the performance of the top cooler, the Corsair H100i. The Glacer 240L's performance scales as expected with its quad-fan mode dropping measured processor temperatures by 3-4C.
Sound Testing
The Glacer 240L's performance comes with a small price – its operating noise. The fans are audible even over the graphics card fans under load, but remains tolerable in two fan mode. With the added two fans, the operating noise increases dramatically. The good news is that the operating noise is easily controlled by pairing the right fans with the unit, based on your noise tolerance threshold and how much performance you want to get out of the unit.
Will you be testing this unit
Will you be testing this unit with an expanded loop say a gpu block? It seems to be the main selling point of the unit and any word on the 360l?
We are planning on testing
We are planning on testing this unit in the near future in conjunction with gpu block…
Awesome!
Awesome!
Isn’t this a rebranded
Isn’t this a rebranded swiftech h220 with a more powerful pump
I thought the same thing…
I thought the same thing… :/
You both might very well be
You both might very well be correct in that. Thanks for pointing that out…
It’s just the plastic cover
It’s just the plastic cover on top of the pump that’s different, otherwise it is the same. The pump in the CM version is allowed a little higher RPM, as it has a separate power connector. The original version had only a 4-pin fan connector. People connected this to voltage-controlled fan-ports, dealing damage the pump electronics. It was stated very clearly in the instructions not to do this, but people being people…
My Swiftech H220 also came with a 8-way PWM splitter/adapter, also stated quite clearly in the instructions that always using the adapter was the preferred method. I have had my H220 in a 2011-system now for almost a year, running very close to 24/7.
The Swiftech Helix fans are quite nice, I think they are quieter at the same airflow compared to the CM ones, but I have yet to see real tests comparing them. Martin’s Liquid Lab has tested the Helix fans, they were not as good as the all time high Gentle Typhoon AP-15 though.
Still sticking with the
Still sticking with the Corsair H100i CLC, nevertheless great Review.
How powerful is the pump, for
How powerful is the pump, for example, can it handle an additional 120mm radiator and a GPU block, so that the fluid leaving the CPU block can be cooled by the 120mm radiator before going to the GPU?
As this is a rebranded
As this is a rebranded Swiftech H220, it can handle additional radiators with no problem. Another 240mm radiator is no problem.
Edit: Martin measure a 0.6 GPM flow rate in his H220 review. He comments on this as a problem when bleeding the loop, the CM version should have a little higher flow rate (~500 more rpm on the pump) making it a bit easier to bleed when expanding the loop.
Martin’s review: http://martinsliquidlab.org/2013/01/27/swiftech-h220-prefilled-2x120mm-water-cooling-kit/
Very impressive “living” review that starts in jan 2013 and the last updates are in may 2013. He also follows a couple of forum threads and talks about the problems of batch 1 (mine is one of those). You can’t compete with this guy 😀
Can you address the issues
Can you address the issues regarding the slew of users reporting fires caused by their Cooler Master 240L? These typically occur withing a few weeks of installation. I just bought one recently and I am seriously concerned about possibly burning my house down. I have seen many, many reports of these fires.
Great review! Any news on the
Great review! Any news on the expanded (CPU+GPU) review?
I’m also interested in the pump failure / catching fire problem that many people seem to be having with this cooler, several can be read on Newegg and watercooling forums… Any insight on this?
Thanks!