Cooler Comparison Testing

Cooler Testing Methods

To best gage the quality of the system coolers under review, system CPU temperature and GPU temperature measurements were taken with both the CPU and GPU at idle and under load. To replicate idle conditions, the system was rebooted and allowed to sit idle for 10 minutes. To replicate a stress system load, 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 three times each for the stock and overclocking speed run. For all run FurMark was set to run at a 1280×1024 resolution and 8x MSAA in Burn-in Test mode.

Note that for all Koolance system runs, both the pump and fans were set to run at level 10. For the Glacer-240L system runs, the fans were set to run at full speed, directly connected to the PSU via fan power cables. For all runs, the ASUS Poseidon card was left to run at stock speed settings.

CPU temperature measurements were taken directly from the CPU thermistors using RealTemp (the newer Tech|Inferno edition). 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.

GPU temperature measurements were taken directly from the GPU thermistors using TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.7.7. For both the idle and load temperatures, the highest recorded value in the application were used for the run. Note that the temperature values are reported as deltas rather than absolute temperatures with the delta value reported calculated as GPU temperature – ambient temperature.

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.

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.

In a dual block configuration, both the Koolance and Cooler Master kits saw an increase in temperatures, most evident in the CPU temperatures. The Glacer 240L was better able to absorb the additional heat load of the added GPU with its CPU temperatures climbing by an average of 5C while the Koolance system saw an average increase of 8C in CPU temperatures over single block operation.

The increase in GPU die temperatures was less dramatic with both kits averaging an increase of 2C in the multi-block configuration. The larger 240mm radiator integrated into the Glacer 240L seemed to have better cooling absorption potential on average than the Koolance unit with its 120mm radiator.

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 overclocked Haswell processor was a better test of the cooling potential, since the CPU dumps significantly more heat into the cooling loop at higher speeds. The EXT-440CU was balanced on a knife's edge of stability with minimal CPU throttling witnessed throughout the run (2% or less according to the AIDA64 measurement tool). The unit's CPU temperatures exceeded those of the single block runs by up to 11C. The Glacer 240L performed significantly better, with its temperatures going up by a maximum of 3C under load

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Similar to the stock speed CPU tests, the GPU temperatures did not increase significantly for either unit. The Glacer 240L saw an increase of 3C while GPU temperature on the EXT-440CU increased by 4C under load.

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