Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
To verify that the cooler kit operates up to specs, the Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler was tested with the CPU running in both stock and at a known stable overclocking speed using both Z77-based and Z87-based motherboards, so that comparative results could be provided for both Ivy Bridge and Haswell-based systems. The results are presented for the cooling kit under review as well as the Noctua NH-U14S, XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 water cooling kit, Corsair H100i water cooler, and the Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E air cooler for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the Koolance kit'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.
| Test System Setup | |
| 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 Stock – 3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock Overclocked – 4.68GHz, 28 x 167MHz Base Clock |
| Motherboard | MSI Z77 MPOWER MSI Z87 MPOWER |
| 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 Stock – 1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T Overclocked – 1780MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T |
| Hard Drive | Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Intel 520 240GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
| Sound Card | On-board sound |
| Video Card | Intel Z77-based system MSI R7870 Hawk 2GB Intel Z87-based system NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB |
| CPU Cooling | Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E CPU Air Cooler XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 water cooling kit Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler |
| Video Drivers | AMD ATI Catalyst 12.8 NVIDIA 320.18 |
| Power Supply | Corsair 650 Corsair HX750 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Thermal Paste | MG Chemicals 860-60G Silicone Heat Transfer Compound |
| Coolant | XSPC kit 1 liter Distilled water 3 capfuls Redline Water Wetter 1 capful Iodine (10% solution) 1 drop PT Nuke |
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Z77 LGA1155 board testing includes an Intel Core i5-3570K CPU, 8GB of DDR3-2133 memory, an MSI R7870 Hawk 2GB video card, and an Intel 520 240GB SSD drive. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the cooling system's capabilities rather than that of the system components.
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Intel Z87 LGA1150 board testing includes an Intel Core i5-4770K 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
Haswell results are
Haswell results are suprising; the D15 is (slightly) outperformed by the U14, which is basically half of D14. Maybe some kind of mounting issue?
Pricing is not really much of a weakness when it outperforms more expensive AIOs.
I would like to see how it performs with a higher power CPU like LGA2011 or AMD.
The following is probably
The following is probably splitting hairs, but for a cooler on the upper end of performance and price, every detail is worth consideration. For example, there is some evidence that shows heat pipes work more efficiently in vertical versus horizontal orientations. For this cooler, I like that (when used with an Intel CPU, not sure about AMD) the orientation of the heat pipes allow the length of the actual CPU core located beneath the IHS to sit perpendicular to the axis of the heat pipes that pass through the base plate while also directing air flow in the typical front to back pattern. The IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader), lid, cap, slug, or w/e you want to call it is pretty much square, but the actual Intel CPU package hiding underneath it is an elongated rectangle. This relative perpendicular arrangement allows the CPU core to conduct heat more directly and evenly to all 6 of those heat pipes instead of mainly just the middle 2.
The Hyper212 EVO is not in the same league, but is a solid performer because it has direct contact heat pipes which also span most of the width of it’s base. However, it unfortunately has the heat pipes aligned parallel to the actual CPU core when installed in the typical front to back air flow orientation. This is why I eventually rotated mine 90 degrees so now the CPU core spans under all 4 heat pipes. The tradeoff is that it moves air vertically like a chimney and exhausts out of the top of my tower case.
Of course relative performance all depends on the particular case, fans, installed cards, and their orientations. Anecdotally, I can say it performs maybe a degree better like this despite a hot GPU being uncomfortably close to the Hyper212’s intake. But hey, it is essentially a chance for free performance. I should also add that my case has bottom and front intake fans with top and rear exhaust fans so there is a fairly coherent vertical component to air flow in my case already.