Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
ASUS X99-A with XSPC Raystorm Pro water block in vertical orientation
ASUS X99-A with XSPC Raystorm Pro water block in horizontal orientation
To validate the performance of the water blocks under comparison, the all water blocks were tested with the CPU running at stock and at a known stable overclocking speed using an X99-based motherboard and using the XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 V3 WaterCooling kit, so that comparative results could be provided for Haswell-E based systems. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the tested water block capabilities so that you, the reader, can make a more informed purchasing decision.
| Test System Setup | |
| CPU | Intel Z87-based system Intel Core i7-4770K Stock – 3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock Max Overclock – 4.68GHz, 28 x 167MHz Base Clock Intel X99-based system Intel Core i7-5960X Stock – 3.0GHz, 30 x 100MHz Base Clock Max Air Overclock – 4.25GHz, 34 x 125MHz Base Clock Max Overclock – 4.50GHz, 36 x 125MHz Base Clock |
| Motherboard | MSI Z87 MPOWER ASUS X99-A |
| Memory | 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 Intel X99-based system Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 modules Stock – 2133MHz, 15-17-17-35-2T Overclocked – 2666MHz, 15-17-17-35-2T |
| Hard Drive | Intel 730 240GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
| Sound Card | On-board sound |
| Video Card | ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB |
| DYI Water Loop | XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 V3 WaterCooling Kit with the following blocks
|
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 353.62 |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX750 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
| Thermal Paste | MG Chemicals 860-60G Silicone Heat Transfer Compound |
| Coolant | Koolance LIQ-702 High Performance Liquid Coolant |
The 64-bit Windows 10 based test bench used for Intel Z87 LGA1150 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 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 10 based test bench used for Intel X99 LGA2011-v3 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-5960X CPU, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 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.
Benchmark Tests used for evaluation:
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition v5.30.3700 (Intel Z87-based testing)
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition v5.30.3500 (Intel X99-based testing)
- EVGA OC Scanner X v3.6.1.2
Great review!!!
I currently
Great review!!!
I currently have the regular raystorm as it was much cheaper than the pro when I build my rig last december. I’m suprised by how much better it is with a big over clock. Considering I have a modest OC of 4.6 on my 6700k, my current setup is plenty fine.