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, AIDA64 System Stability Test was used in conjunction with EVGA OC Scanner X 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 Z87 and X99-based systems.

Temperature measurements were taken directly from the CPU thermistors using CoreTemp v1.0 RC7. Because of the volatile nature of the Haswell and Haswell-E thermistor readings, the system temperatures were measured as follows. 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 performance of the XSPC Raystorm Pro waterblock, performance testing was done using two different configurations – with its ports in vertically oriented between the rear panel and the memory slots and with its ports horizontally oriented between the rear panel and memory slots (both orientations shown on the Test Configuration page).

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, 3.4GHz ring bus speed, and 100MHz base clock. The Intel Speedstep functionality remained enabled for the duration of the testing to get realistic CPU idle performance conditions.

The XSPC Raystorm Pro block exhibited top performance at stock speeds with the Haswell CPU. There was little difference between using the block in an horizontal versus vertical orientation, but did perform slightly better when placed vertically over the CPU socket.

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, 2340MHz 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
  • CPU Input Voltage – 1.90
  • DRAM Voltage – 1.65
  • CPU Ring Voltage – 1.125
  • CPU SA Voltage Offset – +0.100
  • CPU IO Analogue Voltage Offset – +0.100
  • CPU IO Digital Voltage Offset – +0.100
  • PCH Core Voltage – 1.30
  • PCH PLX Voltage – 1.75

The Raystorm Pro block continued with its top performance, performing slightly better than the top-rated Raystorm block and Corsair H100i AiO cooler. Again, we see the block perform better in a vertical orientation in comparison to a horizontal one.

Intel X99-based Haswell-E System Testing

Note that for the X99 Haswell-E system tests, two sets of overclocking performance numbers are reported. This was done because of disparities seen while testing air coolers in conjunction with the X99-based system. The air coolers could not keep the system stable at the same overclocked speeds that liquid-based coolers were able to maintain.

CPU Stock Speed Testing

The CPU stock speed testing was conducted with the BIOS defaults set for the CPU and Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 3.0GHz CPU speed, 2133MHz memory speed, 3.0GHz ring bus 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 the Haswell-E processor at stock speeds, the Raystorm Pro maintained its top performance spot. There was no performance difference with the two different orientations for the Raystorm Pro, nor between it and the other two top performing blocks, the Raystorm and the CPU-380i.

CPU Overclocked Speed Testing – Maximum air cooled speed

The CPU overclocked speed testing was conducted with known stable settings from a previous board review with Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 4.25GHz CPU speed, 2666MHz memory speed, 3.5GHz ring bus speed, and 125MHz 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 – 1.275
  • DRAM Voltage – 1.23
  • All other settings set to Auto or stock settings

Again, we see the Raystorm Pro manage a top spot in comparison with the other air and water-based coolers. While there is no apparent advantage to either orientation for the Pro block, in both configuration is manages to best the performance of the previous generation Raystorm block by 4-6C across the board.

CPU Overclocked Speed Testing – Maximum water-cooled speed

The CPU overclocked speed testing was conducted with known stable settings from a previous board review with Turbo Mode disabled, equating to a 4.50GHz CPU speed, 2666MHz memory speed, 3.5GHz ring bus speed, and 125MHz base clock. 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 – 1.35
  • DRAM Voltage – 1.23
  • All other settings set to Auto or stock settings

The Raystorm Pro block continues to dominate the field with its performance against the Haswell-E processor astounding. The Raystorm Pro is above to best is next closest competitor by a minimum of 8-10C. Further, the block seems to perform best in a vertical orientation, as we saw in the Haswell-based testing.

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