Testing and benchmarking (2)
CPU cooling with Core 2 Quad QX 9770 @ 3600 MHz / 1.4 Volts
So we have now overclocked the processor to a nice 3600 MHz. As you can see, performance is still adequate though 60% fan RPM is required to maintain stable and acceptable cooling temperatures, 40% is literally and figurally speaking not cool.
60% RPM is recommended. As such we spot 70 Degrees C / 158 F when we stress all four CPU cores 100% for a while. In all fairness, for a CPU cooler at this price level that is just really good.
At 80% forced fan RPM we reach 66 Degrees C / 151 F while 100% stressed. Very nice, but unfortunately it's a stage where the fan starts to make a lot of noise.
Sound pressure
| Cooler Master Hyper TX3 | QX9770 @ 3,6 | DBA |
| 40% RPM | 37 |
| 60% RPM | 39 |
| 80% RPM | 44 |
As you can see, up-to 60% RPM the cooler remains nice and silent. After passing 80% RPM however, the noise starts to take over. But 60% RPM is plenty enough for decent cooling.
Competitive chart
Here we can compare the cooler to all other coolers we recently tested. This test is done at a 3600 MHz QX9770 processor clock frequency with 1.4 volts jammed into the CPU. For all coolers, the fans are locked at 60% fan rotation. Mind you, the temperatures you see here are based on a 15 minute Prime95 CPU burn in (100% utilization on all processor cores).
As you can see, the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 is holding ground fairly well at 70 Degrees C / 158 F.
While it's definitely not 'uber' high-end, it surely can compete with the rest of the coolers out there really well. The good thing is, it does that at very nice sound levels, as mentioned in the previous paragraph.
