Corsair H100i review

Cooling 189 Page 11 of 12 Published by

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Extended overclock sessions versus temperatures

Overclock sessions versus temperatures

We have cooling in house that can be considered high-end, but not enthusiast. So we definitely should have better tweakability on the processor.

As such I was wondering where I'd end up with a quick overclock session. We had a peek at a selection of stages in overclocking and their respective temperatures, have a look at the following results please.

  • We enforce 4600 MHz onto the processor clock frequency by changing the multiplier.
  • We give the processor 1.20 and then later on 1.30 Volts
The problem with a Core i7 3770 @ 1.3 Volts however is that it will run towards 90~100 Degrees C on your average heatpipe cooling. Anything under 90 Degrees C (with 100% CPU load) is a win here as it shows cooling capacity.
 
Let me clearly state that at 4600 MHz we DO NOT NEED 1.3 Volts, we are merely stressing the cooler to see how it behaves. Realistically with the TUF Sabertooth Z77 motherboard we are using 1.15~1.20V is enough for 4600 MHz. So again, we have increased CPU voltage beyond what we actually need. Okay, with that explained let's have a peek:

Temperatures in Degrees Celsius - IDLE 

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So first up some IDLE results. The above four tested stages show a Core i7 3770K @ 4600 GHz with 1.3 volts on the CPU. The results are the IDLE temperatures. You can already see a massive spike on temperatures. Silent mode is still fine. Let's up it a notch though.



Temperatures in Degrees Celsius - OC - 1.2V

Now we'll be testing the temperatures under stress. If we set the overclock at 4600 MHz and configure CPU Voltage at 1.2V, these will be the results.  

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As you can see the temperatures remain high yet acceptable enough. Performance mode is recommended. Let me remind you that these temps are based on a Prime95 stress test with 15 minutes of stressing so that the coolant has reached it's maximum temperature as well. This (1.20V) typically is what you'll need for a 4500~4700 MHz overclock. 

 

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Now above we up to ante a little. Understand that 1.3 Volts is exactly the level where ivy Bridge processors get into serious trouble due to the most lame heatspreader versus TIM applied solution Intel has ever invented. We now see Core i7 3770K @ 4600 MHz with 1.3 volts on the CPU while loading it with 100% stress for 15 minutes on all available CPU threads versus the four tested performance modes.

As you can see we have borderline dangerous temperatures. Enthusiast class liquid coolers would simply do much better here. But these sets are like 200 EUR easily, if not even more expensive.

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