Testing the cooler
Testing the cooler
Time to test. As stated before, the cooler will work absolutely great with any processor from low to high-end (Phenom II/Core i5/i7 quad-core and even six-core included) at default operating speeds, and there's room left for overclocking as well.
Let me show you something, this is a Core i5 750 processor clocked at stock frequency being cooled by the CPU cooler (PWM controlled by BIOS / Windows set at performance mode):
- Core i5 750 in IDLE -- 30 degrees C
- Core i5 750 with 100% LOAD -- roughly 45 degrees C
Now, that's PWM controlled and thus at flexible RPM regulated by the motherboard BIOS setup.
Now what we always do (for a little more serious testing ) we test it with higher requirements, mildly overclocked as reference. We change the processor frequency and voltage.
Methodology -- we use an eVGA p55 Classified 200 motherboard, equipped with a Core i5 750 processor, which we overclock to 3.3 GHz / 1.3 Volts. Now we'll test the cooler in two utilization stages:
- Actively cooled - yet CPU has nothing to do (IDLE)
- Actively cooled - four processors cores 100% stressed (LOAD)
Let's have a look at the results compared to other coolers we tested under the same conditions. Below, the IDLE temperatures.
As you can see, the Liquid Metal cooler positions itself in the high-end performance range of heatpipe based coolers. That really is quite okay.
Mind you that we test at a controlled (either heated or ACed based on weather conditions) room temperature of 21 degrees C.
But now let's have a look at the processor's LOAD temperatures.
Please understand for the above results -- temperatures are based on a slightly overclocked Core i5 750 processor with a little extra voltage (1.3v), the fan speed is now locked at 80% RPM for objective comparison reasons -- temperatures wise -- obviously LOWER = BETTER.
At default, for a cooler in this price-range, it's definitely good. We are hovering at give or take 48~49 degrees C with the processor slightly overclocked under full load.
