Noctua NH-D12L CPU Cooler Review - Processor overclocking with Higher Voltage

Processor overclocking with Higher Voltage

Now we up the ante. Please keep in mind that the voltage levels of 1.30V and higher are the ones at which Haswell processors have major problems as the result of the previously mentioned heatspreader in comparison to the TIM design solution from Intel. We tune the Core i7 processor to run at 4600 MHz across all cores and deliver 1.30 voltage to the CPU while filling it with 100 percent stress so that wPrime can execute on all available CPU threads three times. The IDLE data are shown first, followed by the total core load results.

The temps often rise above and beyond 80~90 Degrees C for a lot of heatpipe-based coolers, which is a definitive no-go.

Here the overclocking process is advanced in three steps, each of which increases the core voltage from 1.30v to a greater (unrealistic) 1.40v in order to determine our thermal threshold (the point at which we can no longer overclock). At 1.4 volts, any heat pipe cooler would fail, but with LCS, you can keep the temperature just under or at the 80 degrees C mark for extended periods (which I can only advise for a short period).

In general, the cooling capacity is very adequate, and the acoustic levels are good.