Zalman CNPS 9900 MAX review - Extended overclock sessions versus temperatures

Extended overclock sessions versus temperatures

Since we have such high-end cooling in the house we definitely should have better tweakability on the processor.

As such I was wondering where I'd end up with a quick overclock session. So we use a Core i5 750 processor for a good reason, we had a peek at a selection of stages in overclocking and their respective temperatures, have a look at the following results please.

Okay so these are the four tested stages:

1. Core i5 750 @ default | fan regulated by motherboard (dynamic PWM)
2. Core i5 750 @ 3.3 GHz with 1.3 volts on the CPU | unit set to performance mode
3. Core i5 750 @ 3.8 GHz with 1.4 volts on the CPU | unit set to performance mode
4. Core i5 750 @ 4.2 GHz with 1.5 volts on the CPU | unit set to performance mode

So when we take this Core i5 processor from default to 3800 MHz/1.4v @ CPU we see that the temperatures are not at all an issue -- whatsoever. With the processor stressed we max out at roughly 54 Degrees C. That is just really very acceptable.

Mind you that we measure at a room temperature of 21 Degrees C here. In hot countries the ambient temperature obviously will also have a (negative) effect on overall cooling performance.

We also take the processor to 4200 MHz with 1.5v on the CPU, when 100% stressed the CPU would reach roughly 61~63 Degrees C. That for a heatpipe cooler, is just downright impressive. Please bear in mind that the 1.5 volts we used is high for a 4200 MHz CPU clock. Typically 1.35~1.4v would be fine as well. We use a slightly higher voltage to show you that the cooler can cope with the additional heat coming from the CPU.

What we can conclude here is that the thermal dissipation, or even better stated, the cooling capacity under high stress, is very good.

We also like to note that the difference in-between performance and silent mode is slim, as such we recommend you just to go for better noise levels and install that resistor wire.