We always use the same test system and tests with CPU coolers that we compare against each other. The full specifications of our test system are as follows:
Test system:
ASUS P8Z77-V, LGA 1155 socket, Z77 chipset
Intel Core i5 3570K with Gelid GC Extreme under the IHS
We’d like to say a big thank you to ASUS, Antec, Kingston, Cooler Master and Intel for providing components that makes this testing possible.
Testing Methodology:
We always use Gelid GC Extreme thermal paste to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal paste.
Prime 95 is run for 10 minutes and then the average maximum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
The system is left in idle for 10 minutes on the desktop with as few applications and processes running as possible with Intel SpeedStep enabled and then the average minimum temperatures as recorded by CPUID HWMonitor are noted
The average temperature across the four cores is taken on our quad core processor
Fans are always left to operate at default PWM profile speeds, if this is not supported then 100% fan speed is used and a low noise adapter if appropriate/provided (if this is used it will be clearly labelled within the test results)
Delta temperatures are always used (Observed temperature minus ambient temperature) and we keep the ambient at 22 (+/- 1) degrees for all testing . Delta temperatures should correct for any marginal ambient differences between 21-23 degrees.
Acoustic measurements are taken 10cm horizontally away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabled, hard drive in idle and power supply isolated.
The cooling performance tests are run at stock 3.4GHz (with Intel Turbo up to 3.8GHz) and overclocked 4.5GHz settings
All other coolers in the graphs have been tested under identical settings
Each test is repeated 3 times with 3 remounts for consistency of results
There is approximately a 1 degree celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software
There is approximately a 1dBA margin of error with our decibel meter