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TEST METHODOLOGY
Our test procedure is an in-system test, designed to determine whether the
cooler is adequate for use in a low-noise system. By adequately cooled,
we mean cooled well enough that no misbehavior related to thermal overload is
exhibited. Thermal misbehavior in a graphics card can show up in a variety of
ways, including:
- Sudden system shutdown, reboot without warning, or loss of display signal
- Jaggies and other visual artifacts on the screen.
- Motion slowing and/or screen freezing.
Any of these misbehaviors are annoying at best and dangerous at worst —
dangerous to the health and lifespan of the graphics card, and sometimes to
the system OS.
Test Platform
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- CPUBurn
processor stress software.
- FurMark
stability test to stress the GPU.
- GPU-Z to
monitor GPU temperatures..
- A custom-built variable fan speed controller to power the system
fan
- PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digital
audio interfaces.
- Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower
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A summary of how our video card/cooler test platform is put together can
be found here.
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GPU coolers are tested on a HIS Radeon HD 4890 Turbo Edition, one of the most
power hungry single GPU cards on the market, drawing almost 150W by our estimates.
The stock cooling plate is left on to cool the memory chips and the voltage regulators
as the 4870/4890 series requires good VRM cooling and the VRM heatsinks included
with most aftermarket VGA coolers are usually too small to be effective.
Our main test consists of FurMark stability test running in conjunction with
CPUBurn to stress both the graphics card and processor simultaneously. This
combination produces more CPU/GPU stress than a typical gaming session. As our
test system has very limited airflow, our results are not indicative of a real-world
situation, but rather a worse-case scenario. If the heatsink in question can
cool the card and its components adequately in this environment it means there
will be some degree of thermal headroom when deployed in a more conventional
situation. GPU temperatures are recorded using GPU-Z. On our HD 4890 test card,
there are three main on-die sensors, as well as three on the primary voltage
regulators. We average the results of each set of sensors.
The cooler is tested at various speeds to represent a good cross-section of
its airflow and noise performance. Noise is measured and recorded with our test
system on with the heatsink installed. Our mic is positioned at a distance of
one meter from the center of the case's left side panel at a 45 degree angle.
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