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TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
|
Approximate Physical Measurements
|
|
Weight
|
710 g
830 g with fan and clips |
| Height |
151 mm |
| Fin count |
45 |
|
Fin thickness
|
0.43 mm |
|
Fin spacing
|
1.85 mm |
|
Vertical Clearance*
|
45 mm * |
|
Horizontal Overhang**
|
-20 mm |
* measured from the motherboard PCB to
the bottom fin of the heatsink.
** measured from the far edge of the heatsink to the top edge of the motherboard
PCB. |
|
Comparison: Approx. Average Fin Thickness & Spacing
|
|
Heatsink
|
Fin Thickness
|
Fin Spacing
|
|
Thermalright HR-01 Plus
|
0.45 mm
|
3.15 mm
|
|
Scythe Ninja 3
|
0.39 mm
|
2.64 mm
|
|
Noctua NH-U12P
|
0.44 mm
|
2.63 mm
|
|
Noctua NH-C12P
|
0.47 mm
|
2.54 mm
|
|
Noctua NH-D14
|
0.43 mm
|
2.33 mm
|
|
Prolimatech Armageddon
|
0.51 mm
|
2.08 mm
|
|
Prolimatech Megahalems
|
0.50 mm
|
2.00 mm
|
|
Zalman CNPS10X Quiet
|
0.40 mm
|
2.00 mm
|
|
Scythe Kabuto & Zipang 2
|
0.34 mm
|
1.94 mm
|
|
Scythe Mugen-2
|
0.31 mm
|
1.89 mm
|
|
Swiftech Polaris 120
|
0.43 mm
|
1.85 mm
|
|
Noctua NH-C14
|
0.38 mm
|
1.79 mm
|
|
Scythe Yasya
|
0.32 mm
|
1.78 mm
|
|
Cogage TRUE Spirit 1366
|
0.40 mm
|
1.70 mm
|
|
Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2
|
0.30 mm
|
1.70 mm
|
|
Scythe Grand Kama Cross
|
0.38 mm
|
1.66 mm
|
|
Zalman CNPS9900 MAX
|
0.16 mm
|
1.59 mm
|
|
Thermalright Silver Arrow
|
0.32 mm
|
1.57 mm
|
|
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
|
0.43 mm
|
1.54 mm
|
|
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C
|
0.56 mm
|
1.52 mm
|
|
Zalman CNPS10X Extreme
|
0.42 mm
|
1.50 mm
|
Testing on larger heatsinks are done on our
i7-1366 heatsink testing platform, while smaller coolers tackle our AM3 heatsink testing platform. A summary of the test system
and procedure follows.
Key Components in LGA1366 Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel Core i7-965 Extreme
Nehalem core, LGA1366, 3.2GHz, 45nm, 130W TDP.
- Asus
P6X58D Premium ATX motherboard. X58 chipset.
- Asus
EAH3450 Silent graphics card.
- Intel
X25-M 80GB 2.5" solid-state drive. Chosen for silence.
- 3GB QiMonda
DDR3 memory. 3 x 1GB DDR3-1066 in triple channel.
- Seasonic X-650 SS-650KM
650W ATX power supply. This PSU is semi-passively cooled. At the power levels
of our test platform, its fan does not spin.
- Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs.
- Noctua 140 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 140x25mm
fans)
- Nexus 120 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 120x25mm
fans)
- Nexus 92 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 92x25mm
fans)
Key Components in AM3 Heatsink Test Platform:
- AMD Athlon II X4 630 AM3,
2.8GHz, 45nm, 95W TDP.
- Asus M4A785TD-V EVO ATX motherboard.
785G chipset.
- Kingston
SSDNow V 30GB 2.5" solid-state drive. Chosen for silence.
- 2GB
Corsair Dominator DDR3 memory. 2 x 1GB DDR3-1800 in dual channel.
- FSP Zen 300W
ATX power supply. Fanless.
- Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs.
- Noctua 140 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 140x25mm
fans)
- Nexus 120 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 120x25mm
fans)
- Nexus 92 mm fan (used when possible with heatsinks that fit 92x25mm
fans)
The systems are silent under the test conditions, except for the CPU cooling
fan(s).
Normally, our reference fans are used whenever possible, the measured details
of which are shown below.
|
Reference Noctua 140mm fan
Anechoic chamber measurements
|
|
Voltage
|
SPL@1m
|
Speed
|
|
12V
|
28~29 dBA
|
1250 RPM
|
|
9V
|
21 dBA
|
990 RPM
|
|
7V
|
15~16 dBA
|
770 RPM
|
|
6V
|
13 dBA
|
660 RPM
|
|
Reference Nexus 120mm fan
Anechoic chamber measurements
|
|
Voltage
|
SPL@1m
|
Speed
|
|
12V
|
16 dBA
|
1100 RPM
|
|
9V
|
13 dBA
|
890 RPM
|
|
7V
|
12 dBA
|
720 RPM
|
|
Reference Nexus 92 mm fan
Anechoic chamber measurements
|
|
Voltage
|
SPL@1m
|
Speed
|
|
12V
|
16 dBA
|
1470 RPM
|
|
9V
|
12 dBA
|
1150 RPM
|
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- Extech 380803 AC power analyzer / data logger for measuring AC system
power.
- Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to regulate
the fan speed during the test.
- 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
- Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology.
- SpeedFan,
used to monitor the on-chip thermal sensors. The sensors are not calibrated,
so results are not universally applicable. The hottest core reading is used.
- Prime95,
used to stress the LGA1366 CPU heavily, generating more heat than most real applications.
8 instances are used to ensure that all 4 cores (with Hyper-threading) are
stressed.
- CPU Burn,
used to stress the AM3 CPU heavily, generating more heat than most real applications.
4 instances are used to ensure that all 4 cores are
stressed.
- CPU-Z,
used to monitor the CPU speed to determine when overheating occurs.
- Thermometers to measure the air temperature around the test platform
and near the intake of the heatsink fan.
Noise measurements are made with the fans powered from the lab's variable DC
power supply while the rest of the system was off to ensure that system noise
did not skew the measurements.
Load testing was accomplished using Prime95 or CPUBurn to stress the processor, and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to ensure that the load temperature is stable
for at least ten minutes. The temperature recorded is the highest single core
reading. The stock fans were tested at various voltages to represent a good
cross-section of airflow and noise performance.
The ambient conditions during testing were 10~11 dBA and 21~23°C.
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