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TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
|
Approximate Physical Measurements
|
|
Weight
|
520 g (+140 g for each stock fan) |
| Height |
158 mm |
| Fin count |
48 (not including the name plate at top) |
|
Fin thickness
|
0.39 mm |
|
Fin spacing
|
2.30 mm |
|
Vertical Clearance*
|
46 mm |
| * measured from motherboard PCB to bottom
fin of heatsink |
|
Large Heatsink Comparison:
Average Fin Thickness & Spacing
|
|
Heatsink
|
Fin Thickness
|
Fin Spacing
|
|
SilverStone Heligon HE02
|
0.52 mm
|
3.30 mm
|
|
Thermalright HR-01 Plus
|
0.45 mm
|
3.15 mm
|
|
Thermalright HR-02 Macho
|
0.34 mm
|
3.12 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
|
|
Thermalright Archon SB-E
|
0.49 mm
|
2.33 mm
|
|
GELID Tranquillo Rev.2
|
0.40 mm
|
2.30 mm
|
|
Phanteks PH-TC12DX
|
0.39 mm
|
2.30 mm
|
|
GELID GX-7 Rev.2
|
0.31 mm
|
2.25 mm
|
|
Phanteks PH-TC14PE
|
0.40 mm
|
2.21 mm
|
|
be quiet! Dark Rock 2
|
0.38 mm
|
2.22 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
|
|
NZXT Havik 140
|
0.41 mm
|
1.91 mm
|
|
Scythe Mugen-2
|
0.31 mm
|
1.89 mm
|
|
Swiftech Polaris 120
|
0.43 mm
|
1.85 mm
|
|
Thermalright Venomous X
|
0.53 mm
|
1.84 mm
|
|
Noctua NH-C14
|
0.38 mm
|
1.79 mm
|
|
Enermax ETS-T40
|
0.40 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
|
|
Reeven Kelveros
|
0.47 mm
|
1.61 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
LGA1366 heatsink testing platform, while smaller coolers tackle our LGA1155 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)
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
|
1250 RPM
|
28~29 dBA
|
|
9V
|
990 RPM
|
21 dBA
|
|
7V
|
770 RPM
|
15~16 dBA
|
|
6V
|
660 RPM
|
13 dBA
|
|
Reference Nexus 120mm fan
Anechoic chamber measurements
|
|
Voltage
|
SPL@1m
|
Speed
|
|
12V
|
1080 RPM
|
16 dBA
|
|
9V
|
890 RPM
|
13 dBA
|
|
7V
|
720 RPM
|
12 dBA
|
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-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 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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