Hardware LGA 1366 CPU Cooler Group Test

Why no table of sizes? So if I want to see if any of these will fit in my old skool ATC I have to go and find the specs when it would have been so cool for you guys to compile the info (and verify the sizes quoted are correct)

 

How the hell did you get idle temps of 10C? Run these tests in a refridgerator or something?

 

These chips are hot.

 

That's a point, refridgerators are between 0*C and 4*C and so even if they were in a fridge a delta of 6-10*C from room to idle temps is pretty much unheard of...?

 

They are legally obliged to provide the correct sizes - it's not a marketing term that's hand wavy. Also, the specs are on every page for every cooler.

The temperatures are shown in DELTA T - the difference between the ambient case temp and recorded CPU temp. Core i7 has a fantastic low power mode.

The one that comes with the retail 1366 kit from Thermalright.

 

The results are the Delta T values - the difference between the ambient room temperature (22-23°C) and the temperature of the cooler. We only display Delta T as including the numbers for the ambient temperature just makes the graphs messy and confusing.

 

What fan was used with the TRUE????? that might be some good information to include..

 

Gotcha - but it might be good then to specify what the ambient was during the testing. Otherwise excellent review. Very interesting to see just how crappy the stock Intel HSF really is compared to even the low-end aftermarket coolers.

 

Wow! I'm even more happy with my TRUE now.

 

According to the results of occ the findings here are identical. However @ occ they compared not only idle and load, but over clocked performance as well. I think it is relevant considering the potential shown in the 1st generation 1366 batch for mischief and most people buying a 920 tout of their stamina and head room.

 

Shame, you didn't state how much more overclocking potential the best coolers can give you over the stock intel part?

 

Idle temps of 20 degrees on the stock cooler... with a 3.6 overclock and 1.3v??? Come on!!.. Where were you based, a walk in freezer? I can't get lower than 40 degrees on the stock cooler with a 920, and it's not overclocked.

Hmmm...

 

FFS RTFF

 

Apologies. For some reason I read that, but still didn't sink in. Blame old age

 

[Off] Damn idiots not reading the article... The temp display is in DELTA T, as in DIFFERENCE between the CPU temperature and the AMBIENT temperature. If it's 20deg C in the room, then the CPU temp will be 61deg (for eg).
[/Off]

Great article! So DHT coolers win the day on the "Value" category Very cheap to produce, and they don't have to be extremely careful with the base, as long as the heatpipes make proper contact with the IHS.
I`m pretty happy with my Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer. Even works as a passive cooler for my E2140, with 3 80mm case fans, all set to minimum on my Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus fan controller. 8deg C plus on passive.

 

Looks like I will be picking up one of those Akasa Nero coolers for my i7 920 soon.

Thanks for the article Bit - this is exactly the thing I was after. The TRUE looks great as ever but at over twice the price for a relatively small themal performance increase is getting on to be a joke.

 

And you verified these sizes as correct? People do make mistakes you know.

And by simply quoting the sizes on the box, you're assuming that all manufactures are measuring the same way. Is it the total height of the HSF or the height above the MB?

I still say a table would have been nice, but then maybe that's going to appear when the article is copy and pasted into the next CPC issue?

 

Why not just post the absolute temps recorded, and just have a footnote on the graph stating the room's ambient temperature. Even after reading the article (albeit rather hurriedly) it misled me, and judging by the posts above, a couple of other people as well.

It would be no more messy... it would just just be a different set of figures.. but a set of figures more in line to what RealTemp would report to you in real life if you were to buy one of these coolers.

The TRUE would just be 34 to 66C instead for example.


Incidentally, you really ran that chip for 30 mins at 98C with the stock cooler?

 

I would very much like bit-tech to run a comparison between the TRUE with dual NF-P12s versus the U12P.

 

I imagine its because the ambient temperature isn't constant for all the tests, ie for one test it might be 21C, another its 25C. And so to add that data into the graphs involves either adding the ambient and actual cpu temps for each test (idle and load), or making a 3D graph, which isn't the clearest of things on a 2D display

actually, this has given me an interesting thought - how much would the ambient temperature affect the deltas? are you going to see a bigger difference in a 30C+ room, or in a room at 20C etc?