Test Configuration

As we've covered test configuration in detail in the past, we won't belabor it here. Our test bed remains the same as it was in March: a Rosewill R604-P-SL case with a Corsair HS620W power supply and a fanless motherboard/video card combination to eliminate stray noise sources.

Cooling Performance Test Configuration
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo X6800
(Dual-core 2.93GHz, 4MB Unified Cache)
RAM 2x1GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8888 (DDR2-1111)
Hard Drive(s) Hitachi 250GB SATA2 enabled (16MB Buffer)
Video Card MSI NX8600GTS (fanless) - All Standard Tests
Intel TAT Version 2.05.2006.0427
CoreTemp Version 0.95
Video Drivers NVIDIA 163.71
CPU Cooling Kingwin Revolution RVT-9225
Noctua NH-U12P
Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 (with PWM)
Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV 120
Cooler Master Hyper 212
OCZ Vendetta
Scythe Kama Cross
Swiftech H2O-120 Compact
Corsair Nautilus 500
Thermalright Ultima-90
ZEROtherm BTF90
Xigmatek AIO (AIO-S800P)
Evercool Silver Knight
Enzotech Ultra-X
3RSystem iCEAGE
Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
Thermaltake MaxOrb
Scythe Andy Samurai Master
Cooler Master Gemini II
Noctua NH-U12F
Asus Silent Square Pro
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B
OCZ Vindicator
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Thermalright Ultra 120
Scythe Infinity
Zalman CNS9700
Zalman CNS9500
Cooler Master Hyper 6+
Vigor Monsoon II Lite
Thermalright MST-9775
Scythe Katana
Tuniq Tower 120
Intel Stock HSF for X6800
Power Supply Corsair HX620W
Motherboards Asus P5K Deluxe (Intel P35)
Operating System Windows XP Professional SP2
BIOS Asus AMI 0501 (06/26/2007)

Room temperature is maintained at 74°F (23°C) throughout testing. We are still using the Far Cry River demo as our benchmark for the purpose of consistency, and thus we can include historical results for reference. CoreTemp is used for temperature monitoring.

Installation Cooling at Stock Speed
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  • ImmortalZ - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    The new king IS the Thermalright IFX-14. Two Ultra120s in a single package.
  • Noya - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    A retail passive cooler will never beat 120mm tower coolers.
  • Mgz - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    the base of the heatsink/heatpipe needs a good lapping, it was in such a terrible shape :(
  • icingdeath88 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    What's that about the spoiler? Seriously? What purpose could it possibly serve?
  • Bieszczad - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    It is supposed to deflect some airflow down towards the power regulators behind the heatsink. With a cooler that blows air down, the power regulators do get sufficient airflow, but when you use a tower heatsing with a side/front mounted-fan, the MOSFETs do not get enough air and the spoiler is supposed to fix it. Not sure if it works, though, because mine was loose and I ended up taking it off lest it falls out and shorts the motherboard.
  • zebrax2 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    those results are terrible
  • mmntech - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    First of all, the cooler isn't properly lapped. It looks like somebody took coarse sandpaper over the bottom of it. Could be a bad installation too.
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    Not exactly the reviewers fault that the bottom of the cooler is the way it is. IIRC they have tested all coolers in as-received condition.
  • Clauzii - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link

    With a 'plate' like that, one could mount a Antinov Turbopropeller - probably wouldn't help..
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    As a policy we don't lap coolers we test at AnandTech. Buyers should not be required to do after-purchase grinding and sanding of a cooler to match our test results. Also the curve on many cooler plates (the better ones normally) is curved (not flat) by design and lapping can actually make performance poorer. Our philosophy is to test the cooler as received from the manufacturer as much as possible.

    Yes we have lapped a few units and compared performance to the unlapped cooler. We may even comment on those lapped results, but test results for comparison are reported for the cooler as received.

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