Benchmarks
We determined the cooler’s thermal resistance on our tried-and-true Pentium 4 platform, which makes it possible to measure performance during operation. The system had to run for several hours at full load. The Prime95 program, usually used to calculate prime numbers, was used. The CPU draws on huge amounts of power in making these calculations, and the software is ideally suited to testing coolers.
| Intel Processor (Socket 478) | |
|---|---|
| 200 MHz FSB (Dual DDR400) | Pentium 4 3.20 GHz (3200 MHz 12-8/512 kB) |
| Memory | |
| DDR400 (200 MHz) | 2 x 256 MB / 5ns / 64 Bit (TakeMS) |
| Motherboard | |
| Intel 875 | Asus P4P800 Rev : 1.02, Bios : 1010 |
| Common Hardware | |
| Graphics Card | ATI Radeon 9800 XTMemory : 256 MB DDR-SDRAM |
| Hard Drive | 40 GB,WD400BB-00DEA0, Western DigitalUDMA100, 7200 rpm, 2 MB Cache |
| Network | D-Link DFE-530TX (10/100 Mbit) |
| CDROM | Asus 52x |
| Drivers | |
| Intel Chipset | V 5.1.1.1002 |
| Graphics Driver | ATI Catalyst 4.1 (7.97) |
| DirectX | Version : 9b |
| OS | Windows XP, Build 2600 SP1 |
The tried-and-true Pentium 4 platform for cooler tests
The thermal resistance we recorded at the highest fan setting is just 0.27 K/W, with the cooler doing surprisingly well. At the lowest setting, the Hyper 6 returns an excellent value of 0.29 K/W. The Intel boxed cooler achieved just 0.42 K/W in this test. The heatpipe cooler’s cooling performance is convincing.
In volume terms, the Hyper 6 comes in behind the Intel boxed cooler. AT 46.5 dB, the Coolermaster model is a fraction louder, but even at the fastest fan setting, the 51.8 dB it produces is still bearable.
For our attempt to operate the cooler passively, we mounted the test platform in a Chieftec 601 casing. We used an Antec True 430 power supply with two fans to produce adequate air flow in the casing. Here, however, the Hyper 6 failed to pick up any points. Without its own ventilation, the cooler under full load heats up until, at 85°C, it closes down for safety reasons. In view of the Hyper 6’s vertical air flow, casing fans do not produce any improvements. Hence, use of the fan supplied cannot be over-recommended.
