It has been more then a month since my colleague went into his cave again, dragging a bag filled with the best air coolers. Determined to find out the ultimate truth, he spent hours, days and weeks of testing, pitting the four mega-coolers against each-other. Thermalright VenomousX and Cogage Arrow meet the ultimate air-cooling monsters, Prolimatech Megahalems and Noctua NH-D14. And much to our suprise, they keep their heads up!!!
Four TDP's, seven fan speeds, fanless testing, extreme TDP/CFM testing, TIM print analysis, you know the drill. It is all there.
Thermalright, Prolimatech and Noctua - Clash of the titans
TESTBED
* CPU – Intel core i7 920 D0 (lapped)
* MB – Asus Rampage II Extreme
* RAM – Crucial Ballistix 3×1GB DDR3 1600
* HDD – Western Digital WD6400AAKS
* PSU – Corsair HX1000W/Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W
* VGA – Galaxy 9600GT/3Dfx Voodoo Rush
* TIM – Prolimatech PK-1 (daca nu este specificat altceva)
FANS
* Scythe SY1225SL12H (1600RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12M (1200RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12L (800RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12SL (500RPM)
* Tuniq DFS122512L (2100RPM)
* Delta FFB1212EH (4000RPM)
* Delta PFB1212UHE (5500RPM)
* San Ace 9SG1212P1G03 (6000RPM)
* NH-D14 stock (NF-P12 & NF-P14)
TDP
* 3000MHz@1.034v, qpi@1.20v, mem@1.51v
* 4000MHz@1.366v, qpi@1.35v, mem@1.67v
* 4200MHz@1.476v, qpi@1.37v, mem@1.70v
* 4400MHz@1.600v, qpi@1.41v, mem@1.75
RPM
* “fanless”
* 500rpm
* 800rpm
* 1200rpm
* 1600rpm
* 2100rpm
* 4000rpm
* 5500/6000rpm