- Joined
- Dec 14, 2010
I have been doing a performance comparison between the Corsair H60 and the Thermalright Ultima 90.
For those who don't know, the Ultima 90 is a smaller version of the Ultra 120 Extreme (TRUE) and performance is roughly the same between the two.
Testing was done on the 775 system in my signature (Core 2 Quad Q6600 at stock 2.4GHz with stock voltage (1.23V)).
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Thermalright Ultima 90:
Core| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ambient temperature
at load: | 44| 45 | 42 | 38 | 72°F/22°C
at idle: |30 | 33 | 33 | 27 |72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H60:
Core| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ambient temperature
at load: | 43 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 72°F/22°C
at idle: | 26 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H100 (open case, side panels and top panel removed):
Core| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ambient temperature
at load (push fans on low, pull fans on full): |42 | 43 | 42 | 38 | 72°F/22°C
at load (push and pull fans on full): | 38 | 39 | 38 | 35| 72°F/22°C
at idle (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 72°F/22°C
at idle (push and pull fans on full): | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H100 (closed case, all intake and exhaust fans on full):
Core| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Ambient temperature
at load (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 43 | 44 | 43 | 40 | 72°F/22°C
at load (push and pull fans on full): | 42 | 43 | 42 | 38 |72°F/22°C
at idle (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 26 | 31 | 30 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
at idle (push and pull fans on full): | 26 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
So, the H60 seems to be just barely better than an Ultima 90 or TRUE. It's also a little bit quieter, just going by my ears since I don't have a sound meter on hand. The hottest core went down by just two degrees, but for some reason the coolest-running core actually went up in temperature when testing at the highest ambient temperatures and I'm still a bit confused by that.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep temperatures constant since my computer room isn't exactly well regulated temperature-wise, and I kept having to open the window to get cooler air into the room as it was getting a bit hot at times, which is why testing happened a multiple temperatures.
I will probably try to test on my socket 939 system as well, since I was also wondering if the H60 would be a good upgrade for that system or not, but since I am running a similar air cooler on that computer as well I don't expect any great gains there either unfortunately.
The H100 puts up some impressive numbers as far as temperature drop going from the Ultima 90/TRUE's little brother. I'm seeing around a 10° drop at load with fans on full (or 6-7° with push fans on low), and a 5° drop at idle.
For those who don't know, the Ultima 90 is a smaller version of the Ultra 120 Extreme (TRUE) and performance is roughly the same between the two.
Testing was done on the 775 system in my signature (Core 2 Quad Q6600 at stock 2.4GHz with stock voltage (1.23V)).
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Thermalright Ultima 90:
at load: | 44| 45 | 42 | 38 | 72°F/22°C
at idle: |30 | 33 | 33 | 27 |72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H60:
at load: | 43 | 44 | 43 | 41 | 72°F/22°C
at idle: | 26 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H100 (open case, side panels and top panel removed):
at load (push fans on low, pull fans on full): |42 | 43 | 42 | 38 | 72°F/22°C
at load (push and pull fans on full): | 38 | 39 | 38 | 35| 72°F/22°C
at idle (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 72°F/22°C
at idle (push and pull fans on full): | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 72°F/22°C
Temperatures in degrees Celsius with Corsair H100 (closed case, all intake and exhaust fans on full):
at load (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 43 | 44 | 43 | 40 | 72°F/22°C
at load (push and pull fans on full): | 42 | 43 | 42 | 38 |72°F/22°C
at idle (push fans on low, pull fans on full): | 26 | 31 | 30 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
at idle (push and pull fans on full): | 26 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 72°F/22°C
So, the H60 seems to be just barely better than an Ultima 90 or TRUE. It's also a little bit quieter, just going by my ears since I don't have a sound meter on hand. The hottest core went down by just two degrees, but for some reason the coolest-running core actually went up in temperature when testing at the highest ambient temperatures and I'm still a bit confused by that.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep temperatures constant since my computer room isn't exactly well regulated temperature-wise, and I kept having to open the window to get cooler air into the room as it was getting a bit hot at times, which is why testing happened a multiple temperatures.
I will probably try to test on my socket 939 system as well, since I was also wondering if the H60 would be a good upgrade for that system or not, but since I am running a similar air cooler on that computer as well I don't expect any great gains there either unfortunately.
The H100 puts up some impressive numbers as far as temperature drop going from the Ultima 90/TRUE's little brother. I'm seeing around a 10° drop at load with fans on full (or 6-7° with push fans on low), and a 5° drop at idle.
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