- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
As promised, here my comparison of a High-End Water Cooling loop to the Thermalright Ultra 120 Exteme (TRUE) air cooled heatsink.
This comparison is strictly to test the the noise and thermal performance of the TRUE against that of a quality water cooling loop in an environment that is as controlled as possible without having laboratory conditions or equipment.
However, practicality's sake, a line will be drawn on both data sets when the threshold of acceptable noise level is reached and the comparison passes into the realm of straight up thermal efficiency. Noise results will be qualitative and not quantitative, as I have no means of directly measuring noise.
I will not be testing any other loop or configuration than the one I already own and have set up. Have a look below and you will see that this is a properly configured loop comprised of high end components. The machine sits 3 feet from my head when seated at my desk.
Test Setups:
General:
AIR:
HS: 1 TRUE Black - Original (No Revision)
FAN(S):1 Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H101 (Shrouded 25mm, Push Pull added later on for 4.4 and 4.6GHz stops)
Current......................................... 0.52A
Watts............................................ 6.24
RPM ............................................. 2600
Flow CFM (Max)............................ 102.4 CFM / 2.9 cu metre[m3]
Static Pressure (in. H20)................ 64.7Pa (6.6mm)
Noise (dBA).................................... 39.0
CONTROLLER: Sunbeam Rheobus 6Ch.
TIM: AC MX2
WATER:
BLOCK: Swiftech GTZ
RAD: XSPC RX360
PUMP: Laing DDC3.2
RES: XSPC Pumptop Res
TUBING: Primochill LRT Black 1/2" I.D. 3/4" O.D.
FAN(S): 3x Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H101 (Shrouded 25mm).
CONTROLLER: Sunbeam Rheobus 6Ch.
TIM: AC MX2
Test Methodology:
Table of Contents:
Main body of testing: Post 1-5
Air Water testing: Post 49
Enjoy!
This comparison is strictly to test the the noise and thermal performance of the TRUE against that of a quality water cooling loop in an environment that is as controlled as possible without having laboratory conditions or equipment.
However, practicality's sake, a line will be drawn on both data sets when the threshold of acceptable noise level is reached and the comparison passes into the realm of straight up thermal efficiency. Noise results will be qualitative and not quantitative, as I have no means of directly measuring noise.
I will not be testing any other loop or configuration than the one I already own and have set up. Have a look below and you will see that this is a properly configured loop comprised of high end components. The machine sits 3 feet from my head when seated at my desk.
Test Setups:
General:
- Both air and water will be in open air. When reference is made to Ambient Temperature, that is actually Ambient ROOM Temperature.
- System Specs (Frequeny, Votage, HT etc.) are in my sig. Cooling Specs below.
- If you want a very rough breakdown of Fan Specs at each Voltage setting just divide into 4 equal divisions.
ie: 12v=2600RPM,102cfm,39dBa,64Pa 10v=2000RPM,75cfm,29dba,48Pa 8v=1500RPM, 50cfm,19dba,36Pa 6v=1000RPM,25cfm,10dBa,20Pa
Obviously fans don't scale this perfectly, but from what I could feel and hear during this comparison, it shouldn't be too far off.
AIR:
HS: 1 TRUE Black - Original (No Revision)
FAN(S):1 Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H101 (Shrouded 25mm, Push Pull added later on for 4.4 and 4.6GHz stops)
Current......................................... 0.52A
Watts............................................ 6.24
RPM ............................................. 2600
Flow CFM (Max)............................ 102.4 CFM / 2.9 cu metre[m3]
Static Pressure (in. H20)................ 64.7Pa (6.6mm)
Noise (dBA).................................... 39.0
CONTROLLER: Sunbeam Rheobus 6Ch.
TIM: AC MX2
WATER:
BLOCK: Swiftech GTZ
RAD: XSPC RX360
PUMP: Laing DDC3.2
RES: XSPC Pumptop Res
TUBING: Primochill LRT Black 1/2" I.D. 3/4" O.D.
FAN(S): 3x Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H101 (Shrouded 25mm).
CONTROLLER: Sunbeam Rheobus 6Ch.
TIM: AC MX2
Test Methodology:
- Each cooling setup will be tested from 6v to 12v fan settings in 2V increments. That is, from minimum sustainable start up speed all the way up to 12V.
Actual voltages and increments are as close as can be approximated with an analog dial.
- Each cooling setup will be tested for 10 minutes at each fan speed with LinX (Problem Size 14135). After which, Core Temperatures will be recorded with Everest 5.02.
In my experience with this loop, things equalize after about 10 minutes of full load. Assuming no change in ambient, there is no noticeable change in load temps from 10 minutes to 20 minutes. And if there's no change after 20 minutes, chances are good that things are equalized.
Individual core temperatures can be seen in each screencap. For graphical purposes, temperatures have been averaged. I'll warm things up prior to the 6V test to create the same conditions the rest of the fan setting tests will see.
- Each cooling setup will be tested at the same ambient air temperature.
This will be somewhere between 20 and 22degC depending on the day, but both water and air will be tested at the same ambient air temperature at each fan speed.
- Each cooling setup will be tested at 4 different Frequency/Vcore combinations in order from least to greatest. 4GHz, 4.2GHz, 4.4GHz and 4.6GHz.
This will take a few days, so I'll start with 4GHz and the thread will be updated with the rest as RL allows.
Table of Contents:
Main body of testing: Post 1-5
Air Water testing: Post 49
Enjoy!
Last edited: