Our Tests
Contents
The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on each cooler listed below, with the CPU at full load. On the model with software speed control, the fan speed was set on the control software that comes with the cooler, while on the other ones the fan speed was adjusted in the motherboard setup.
As we are comparing the temperature difference between the CPU and the air outside the computer (and not the actual CPU temperatures), there is no bias in taking measures under different room temperatures. Both heat transfer physics and our practical tests proved this.
| Cooler | Room Temp. | Noise | Speed | Core Temp. | Temp. Diff. |
| Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme (maximum) | 17 °C | 55 dBA | 1,950 rpm | 58 °C | 41 °C |
| Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme (minimum) | 17 °C | 44 dBA | 1,250 rpm | 60 °C | 43 °C |
| Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate (maximum) | 17 °C | 56 dBA | 1,900 rpm | 41 °C | 24 °C |
| Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate (minimum) | 17 °C | 43 dBA | 1,050 rpm | 48 °C | 31 °C |
| Corsair H100i GTX (maximum) | 9 °C | 59 dBA | 2,600 rpm | 34C | 25 °C |
| Corsair H100i GTX (minimum) | 9 °C | 41 dBA | 1,000 rpm | 53 °C | 44 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M (maximum) | 13 °C | 49 dBA | 2300 rpm | 39 °C | 26 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M (minimum) | 13 °C | 39 dBA | 900 rpm | 58 °C | 45 °C |
In the graph below, you can see how many degrees Celsius hotter the CPU core is than the air outside the case. The lower this difference, the better is the performance of the cooler.
In the graph below, you can see how many decibels of noise each cooler makes.
