[nextpage title=”Introduction”]
The Zalman LQ315 is a mainstream liquid cooling system for processors. It has a 120 mm radiator with one 120 mm fan. Let’s test it.
Recently, we reviewed the Zalman LQ310, a less expensive version of this cooler. The main visible difference is the depth of the radiator, which is 1.1” (28 mm) thick on the LQ310 and 1.5” (38 mm) on the LQ315. The block is also taller at 1.26” tall (32 mm) versus 1.1” (28 mm) for the simpler model.
Figure 1 shows the box of the Zalman LQ315.
Figure 1: Package
Figure 2 shows the contents of the box: the radiator-block set, fan, manual, and installation hardware.
Figure 2: Accessories
This water cooler is discussed in detail in the following pages.
[nextpage title=”The Zalman LQ315″]
The sealed radiator-block system is shown in Figure 3. At the left is the block; at the right you can see the radiator. There is a cable on the block with a three-pin connector, which brings power to the integrated pump.
Figure 3: Sealed system
Figures 4 and 5 reveal the radiator of the Zalman LQ315.
Figure 4: Radiator
Figure 5: Radiator
[nextpage title=”The Zalman LQ315 (Cont’d)”]
Figure 6 shows the top of the block, where the pump that makes the liquid flow is integrated. The clear area around the “Z” is illuminated in blue, thanks to an internal LED.
Figure 6: Block
The base of the block, which is made of copper, is revealed in Figure 7. The thermal compound comes pre-applied.
Figure 7: Base
Figure 8 illustrates the 120 mm fan that comes with the Zalman LQ315. The fan has a four-pin connector, which means it is compatible with PWM speed control.
Figure 8: Fan
[nextpage title=”Installation”]
In Figures 9 and 10, you can see the backplate of the Zalman LQ315 for Intel CPUs with the nuts mounted in the position for sockets LGA1155 and LGA1156, and the frame mounted with screws in place. The cooler also comes with similar parts for installation on AMD systems.
Figure 9: Backplate
Figure 10: Frame with screws
Figure 11 shows the frame installed on the block.
Figure 11: Frame installed
In Figure 12, you can see the LQ315 installed in our case. The product manual instructs the user to install the fan blowing air into the radiator, so we had to install it at the top panel of our case because the radiator didn’t fit the rear panel of our case.
Figure 12: Installation finished
[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]
We tested the cooler with a Core i5-2500K CPU (quad-core, 3.3 GHz), which is a socket LGA1155 processor with a 95 W TDP (Thermal Design Power). In order to get higher thermal dissipation, we overclocked it to 4.0 GHz (100 MHz base clock and x40 multiplier), with 1.3 V core voltage (Vcore). This CPU was able to reach 4.8 GHz with its default core voltage, but at this setting, the processor enters thermal throttling when using mainstream coolers, reducing the clock and thus the thermal dissipation. This could interfere with the temperature readings, so we chose to maintain a moderate overclocking.
We measured noise and temperature with the CPU under full load. In order to get 100% CPU usage in all cores, we ran Prime 95 25.11 with the “In-place Large FFTs” option. (In this version, the software uses all available threads.)
We compared the tested cooler to other coolers we already tested, and to the stock cooler that comes with the Core i5-2500K CPU. Note that the results cannot be compared to measures taken on a different hardware configuration, so we retested some “old” coolers with this new methodology. This means you can find different values in older reviews than the values you will read on the next page. Every cooler was tested with the thermal compound that comes with it.
Room temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer. The core temperature was read with the SpeedFan program (available from the CPU thermal sensors), using an arithmetic average of the core temperature readings.
During the tests, the panels of the computer case were closed. The front and rear case fans were spinning at minimum speed in order to simulate the “normal” cooler use on a well-ventilated case. We assume that is the common setup used by a cooling enthusiast or overclocker.
The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed near the top opening of the case. This measurement is only for comparison purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.
- Processor: Core i5-2500K
- Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z
- Memory: 16 GB G.Skill Sniper (DDR3-1600/PC3-12800), configured at 1,600 MHz
- Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB
- Video card: Point of View GeForce GTX 460 1 GB
- Video resolution: 1920×1080
- Video monitor: Samsung SyncMaster P2470HN
- Power supply: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
- Case: Cooler Master HAF 922
Operating System Configuration
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1
Software Used
Error Margin
We adopted a 2°C error margin, meaning temperature differences below 2°C are considered irrelevant.
[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]
The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on all coolers listed below. Each measurement was taken with the CPU at full load. In the models with a fan supporting PWM, the motherboard controlled the fan speed according to core load and temperature. On coolers with an integrated fan controller, the fan was set at the full speed.
| Cooler | Room Temp. | Noise | Speed | Core Temp. | Temp. Diff. |
| Cooler Master Hyper TX3 | 18 °C | 50 dBA | 2850 rpm | 69 ºC | 51 °C |
| Corsair A70 | 23 °C | 51 dBA | 2000 rpm | 66 ºC | 43 °C |
| Corsair H100 | 26 °C | 62 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 ºC | 38 °C |
| EVGA Superclock | 26 °C | 57 dBA | 2550 rpm | 67 ºC | 41 °C |
| NZXT HAVIK 140 | 20 °C | 46 dBA | 1250 rpm | 65 ºC | 45 °C |
| Thermalright True Spirit 120 | 26 °C | 42 dBA | 1500 rpm | 82 °C | 56 °C |
| Zalman CNPS12X | 26 °C | 43 dBA | 1200 rpm | 71 °C | 45 °C |
| Zalman CNPS9900 Max | 20 °C | 51 dBA | 1700 rpm | 62 °C | 42 °C |
| Titan Fenrir Siberia Edition | 22 °C | 50 dBA | 2400 rpm | 65 °C | 43 °C |
| SilenX EFZ-120HA5 | 18 °C | 44 dBA | 1500 rpm | 70 °C | 52 °C |
| Noctua NH-L12 | 20 °C | 44 dBA | 1450 rpm | 70 °C | 50 °C |
| Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme | 21 °C | 53 dBA | 2550 rpm | 71 °C | 50 °C |
| Gamer Storm Assassin | 15 °C | 48 dBA | 1450 rpm | 58 °C | 43 °C |
| Deepcool Gammaxx 400 | 15 °C | 44 dBA | 1500 rpm | 60 °C | 45 °C |
| Cooler Master TPC 812 | 23 °C | 51 dBA | 2350 rpm | 66 °C | 43 °C |
| Deepcool Gammaxx 300 | 18 °C | 43 dBA | 1650 rpm | 74 °C | 56 °C |
| Intel stock cooler | 18 °C | 41 dBA | 2000 rpm | 97 °C | 79 °C |
| Xigmatek Praeton | 19 °C | 52 dBA | 2900 rpm | 83 °C | 64 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12P SE2 | 18 °C | 42 dBA | 1300 rpm | 69 °C | 51 °C |
| Deepcool Frostwin | 24 °C | 46 dBA | 1650 rpm | 78 °C | 54 °C |
| Thermaltake Frio Advanced | 13 °C | 56 dBA | 2000 rpm | 62 °C | 49 °C |
| Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition | 9 °C | 48 dBA | 2100 rpm | 53 °C | 44 °C |
| Thermaltake Frio Extreme | 21 °C | 53 dBA | 1750 rpm | 59 °C | 38 °C |
| Noctua NH-U9B SE2 | 12 °C | 44 dBA | 1700 rpm | 64 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermaltake WATER2.0 Pro | 15 °C | 54 dBA | 2000 rpm | 52 °C | 37 °C |
| Deepcool Fiend Shark | 18 °C | 45 dBA | 1500 rpm | 74 °C | 56 °C |
| Arctic Freezer i30 | 13 °C | 42 dBA | 1350 rpm | 63 °C | 50 °C |
| Spire TME III | 8 °C | 46 dBA | 1700 rpm | 70 °C | 62 °C |
| Thermaltake WATER2.0 Performer | 11 °C | 54 dBA | 2000 rpm | 49 °C | 38 °C |
| Arctic Alpine 11 PLUS | 11 °C | 45 dBA | 2000 rpm | 82 °C | 71 °C |
| be quiet! Dark Rock 2 | 10 °C | 41 dBA | 1300 rpm | 58 °C | 48 °C |
| Phanteks PH-TC14CS | 16 °C | 47 dBA | 1300 rpm | 58 °C | 42 °C |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE | 16 °C | 48 dBA | 1300 rpm | 57 °C | 41 °C |
| SilverStone HE01 (Q) | 19 °C | 44 dBA | 1150 rpm | 63 °C | 44 °C |
| SilverStone HE01 (P) | 20 °C | 57 dBA | 2050 rpm | 62 °C | 42 °C |
| Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (S) | 17 °C | 44 dBA | 1250 rpm | 52 °C | 35 °C |
| Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (E) | 17 °C | 53 dBA | 1900 rpm | 50 °C | 33 °C |
| Deepcool Neptwin | 11 °C | 46 dBA | 1500 rpm | 56 °C | 45 °C |
| SilverStone HE02 | 19 °C | 49 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 °C | 45 °C |
| Zalman CNPS9900DF | 23 °C | 45 dBA | 1400 rpm | 68 °C | 45 °C |
| Deepcool ICE BLADE PRO V2.0 | 22 °C | 43 dBA | 1500 rpm | 67 °C | 45 °C |
| Phanteks PH-TC90LS | 24 °C | 47 dBA | 2600 rpm | 95 °C | 71 °C |
| Rosewill AIOLOS | 20 °C | 40 dBA | 1600 rpm | 94 °C | 74 °C |
| Corsair H60 | 20 °C | 49 dBA | 2000 rpm | 64 °C | 44 °C |
| Zalman LQ310 | 27 °C | 51 dBA | 2050 rpm | 65 °C | 38 °C |
| Noctua NH-L9i | 24 °C | 44 dBA | 2500 rpm | 95 °C | 71 °C |
| NZXT Respire T40 | 20 °C | 45 dBA | 1850 rpm | 76 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Respire T20 | 21 °C | 45 dBA | 1900 rpm | 77 °C | 56 °C |
| Zalman LQ315 | 20 °C | 52 dBA | 1950 rpm | 57 °C | 37 °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.
[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]
The main specifications for the Zalman LQ315 CPU cooler include:
- Application: Sockets LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, LGA2011, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, and FM1
- Radiator dimensions: 6.0 x 4.7 x 1.5 inches (153 x 120 x 38 mm) (W x L x H)
- Block height: 1.26 inch (32 mm)
- Fins: Aluminum
- Base: Copper
- Heat-pipes: None
- Fan: 120 mm
- Nominal fan speed: 2,000 rpm
- Fan air flow: NA
- Power consumption: 2.4 W
- Nominal noise level: NA
- Weight: 1.27 Lbs (575 g)
- More information: https://www.zalman.com
- Average Price in the U.S.*: USD 100.00
* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.
[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]
When we reviewed the Zalman LQ310, we wrote that it was an excellent liquid cooling system, with low price and excellent cost/benefit ratio. The Zalman LQ315 performed a little better than the simpler version, also with acceptable noise level, and easy installation. The blue LED embedded in the block is a plus for case modders.
The problem with the LQ315 is that it costs about 50% more than the LQ310, so it doesn’t share the excellent cost/benefit ratio.
By being a very good sealed liquid cooling system, the Zalman LQ315 receives the Hardware Secrets Silver Award.
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