Testbed and Methods

We are talking about only one new cooling solution in our today’s review and it will be competing against only two rivals that is why I decided to test the newcomer on two platforms: Intel and AMD. To accomplish this goal we put together two testbeds with the following configurations:

All tests were performed under Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x86 SP1. We used the following software during our test session:

• Real Temp 3.20 RC8 – to monitor Intel processor temperature;
• Everest 5.02.1771b – to monitor AMD processor temperature;
• Linpack 32-bit with LinX shell version 0.6.0.2 – to create maximum CPU load (two test cycles, 15 Linpack runs in each cycle with 1624 MB RAM capacity for Intel and 1400 MB RAM capacity for AMD);
• RivaTuner 2.24 – to visually control temperature changes (with RTCore plugin).

So, the complete screenshot during the test session looks as follows:

Intel platform

AMD platform

The stabilization period for the CPU temperature between the two test cycles was about 10 minutes. We took the maximum temperature of the hottest processor core of the four for the results charts. The ambient temperature was checked next to the system case with an electronic thermometer with 0.1 °C precision that allows monitoring the temperature changes over the past 6 hours. During our test session room temperature stayed at 23.5-24 °C.

The noise level of each cooler was measured after 1:00 AM in a closed room about 20 m² big using CENTER-321 electronic noise meter. Unlike the previous testing approach, starting today we are going to measure the noise levels of each tested cooler outside the system case. In this case the only noise sources in the lab will be the cooler and its fan(s). To measure the noise we set the cooler onto a stand made of polyurethane foam material on top of a desk and the noise meter is always at a 25 cm distance from the cooler.

The rotation speed of the coolers fan(s) varied in the entire supported range using the controller that we have by changing the voltage with 0.9-1.2 V increment. The lowest noise reading our noise meter device can register is 29.8 dBA and the subjectively comfortable noise level at this distance is around 35 dBA.

The new Zalman CNPS10X Extreme cooler will be competing against another tower-cooler – ThermoLab BARAM ($50), which also has five copper heatpipes. We equipped this cooling solution with one and two Noiseblocker NB-Multiframe MF12-S3HS fans ($23 x 2) working at 1110 RPM in quiet mode and at 1760 RPM at maximum speed:

We also added our ultimate performance reference, Thermalrigth IFX-14 ($79.90), equipped with the same fans:

Besides, to eliminate the difference in efficiency of the default Zalman fan and Noiseblocker fans, we also tested our today’s hero with the Noiseblocker fan. To install the latter onto Zalman CNPS10X extreme we removed all plastic parts from the cooler:

The modified cooler is marked as “Mod.” on the performance charts.

Well, let’s check out the results.