OCZ Tempest CPU Cooler
Testing
Published: 30th September 2006 | Source: OCZ | Price: |
In order to test the capabilities of the Tempest, I am going to be installing it on a rather toasty Intel Prescott 630 CPU. Idle and load temperatures will be taken at stock speeds with a room temperature maintained at 25ºC.
To ensure that the comparison between the Tempest and Intel's stock cooler remains fair, I will be using fresh Arctic Ceramique on each of the heatsinks. The heatsinks will be mounted a total of 3 times, and an average calculated from the results.
Below is the full specification of the test PC:
Processor: Intel P4 630 3.0ghz Prescott 2mb Cache 800mhz FSB
Motherboard: Intel D975XBX "Bad Axe" (Intel 975X Chipset)
Graphics Card: XFX 6600GT PCI-E
Hard Disk: Hitachi Deskstar 80gb SATA-II 8mb Cache
Power Supply: Silverstone Zeus 560w
Software: Windows XP SP2
During the tests, the fan speed was set to a constant 100%. Even at this speed the fan managed to keep reasonably quiet with the only noise being the sound of air passing through the heatsink fins.
At stock settings the OCZ Tempest performed admirably. Beating out the Intel cooler by a total of 5°C idle and a whopping 10°C load, it just goes to show the advantages that can be had by switching from your stock cooling solution.
Overclocking the CPU and increasing the voltage up to 1.50v made the advantages even clearer. At these settings the Intel cooler was unable to keep the heat produced by the Prescott under control and caused the test machine to shut down a few seconds after power on. The Tempest on the other hand had managed to keep the CPU temperature at borderline safe values.
Overclocking the CPU and increasing the voltage up to 1.50v made the advantages even clearer. At these settings the Intel cooler was unable to keep the heat produced by the Prescott under control and caused the test machine to shut down a few seconds after power on. The Tempest on the other hand had managed to keep the CPU temperature at borderline safe values.
Most Recent Comments
Sweet arse heatsink, I like the performance/size ratio. Great review as well Jim, quality as usual.
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