Poparamiro tests Thermalright VenomousX and Cogage Arrow versus Megahalems and NH-D14

[Monstru]

It has been more then a month since my colleague went into his cave again, dragging a bag filled with the best air coolers. Determined to find out the ultimate truth, he spent hours, days and weeks of testing, pitting the four mega-coolers against each-other. Thermalright VenomousX and Cogage Arrow meet the ultimate air-cooling monsters, Prolimatech Megahalems and Noctua NH-D14. And much to our suprise, they keep their heads up!!!

Four TDP's, seven fan speeds, fanless testing, extreme TDP/CFM testing, TIM print analysis, you know the drill. It is all there.

Thermalright, Prolimatech and Noctua - Clash of the titans



TESTBED

* CPU – Intel core i7 920 D0 (lapped)
* MB – Asus Rampage II Extreme
* RAM – Crucial Ballistix 3×1GB DDR3 1600
* HDD – Western Digital WD6400AAKS
* PSU – Corsair HX1000W/Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W
* VGA – Galaxy 9600GT/3Dfx Voodoo Rush
* TIM – Prolimatech PK-1 (daca nu este specificat altceva)

FANS

* Scythe SY1225SL12H (1600RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12M (1200RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12L (800RPM)
* Scythe SY1225SL12SL (500RPM)
* Tuniq DFS122512L (2100RPM)
* Delta FFB1212EH (4000RPM)
* Delta PFB1212UHE (5500RPM)
* San Ace 9SG1212P1G03 (6000RPM)
* NH-D14 stock (NF-P12 & NF-P14)


TDP

* 3000MHz@1.034v, qpi@1.20v, mem@1.51v
* 4000MHz@1.366v, qpi@1.35v, mem@1.67v
* 4200MHz@1.476v, qpi@1.37v, mem@1.70v
* 4400MHz@1.600v, qpi@1.41v, mem@1.75

RPM

* “fanless”
* 500rpm
* 800rpm
* 1200rpm
* 1600rpm
* 2100rpm
* 4000rpm
* 5500/6000rpm

[s0lid]

Is it just me or do those 5500/6000rpm result exsist somewhere in that review?

[Monstru]

It ain't called extreme TDP/CFM for nothing

[The Duke]

very nice ...

just curious why you chose Prolimatech PK-1 to run the tests on ...

[poparamiro]

Thanks

Here are tested the best TIM's on the market.

PK-1 show great performance and the viscosity is moderate, great for coolers with pressure problems (bad retention sistem)

[zalbard]

Great review!
Venomous X seems to be nearly as good as Noctua while being much smaller, and it's 2-4C ahead of Megahalem, wow...
Man, I need a new cooler!

Edit: really good TIM test as well, we needed this one for quite a while. Good to see that Liquid Metal TIM is still on the throne, I think there's been a good deal of confusion around since the release of Indigo Extreme.