The testbench was composed from the following hardware:

CPU: Intel I5 Retail @ 3.2GHz & 4.0GHz

Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-EVO Preliminary

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM

Video: ATI RADEON 4890 1GB with ThermalRight Custom Cooling

Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W non-modular

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

Temperature tests

The testing procedure was the following:

- the system was left in IDLE for 30 minutes after the system booted up

- OCCT 3.1.0 was started with the following settings:

CPU:OCCT

Test Type: Custom -> 30 minutes

Test Mode: Small Data Set

Priority: Normal

after the test was complete, the system was left again alone for 30 minutes, for the temperatures to stabilize.

All the tests were performed inside a closed case, the Cooler Master ATCS 840 with all stock fans installed.

3.2GHz

4.0GHz

Noise Tests

For the second half of the tests, I have set the fan to be controlled by the motherboard. ASUS motherboards have an option to control with Q-Fan and the setting that has been chosen was "Turbo". Here are the fan speeds that were recorded with the motherboard on this mode:

Considering that the fan had speeds between 1300 and 2000RPM, some noise tests were done, with the cooler outside the test system, but connected to a fan controller that has the option to show on its display the current fan speed and voltage (Lamptron Touch). The recorded ambient noise(fan off) was 33dBA. The sound meter was placed 10cm away from the cooler.