DeepCool Gammaxx S40 CPU Cooler Review

Testing
The test rig consists of the following parts:

Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 EVO
Video Card: SPARKLE Calibre Series X480 GeForce GTX 480
Memory: Corsair Vengence 8 GB @ 1600mhz
Power Supply: High Power Astro PT 700w
Storage: OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB Running Windows 8 64bit
Cooling: DeepCool Gammaxx S40
Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 1

Testing was done using Intel Burn Test (IBT) with the AVX instruction set. The reason I use this instead of Prime95 with this setup is that it pushes our i5 2500K a whole lot harder, giving us a better sense of load temps. Most of the testing was done at the high memory setting for a single pass. While admittedly this in no way would qualify the chip as stable when overclocking, it gives us a realistic idea of what temps it will be hitting.

Here are the stock cooler results:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/71.99F
Idle temps: 31.25C/88.25F core average
IBT temps: 78.5C/173.3F core average

Swapping the stock cooler for the Gammaxx S40 with fans set to Turbo mode in the motherboard Bios, we had these results:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
Idle temps: 39.75C/103.55F core average
IBT temps: 57C/134.6F core average

DeepCool Gammaxx S40 CPU Cooler DeepCool Gammaxx S40 CPU Cooler

*Please note we still have a bug in Hardware Monitor causing it to change the max readings for all the system fans to impossible numbers after a minute of IBT running. Prior to it flaking out however we were just above 1600rpm under load at all times.

Not exactly impressive results, but this cooler is supposed to be a compact cooler aimed at gamers. Any self respecting, framerate loving gamer is of course going to overclock their CPU. So we put the S40 through a short overclocking session and here is how it did:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
Max overclock: 4.5 ghz/1.336V vCore
IBT temps: 77.5C/171.5F core average with one core hitting 81C

DeepCool Gammaxx S40 CPU Cooler

Ouch, unfortunately this was one of the most poor overclocking coolers that we’ve tested. Even with the fan cranking away above it’s rated speed, it was still extremely hot. As expected, the fan was still very quiet even at it’s highest speed.

There are a couple of things that could cause this. The first in my opinion would be the thermal paste. It’s likely there just wasn’t enough and that the quality of paste is low. An easy fix would be to get something like Prolima Tech PK-1 and reapply. The other thing could be the fan. While a quiet fan is nice, it just didn’t seem to be moving that much air through to the back of the cooler. Again replacing the fan would probably help.