Deepcool Maelstrom 240 Testing
The test rig consists of the following parts:
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper3
Video Card: EVGA GTX 690
Memory: Samsung Green MV-3V4G3D/US – 16GB
Power Supply: Enermax Maxrevo 1350W
Storage: OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB raid 0 Running Windows 7 64bit
Cooling: Deepcool Maelstrom 240
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
As always testing was done using Intel Burn Test (IBT) with the AVX instruction set. The reason to use this instead of Prime95 with this setup is that it pushes our i7 3770K a whole lot harder. This gives us a better sense of extreme load temps. Most of the testing was done at the max memory setting for a single pass. While admittedly this in no way would qualify the chip as stable while overclocked, it gives us a realistic idea of what temps it will be hitting. Additionally we are going to run 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme to give you a realistic idea of performance while gaming.
Our baseline was established using a bequiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 with the 3770K on stock settings:
Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
Idle temps: 38.75C/101.75F core average
IBT temps one pass max memory: 63.5C/146.3F core average
And here are the results for stock settings for the Maelstrom 240:
Ambient temps: 23.33C/74F
Idle temps: 36.75C/98.15F core average
IBT temps one pass max memory: 60C/140F core average
So far so good. In a slightly warmer environment, we are actually seeing lower idle and IBT temps than our baseline cooler. Onward with our testing!
As opposed to simply going for a max overclock, we are simply going to shoot to hit 4.5ghz pass or fail. If the cooler will allow our 3770K to hit 4.5 ghz we note the temperatures and move on to test it on 3DMARK Firestrike Extreme. If not then back down to a more acceptable and stable overclock. Not as extreme, but slightly more consistent and far more analogous to normal use.
Here are our results for our i7 3770K @ 4.5ghz with 1.248V vCore:
Ambient temps: 23.33C/74F
IBT temps: 77.75C/171.95F with one core hitting 81C
This is a great result for the Maelstrom 240 while running IBT on the Very High setting. In fact this is the best result we have had so far for a dual radiator! It’s actually cooler by several degrees than the Cooler Master Nepton 280L which had a slightly larger 280mm radiator.
With a passing result from IBT, we went ahead with a single run through 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme @4.5ghz:
Ambient temps: 23.33C/74F
3DMARK: 64C/147.2F with two core hitting 62C
So there you have it, the Maelstrom 240 is an exceptional cooler. We wouldn’t and didn’t hesitate to run this while gaming. Over the course of several hours of gaming (Ultra high level graphics in a current generation FPS) we never saw temps get into the 70 C range. This cooler performs great.
Unfortunately it seems to have stumbled somewhat. While we found the noise level of the 120 to be exceptional I’m finding the 240 to be somewhat unbearable. Unfortunately I’m not referring to the fans either. Under load the fans performed great and were pretty silent even up to the 2000 rpm range. No, unfortunately there is a pretty severe whine coming from the pump itself. While music and SFX generally drown it out, it is always there. In a room by itself it is the kinda noise that could make someone go crazy.