Testing
The test rig consists of the following parts:
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77X-UD4H
Video Card: Zotac 560 Ti
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 Captain 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 temperatures the CPU 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
The first thing we did was to test the cooler with stock motherboard/CPU settings:
Ambient temps: 23.33°C/74°F
Idle temps: 32.5°C/90.5°F core average
IBT temps one pass max memory: 62°C/143.6°F core average
Replacement Unit:
Ambient temps: 24.44°C/76°F
Idle temps: 33.5°C/92.3°F core average
IBT temps one pass max memory: 63.25°C/145.85°F core average
Getting started with our stock results, we find that after adjusting for our ambient increase in temperature of 1.11°C we are right in the same neighborhood give or take .1°C with both units. And slightly lower than our baseline test unit. Onward to overclocking!
Here are our results for our i7 3770K @ 4.5ghz with 1.248V vCore:
Ambient temps: 23.33°C/74°F
IBT temps: 86.5°C/187.7°F with one core hitting 90°C!
Replacement Unit:
Ambient temps: 24.44°C/76°F
IBT temps: 77.25°C/171.05°F with one core hitting 81°C
Now we’re seeing some pretty big drops in temperature. We add in that 1.11° difference in ambient and find that the new test unit with DeepCool thermal paste is a whopping 10.36°C cooler! In our hottest core we have a difference of 10.11°C! Clearly there is either a major performance difference between the two thermal pastes or the new mounting system makes for better contact. Either way we’re now seeing some much more expected results.
Ambient temps: 23.33°C/74°F
3DMARK: 66.5°C/151.7°F with one core hitting 68°C
Replacement Unit:
Ambient temps: 24.44°C/76°F
3DMARK: 62.25°C/144.05°F with three cores hitting 63°C
And finally we have a pretty big drop in a real life gaming type scenario as well seeing a 5.36°C difference.