Processor baseline performance test

Testing the cooler

It's time to put our theories to the test. The cooler that we tested today will function flawlessly with any processor, from entry-level to high-end, at its default operating speeds; of course, there is still potential for overclocking to further improve performance. We have developed a test system policy for cooling benchmarks that is more efficient. Let's have a look at the results for the system in its non-overclocked default configuration. The IDLE temps are shown below, indicating that your processor is doing little to nothing at all. In your system, it's just sitting there and waiting.

If you take a glance at the chart above, you will notice that the processor LOAD temperatures are quite high (in the non-overclocked state), yeah this isn't LCS. We take our measurements in a room with an ambient temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. Environmental temperatures have an effect on cooling performance, albeit in a minor way. We make a note of the temperature of the CPU package that was measured to be the highest.

Guru3D's rule of thumb on CPU load vs cooling temps:

• Anything up-to to roughly 50 Degrees C or lower we consider enthusiast-class cooling
• Anything in-between 51 to 60 Degrees C we consider performance cooling
• Anything in-between 61 to 70 Degrees C we consider mainstream cooling
• Anything above 71 Degrees C we consider average cooling

This kit thus sits at the threshold of mainstream cooling at processor default clock frequencies.