6 Coolers tested hear are the results

[simon12]

I have just finished testing 6 coolers 3 small and 3 big, I tested the big ones with various fans. I am putting the results at the top as its all most people want to see, apologies for the poor graphs.

Coolmaster Hyper TX3 £16.49
Spire Coolgate 09 £16.99
Spire Verticool III £18.99
Coolmaster Hyper 212+ £23.49
Thermaltake Frio £39.94
Spire Thermax Eclipse II £35.99

Quick notes for people only looking at the results:
The stock fans with the Frio are to loud to use all the time for most people, speed controller are included but you need to open your case to get to them.
As you can see of the top 3 coolers all performed the same when they had the same fans.
Of the small 3 only the Verticool 3 can be mounted to vent front to back (on AMD systems) so is recommended if you have a top mounted PSU.

Test notes:

All where tested on the following system
AMD 550BE Unlocked to 4 core tests where run at 1.325V 15.5x200 = 3.1GHz & 1.475V 17.5 x 211 = 3.6925GHz
Asrock 880G Extreme 3 board
2 x 2GB OCZ 1333 RAM
OCZ 850W PSU can't remember which
Generic mid tower ATX case with front and 2 side intake fans and top & back exhaust fans (1 side fan was removed for the 3 120mm fan coolers as it didn't fit)
All where installed using Spire's standard thermal grease to make it an even playing field for all (I selected it purely as I have alot of it).

You can read my stage by stage tests here http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/261146-11-cooler-testing-method

All tests where done at a room temp of 21C except the Verticool III which was done at 20C so I increased the result by 1C to compensate.

Conclusion:

The small 3

The results show that the cheaper Hyper TX3 out performed the 2 Spire products so the Coolgate 09 has no reason to buy it, the Verticool III performed within 1C of the TX3 but being more expensive the only reason to get it is if you have an AMD system with a top mounted PSU (The TX3 can only mount to vent up or down on AMD platforms). So the TX3 is a clear winner on price and performance, its just not mquite enough to run that overclock all the time for that you need to look at the big 3.

The big 3

The Thermax has nightmare installation on AMD, the frio won't fit in a normal case, and the Hyper 212+ needs you to buy uprated fans to get the same performance as the others. As far as the results so far tell they run the same with the same fans and cost around the same (the 212+ is cheaper but if you add the fans for performance it will cost more). So there is no winner if you want a quiet PC and not the ultimate cooling then the Coolmaster Hyper 212+ as stock is still capable. If you don't care about noise at all and have a wider than normal case then the Thermaltake Frio is for you. If you have an Intel system or don't mind complicated installation and don't mind some moderate noise and want good cooling in a standard case then the Spire Thermax Eclipse II is a good bet. So theres no winner its a matter of choice.

I am considering further testing and will do a comparison to Water cooling as well soon. I would welcome any comments or suggestions.

 

[wolfram23]

Nice work.. Can I ask why you have all these coolers?

 

[simon12]

I have recently become a UK distributor for Spire so I wanted to know how good the coolers are.

 

[davcon]

Good stuff! keep up the hard work

 

[4745454b]

Well don't let them see this page, your doing a lousy job pushing their products.

The 212+ doesn't come with a fan? Mine did. Is this a UK thing or a new idea thing?

 

[simon12]

The results where not what I was hoping for but its not worth trying to rig them, any way the results do show out of the big 3 the Thermax Eclipse 2 is the best out of the box cooler that fits in a standard case.

The 212+ does come with a single fan but needs a better fan to perform as well as the Thermax or the Frio.

Do you think the 3 big coolers work the same with the same fans because over a certain size heatsink is just more than you need for a 4 core Phenom @ 3.7GHz?

I forgot to mention the processor is the C2 version.

 

[Conumdrum]

Hmm, no comparison with a top cooler? That would be best to help inform people if they should buy this brand of cooler.

One of the new Megalahems as an example would of been nice.

Still not too shabby, good start. You ever read Skinneelabs.com? A standard many try to achieve for testing.

 

[simon12]

The TX3 is what I was using on the system before the testing but I was only running at 3.55GHz @ 1.4125V and it was fine.

 

[doive1231]

Thanks for this. Thinking about buying a new cooler.