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Testing Methodology
Most of the coolers featured in this review wouldn’t be up to the task of cooling Intel’s Core i9-12900K without restrictive power limits enforced, so I’ve paired them with a more appropriate CPU: Intel’s i5-12600K. Since many of the coolers I’m testing below might be considered for use in SFF builds and for those wanting silent performance, I’ve tested Cinebench with three power configurations
1. No Power Limits Enforced: This uses up to 130W of CPU power consumption
2. 95W
3. 65W
Values shown are for the average CPU package temperature over the course of running the Cinebench benchmark. Peak temperatures will be a few degrees higher than the results shown below.
Core i5-12600K Cinebench Thermal Results (130W, 95W, and 65W)
The SilverStone Hydrogon H90 performed roughly on par with Cooler Master’s i70c, another low-profile cooler. It was slightly cooler in the higher TDP scenarios, but it also ran louder. Note that both the DeepCool and Be Quiet coolers are more traditional, though mid-sized, tower coolers. They have more cooling potential, but won’t fit in nearly as many compact PC cases.
Noise Levels and Acoustics
To test noise levels, I used the SLM25TK Sound Level Meter positioned 18 inches behind the rear of the Cooler Master HAF 700 Berserker, and recorded early in the morning to achieve the lowest noise floor possible. To prevent the system fans from vastly overpowering the sound of the cooler, I limited all of the case fans to 50% speeds. Noise measurements were taken while running Cinebench with no power limits enforced on the CPU.
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During this test, the Hydrogon H90 was a bit loud. Ideally, you’d want to limit the power consumption of the CPU you’re pairing this cooler with if noise levels are a concern. With low 65W power limits enforced, this cooler is whisper quiet. But when maxing out its cooling abilities, it’s the loudest of this bunch.
Conclusion
The SilverStone H90 ARGB is a good-quality low-profile cooler that can handle workloads of up to roughly 125W, but its primary problem is price. Unless you have a case where only this cooler will fit, the Hydrogon is a poor value at $60 when competing products like Cooler Master’s i70c are available for around $20.
- MORE: How to Buy the Right CPU Cooler
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Albert Thomas is a contributor for Tom’s Hardware, primarily covering CPU cooling reviews.
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-Fran- Thanks for the review. It's kind of expensive for its capabilities, specially when beQuiet! has really solid offerings for cheaper.Reply
The last "true" low profile HSF I've used is the CM GeminII M4 for my A8-3850 (yes, Llano) and it had just about enough cooling capacity for the ~100W of that APU. For my current build I'm using the beQuiet! Shadow Rock TF2, but I'd be hella interested if you could add/test the LP version: https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/570
Other than that, could you please just add a game test? Just to know if at least during a gaming session the CPU wouldn't throttle.
Regards. -
ikernelpro4 Reply
CPU Throttling isn't an issue in the past half a decade.-Fran- said:Thanks for the review. It's kind of expensive for its capabilities, specially when beQuiet! has really solid offerings for cheaper.
The last "true" low profile HSF I've used is the CM GeminII M4 for my A8-3850 (yes, Llano) and it had just about enough cooling capacity for the ~100W of that APU. For my current build I'm using the beQuiet! Shadow Rock TF2, but I'd be hella interested if you could add/test the LP version: https://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/570
Other than that, could you please just add a game test? Just to know if at least during a gaming session the CPU wouldn't throttle.
Regards.
I mean even with a 1600 you aren't gonna throttle (paired with an equal budget GPU like the 2060).
And the 1600 is a really old CPU by today's standards -
-Fran- Reply
I didn't get your point.ikernelpro4 said:CPU Throttling isn't an issue in the past half a decade.
I mean even with a 1600 you aren't gonna throttle (paired with an equal budget GPU like the 2060).
And the 1600 is a really old CPU by today's standards
This is testing a low profile CPU cooler (HSF: heat sink and fan) and using a 12600K, which when is used at 100% (all cores) it uses a lot more power than the 5600(X). The question I have is, would this little LP cooler be able to cool the 12600K at least during a gaming session, as it uses less power, generally?
Throttling IS a thing, specially now with the power targets the new gen of CPUs is hitting. AMD self-imposes a 95°C limit (100°C being the hard one) and Intel is 100°C.
Regards. -
Loadedaxe The person you quoted didn't say anything about cpu throttling.Reply
However, you did.
You are wrong sir. CPUs do throttle!
Yes even brand spankin new ones! -
Albert.Thomas Reply-Fran- said:Other than that, could you please just add a game test? Just to know if at least during a gaming session the CPU wouldn't throttle.
This SFF cooler was able to handle a 200W Cinbench load over 10 minutes.
The absolute worst case scenario for a 13900K in gaming is peaks of 200W, but averaging more like 80-150W depending on the game.
It's not going to cause an issue in gaming, trust me on this. -
-Fran- Reply
I ask because of turbo behaviours, mainly.Albert.Thomas said:This SFF cooler was able to handle a 200W Cinbench load over 10 minutes.
The absolute worst case scenario for a 13900K in gaming is peaks of 200W, but averaging more like 80-150W depending on the game.
It's not going to cause an issue in gaming, trust me on this.
Regards.