Testing

Methodology

All of the testing is carried out outside of a computer case. As with every test, we use a thin layer of Arctic Silver 5 between the core and the CPU cooler for comparable results. Ambient temperature was 19C throughout.

To test we simply boot the PC up with a freshly installed copy of Windows XP, and measure temperatures using Speedfan. The onboard temperature sensor is disregarded and instead the CPU’s own diode is used.

For idle testing, we simply let the testing rig sit doing absolutely nothing for 30 minutes and take the most representative temperature of the last 10 minutes. The same is used for the load testing, but instead of letting the PC do nothing, OCCT is used to load both cores to 100%.

As this motherboard also has a temperature sensor in the chipset, we will also measure the temperature of that in the same way as the CPU in order to get an idea of how effective the ‘collateral’ cooling is of the kit.

As the provided fan can be run at either full speed or reduced we’ll test both in the same manner.

Results

With the fan controller disconnected, the fan is considerably louder than when the controller is used but set to the highest setting. This seems odd, but that extra half a volt must make all the difference. At the lowest setting, the fan is easily mulnaz, and probably closing in on silent, and still manages to shift a reasonable amount of air. Unfortunately, the blue LED’s that are in the fan hub are connected to the same supply as the fan motor meaning that they dim slightly when the controller is set at a lower level.

Click for chipset temperatures

As you can see from the results, the Nirvana Premium does a very good job of keeping your silicon below 45C even at low RPM. Regardless of the fan speed, the cooler keeps the core at a respectable 26C which is on par with a lapped IFX with a slightly louder fan than the NV120 at low. In fact, the low results of the Nirvana are exactly the same as the stock AMD cooler but it makes literally no noise at all, unless you stick your head right next to the fan. When the fan is at full pelt, you can hear it, but it's frequency is such that it's not intrusive and is on par with the stock cooler. However it manages to steal another 4 degrees from the low score keeping a 6000+ at full load from rising into the 40's.

The cooler also manages to keep the chipset temperature in check which the IFX or the Swiftech Compact couldn't. While your chipset is likely to be in a different position than our board, it does show that this cooler has a large amount of collateral cooling to its name so the rest of your PC will see the benefits of the fan.

Click to enlarge