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 chipset and the cooler for comparable results. Out-of-the-box cooling (OTB) is also tested which uses the provided heatpaste. 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 temperature is taken from the motherboards own chipset temperature diode.

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%.

Results

As you can see from the results, using aftermarket heatpaste is entirely unnecessary for this cooler; at least at this temperature range. Higher TDP chipsets would obviously stress the heatpaste more, and you’ll see the difference begin to widen. Of course, you’ll rarely witness higher TDP silicon on boards without a heatsink set.

Compared to the stock heatsink, the HR-05 is a run-away success, managing to chisel off a good 22 degrees at load keeping the chip at 8 degrees above ambient. Idle results are a similar success, and it just goes to show how comparatively poor the cooling of the stock is.