Testing:
In order to keep test results equal across the board, all cooling testing is done with the following setup, conditions and methods:
Test System:
AMD Phenom II 1100T at stock 3.3GHz (125-watt TDP)
Asus M5A99FX Pro mainboard
4GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Radeon HD4870 video
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 850-watt PSU
Thermaltake Spedo Advance full-tower case
120mm intake case fan (x2)
120mm exhaust case fan
Ambient temp in the testing environment is brought as close to previous testing levels as possible and recorded at the beginning of the test. For this test ambient was 24.4C and remained stable within .2 degrees for the duration of the testing.
Before testing begins, BIOS power/performance settings are set to "balanced" mode and the system is allowed to idle for 30 minutes to get a stable idle temp.
Stress testing is done with OCCT 4.4.0, running 30 minutes on each set, with large data set and a 1-minute idle time recorded at the beginning and end of each test. If a cooler has multiple modes (high and low fan speeds, for instance), the test is run for each mode and all results recorded.
Tests are performed using Noctua NT-H1 thermal interface material for equal comparison with other cooling solutions.
For acoustic testing all case fans are connected to a Sunbeam rheobus fan controller and their speed is lowered to the point that they are inaudible.
So how did the Ereboss perform in our testing?
The results were a little surprising to be honest. Performance in this test was nearly identical to that of the Themis Evo. While there was a lot of give and take between the two coolers, with the solid base rather than direct touch heatpipes vs. a larger number of pipes total, and the choice of a slim fan vs. the fan itself being larger, I would have though the larger surface area of the Ereboss alone would have garnered better temperatures. I’m interested to see which of the changes counteracted this obvious advantage. I may have to put it through another test with the fan from the Themis Evo in place of the Aeolus fan just to see the results.
Note that the Ereboss didn’t perform any worse than the Themis Evo at all. In fact, the graphs are nearly identical. The next category is where improvement was seen.
Noise levels:
When the system was first started and left to achieve a stable idle temp I had to make sure the fan on this cooler was turning. It was completely inaudible. As the test progressed and the temps climbed it did exactly what it was supposed to do and spun faster. While the noise level did increase, even at the peak temps in the test it was easily tolerable, even sitting right beside it. A huge improvement over the 120mm fan we tested with the Themis Evo.
