FrostyTech Mk.III Synthetic Thermal Heatsink Test Results Intel Core i7, Extreme Edition class heatsinks tested at a 200W heat load. Results based on readings from a 38x38mm copper interface die with 200W heat load on the Intel version of the Mk.III Test Platform. Temperature results listed for each heatsink were calculated by determining the rise over ambient temperatures at time of test. Information on Frostytech's test methodology is available here. Socket LGA2011/1366 compatible CPU heatsinks & AMD
manufacturer:	model no.:	*fan speed:	200w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
Coolermaster	Nepton 280L	high	10.6	58.8
Coolermaster	Nepton 140XL	high	11.8	59.6
Coolermaster	Seidon 240M	high	13.4	55.6
Silverstone	Tundra TD02	high	13.6	53.0
Coolermaster	Glacer 240L	high	14.1	52.5
NZXT	Kraken X60	high	14.5	60.7
Noctua	NH-D15	high	15.8	49.8
Noctua	NH-U14S		17.0	47.3
Coolermaster	Seidon 120V	high	17.5	54.3
NZXT	Kraken X40	high	18.2	59.4
Silverstone	Tundra TD03	high	18.7	58.1
Silverstone	Argon AR01	high	18.8	53.0
X2 Products	Eclipse IV	high	19.1	57.4
Coolermaster	Eisberg 240L	high	19.1	50.5
BeQuiet	Dark Rock Pro 3	high	19.5	43.7
Raijintek	Themis	high	19.7	52.8
Coolermaster	V8 GTS	high	20.0	59.7
BeQuiet	Dark Rock 3	high	20.9	41.8
Corsair	Hydro H80i	high	21.1	64.0
Noctua	NH-U12S		21.1	46.2
Raijintek	Ereboss	high	21.4	49.7
Zalman	Reserator 3 Max	high	21.6	58.9
Scythe	Mugen 4	high	21.7	41.9
Zalman	LQ315	high	21.9	50.8
Silverstone	NT06-P	high	22.1	51.6
Raijintek	Pallas	high	22.2	43.2
Raijintek	Aidos	high	23.0	55.6
Silentium	Fera2 HE1224	high	23.4	37.6
Zalman	LQ310	high	23.8	52.7
Scythe	Ashura Shadow (SCASR-1000SE)	high	24.2	51.4
Raijintek	Nemesis	high	24.6	47.8
BeQuiet	Shadow Rock Slim	high	24.7	40.4
BeQuiet	Shadow Rock 2	high	24.9	43.3
Zalman	LQ320	high	25.5	50.2
npowertek	NPH-1366-115HC (LGA1366)	high	28.7	44.8
Dynatron	G556 (LGA1366/2U)		29.1	68.4
Dynatron	G555 (LGA1366/2U)		30.4	67.8
Dynatron	G666 (LGA1366/2U)		31.8	68.7
Silverstone	NT01-Pro	high	35.8	40.4
nPowerTek	NPH1366-140HC (LGA1366)	high	36.3	48.1
Zalman	FX-100 (w/h ZM-F2 fan)		36.9	28.5
BeQuiet	Dark Rock 3	low	38.8	29.5
Dynatron	G199 (LGA1366/1U)		47.6	62.6
Zalman	FX-100 (hor, ver)		63.0	0.0
			200w thermal test (°c)	noise level (dba)
*heatsinks are ranked according to the 200w thermal test results column (rise over ambient temp.). low temperatures with low noise levels are considered best. for reference heatsinks with variable-speed fans, only the high speed (12v) fan test result is included in the comparison sheet; more detailed results reside in each specific heatsink review.

Frostytech's socket LGA2011 Intel synthetic thermal test platform stresses socket LGA2011/1366 compatible heatsinks with a 200W heat load. Keep in mind that the AMD Integrated Heat Spreader and Intel LGA2011 Integrated Heat Spreader both measure ~38x38mm, so these test results can be extrapolated to AMD processor scenario's as well.

With a 200W heat load applied by the Intel LGA2011/1366/AMD version of FrostyTech's synthetic thermal test platform, the BeQuiet Dark Rock 3 heatsink yielded a very good result of 20.9°C over ambient with at full fan speed. Slowing the 135mm PWM fan to 900RPM caused test temperatures to increase to a satisfactory 38.8°C over ambient.

Suffice to say, the BeQuiet Dark Rock 3 heatsink performs pretty close to the Pro version at stock fan speed, however when each heatsinks' fans are slowed down for the sake of quiet the gap widens substantially. On the 200W synthetic thermal test platform the Dark Rock 3 lags the Pro version by 15.5°C, on the 150W test this figure is about 11.8°C. BeQuiet have produced a great tower heatsink in the Dark Rock 3, at full fan speed it offers competitive thermal performance with relatively very low noise output.

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