Mild OC Testing
For our Mild OC testing, we have configured our CPU to run 4300MHz on all cores, set the voltage to 1.15V, and configured memory to XMP mode. This yields an approximate power at the wall of 450w under load (a 350w differential from idle, which pulls about 100w). This results in the CPU running at 4.3GHz on all cores during the looping rounds of Cinebench R20. You can read more about this in our introduction article here.
Max Fans – 100% Pump Speed
Running our AIOs at full tilt on fans and pumps lead to the SilverStone IceGem 280 being tied with the Corsair H115i Platinum as the being the best performing 280mm cooler at 73 degrees Celsius. The only cooler to do better was the 360mm SilverStone PF-360RGB at 71 degrees Celsius.
1500 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed
Bringing the fans down to 1,500 RPM brought the Silverstone IceGem 280 and Corsair H115i Platinum back to the front of the pack at 74 degrees Celsius. This was also better performing than all of the 360mm coolers we have seen to date.
1000 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed
With the fans set to 1,000 RPM, the SilverStone IceGem 280 moves ahead of the competition by a not insignificant 3 degrees Celsius. The Corsair H115i Platinum, the only other 280mm cooler we have seen, came in at 84 degrees Celsius. Various other 360mm and 240mm coolers also trailed this unit.
600 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed
At the 600 RPM fan speed and 100% pump speeds, all of the units let the temperature get out of control and thermal throttling kicked in as the CPU temperature reached above 98 degrees Celsius except for the SilverStone IceGem 280. The SilverStone IceGem 280 came in at 96 degrees Celsius with 100% pump speed which is passing. This is the first cooler to be successful in this scenario that we have tested, however, it passed by the hair of its chinny chin chin – we’d suggest going with a minimum of 1000 RPM here.
Of course, we tried out the 50% pump speed options and the thermal brakes were put on rather promptly.
Let’s move on now to look at some Max Overclocking results with our coolers.