[section_title title=”CPU Performance”]
CPU Performance
Thermal performance is judged on four factors overall; the idle temperature at stock and overclocked speeds, as well as the temperatures at stock and overclocked under full load using Prime95. The system is then tested for a duration of five minutes before any readings are taken, with the average temperature across all four cores then noted down and used for the end results. All room temperatures are recorded beforehand as well as during the test to ensure that the Delta temperature is as accurate as possible.
With the test hardware firmly in place it’s time to find out how cool the Carbide 400C really is. To test the case CPU thermals we’ve chosen to use the Noctua NH-U9S. Which may seem a little unusual, but this little cooler offers not only punches above its weight in terms of thermal performance, but its compact size ensures it’ll fit inside almost every case conceivable (something that’ll be rather important when we start comparing case thermals in the future). Whilst at idle the i5 4690K was recorded to have a very low Delta temperature of just 7C. Yet even while the CPU is under full load and stressed to the max with Prime95, the Delta tops out at 30C which is pretty good even if the i5 is only at its stock speed.
However we all like to get a little something at no cost at all and one surefire way of getting exactly that is to overclock your CPU and gain a free performance boost (you’d be daft not to right???). Of course in doing so we also need to raise the power running to he CPU which also increases the heat it produces. With 1.2512v feeding the 4690K to boost its speed to a stable 4.5GHz we find very little difference in idle heat with just a 3C increase and a 10C Delta. Under stress this jumps up by a further 29C giving us a Delta of 59C (85C Max). Which actually shows us that both the 92mm Noctua CPU cooler and the Corsair Carbide 400C work rather nicely together.
