Benchmarks: stock frequency
To get the ball rolling, we keep the wicked-fast Core i7 980x to stock speeds.
Intel's chip is able to speedstep down to just 1.6GHz when idle, and with the system consuming in the region of 135W, CPU heat simply isn't an issue.
All six comparison coolers perform well, but Corsair's Hydro H70 comes out marginally ahead and almost manages to keep core temperature on par with ambient temperature.
Crank up the load by running Prime95 on all twelve threads and power draw rises to 245W as things begin to heat up.
At this point, Corsair's Hydro H70 performs in the region of 9 per cent better than last year's H50. Adding a second fan to the H50 certainly helps, but the H70 is clearly an improvement and offers the lowest temperatures on show.
Looking at the air coolers, the Prolimatech Megahalems surprises with exceptional performance but it's worth noting that only 2.6°C separates the delta temperatures between all six competitors.
Intel's reference 980X cooler, despite finishing up in last place, still offers plenty of performance considering its frugal £10 asking price.
