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Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 CPU cooler review

by Parm Mann on 11 July 2011, 09:00 4.0

Tags: Antec

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Test methodology

To put the performance of the KÜHLER H2O 920 into perspective, we're testing the unit in a high-end Intel Core i7 system and comparing benchmark results with a range of alternative air- and liquid-coolers. A detailed description of our test system and all six comparison coolers can be found in the tables below.

Test Bench

Processor Intel Core i7 980X (3.33GHz, 12MB L3 cache, hexa-core)
Motherboard ASUS P6X58D Premium
Memory Corsair Dominator 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 @ 1,600MHz
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Disk drive 120GB SSD
Optical drive Generic 24x DVD-RW
Chassis Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
Power supply Corsair HX1000W
Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Comparison Coolers

Cooler Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 Corsair Hydro Series H70 Corsair Hydro Series H60 Corsair Hydro Series H50 Noctua NH-D14 Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B Intel DBX-B
Cooler type Liquid Liquid Liquid Liquid Air Air Air
Fan(s) 2x Antec 120mm 2x Corsair 120mm Corsair 120mm Corsair 120mm Noctua NF-P14 & Noctua NF-P12 2x Akasa Apache Black 120mm Intel 100mm
Maximum fan speed 2,400RPM 2,000 RPM 1,700 RPM 1,700 RPM 1,300 RPM 1,300 RPM 1,800 RPM
Radiator dimensions Width: 120mm
Height: 151mm
Depth: 49mm
Width: 120mm
Height: 152mm
Depth: 48mm
Width: 120mm
Height: 152mm
Depth: 27mm
Width: 120mm
Height: 152mm
Depth: 27mm
- - -
Pump / Heatsink dimensions
(inc. fans)
Height: 29mm
Diameter: 74mm
Height: 30mm
Diameter: 74mm
Height: 30mm
Width: 66mm 
Depth: 66mm
Height: 55mm
Diameter: 70mm
Height: 160mm
Width: 140mm
Depth: 158mm
Height: 159mm
Width: 130mm
Depth: 124mm
Height: 140mm
Width: 100mm
Depth: 70mm
Approx. price (inc. fans) £80 £75 £60 £50 £65 £65 N/A

Benchmark Process

To get a feel for how well all of the above coolers compare, we start by running the Core i7 980X at its default frequency and record the temperature each minute for 30 minutes whilst the system idles. We then repeat the process with the system under load (defined as Prime95 tasking all 12 threads).

We then do it all over again, only this time with the Core i7 980X processor overclocked to 4.15GHz and CPU voltage increased from 1.2V to 1.35V.

Temperature for each of the CPU's six cores is logged every minute, and in order to provide stabilised readings, we then calculate an average across all cores from the last 10 minutes of testing.

Actual CPU temperature is recorded, but to take into account any temperature fluctuations in our lab, we also graph the delta temperature - that's CPU temperature minus ambient temperature.

Finally, we overclock the Core i7 980X chip a further few notches to see how the cooler copes in extreme scenarios, and we use a PCE-318 noise level meter to provide an assessment on noise.

Notes

During testing, our Corsair Obsidian Series 800D chassis is equipped with its default fan configuration; a 140mm drive-bay fan, a 140mm lower compartment fan and a 140mm rear exhaust. The rear exhaust is removed and replaced by the radiator/fan when testing the liquid coolers.

To get an idea of how the KÜHLER H2O 920's fan modes vary, we test the cooler in both its Extreme and Silent modes. All other coolers are configured for optimum cooling performance, but users should note that Noctua's gargantuan NH-D14 is simply too big to implement horizontally in our Obsidian Series 800D chassis and had to be used with its fans facing upward. As a result, one of its two fans is in close proximity to the GPU and with no top exhaust in our chassis, it delivers sub-optimal results.