Testing and Results
I used the following rig to test the Alpine 11:
| CPU: | Intel Core i7 2600k |
| Motherboard: | Gigabyte P67a-UD4-B3 |
| Ram: | G.Skill RipjawsX 2133MHz |
| PSU: | CoolerMaster Silent Pro Hybrid 1300w |
| Case: | CoolerMaster Cosmos II Ultra-ATX |
I ran CPU at 100% stock settings (3.5GHz with Turbo enabled, which it is at stock) and 4GHz with a fair bit more vcore than needed to make it a nastier load, below are CPUz screenshots of both test speeds:
The Alpine 11 was tested with the MX4 paste as well as with ArcticAlumina Cermique 2 (different Arctic, Arctic Alumina is made by the Arctic Silver company), the Intel stock cooler was tested with ArcticAlumina Cermique 2.
First, stock clocks results:
The Intel cooler is terrible, fairly obviously. A rise of 44.4c over ambient means that if your room temp is 28c your core temps are somewhere in the region of 78c. That’s at 100% stock clocks!
The Alpine 11 PLUS however keeps the temps over ten degrees lower, and is quieter to boot. That MX4 beats AA-Ceramique2 is unsurprising, MX4 is one of the best thermal compounds out there.
Next, the results for 4GHz with more voltage than such an overclock generally takes.
Ouch. Core temps for the stock cooler were in the mid 90s, not good! The Alpine 11 PLUS did surprisingly well for a low profile cooler with no heatpipes, I’m impressed!
Equally impressive is that even with the fan at 100% I couldn’t hear the cooler unless I took the side of the case off and stuck my head inside. For the MSRP of $14.95, this is an impressive cooler indeed.
