Today's Hard|Forum Post
Today's Hard|Forum Post
Date:
Tuesday , September 22, 2015
Author:
Marc Adams
Editor:
Kyle Bennett
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CRYORIG H7 CPU Air Cooler Review

CRYORIG mates its Hive Fin Technology with a smaller design that allows for better RAM module fitment without interference with its H7 CPU Air Cooler. Its "compact" 145mm tall design, excellent mounting configuration, and dollar value are winners for sure. Its new Quad Air Inlet™ fan design gives us high hopes about its performance.

Introduction

Recently we reviewed the CRYORIG H5 Universal CPU air cooler and it left us with generally positive experience. With great bang-for-the-buck performance, the CRYORIG H5 showed us that air cooling still has a place in your PC as long as you’re not looking for the best-of-the-best cooling. That may seem like an underhanded compliment but as enthusiasts it’s easy to forget that not everyone uses the highest end CPU with the maximum overclock. I know crazy, right?

With the CRYORIG H7 it is hoping to take the formula that worked so well with the CRYORIG H5 and scale it down a bit for users of smaller system footprints. CRYORIG has been doing a nice job of building a solid reputation and we are excited to see what this "little" cooler can do.

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System Setup

Today's review takes place on our fourth generation [H]ard platform. The test bed consists of the ASUS Z87-Deluxe motherboard, eight gigabytes of Corsair 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM and the Intel Core i7-4770K.

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Test Methods

CPU

The biggest change you will notice is the removal of hardware testing. In recent years, Intel has shifted its methods of testing to software based and so we find it acceptable to do the same.

GPU

Once again we have an integrated GPU in our processor which alleviates the need for a discrete one. With the removal of a discrete GPU comes the advantage of not having an additional variable to account for.

The iGPU will not create any anomalies in our testing as long as we practice consistent testing methods.

Case

Corsair was kind enough to provide us with its Carbide series chassis. It provides excellent airflow and interior space and is a good reflection on current case design.

Thermal Paste

Noctua's NT-H1 thermal paste was selected as the thermal interface material (TIM) of choice for a few key reasons. The thermal paste has been shown to provide excellent thermal conductivity allowing the heat sinks to better do its job. There is no observed curing time. That is, performance does not get any better over time. Any curing time could have introduced variables into the equation causing at best dubious results and at worst unreliable ones.

Temperatures

Ambient temperature will be kept at 25C for the duration of the tests and measured with a MicroTemp EXP non-contact infrared thermometer and cross referenced with the Sperry Digital 4 Point thermometer. Any variance greater then 0.2C will halt the testing until temperatures return within spec for fifteen minutes.

Idle

Idle temperatures will be recorded after a twenty minute period of inactivity. Any fluctuation during the last sixty seconds will reset the timer for an additional five minutes.

Load

Load temperatures will be recorded after a twenty minute period for air cooled systems, and thirty minutes for liquid cooled systems, at 100% load. To obtain this load we will be using AIDA64 Extreme Edition v3.00.2500. This places an even greater load on the CPU than before and includes some benefits. Because the load is so extreme we see the temperature vary wildly from 72C to 86C in some instances. To get an accurate reading we will utilize AIDA64’s ability to average the temperature over time. Given twenty/thirty minutes at 100% load we arrive at a temperature that accurately represents our heatsink’s performance.

Sound

Sound levels will be measured with a Reliability Direct AR824 sound meter from a distance of four feet away. With everything turned off and the room completely silent the meter registered a sound level of 38dB(A). This is a very quiet room where a simple pin drop could be heard. All sound measurements are recorded in the very late evening to further reduce any ambient noise.