Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Plus Cooler Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. The Alpine 64 Plus Cooler4. Testing Methodology and Performance5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

We decided to use a powerful FX-8120 based system to test the cooler so we could really push it to its limits. We tested the system at stock settings and when overclocked to 3.6 GHz.

Test System

• Processor: AMD FX-8120
• Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional
• Memory: 8 GB Kingston HyperX Genesis 1600 MHz
• Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-4
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6950
• Graphics Card (noise tests): HIS Radeon HD 5550 Silence

For our temperature tests we set both fans to maximum and loaded the system for 15 minutes using Prime 95. We then restarted the system and left it idling at the desktop for 15 minutes before recording temperatures. Room temperature was maintained at 18 degrees Celsius for the duration of the tests.

These temperatures are quite toasty but this isn't surprising as bulldozer chips are renowned for running hot, especially when overclocked.  If you pair this cooler with one of AMD's APUs in a media system we expect that you could achieve a reasonable overclock.

To test the noise performance of the case we placed our digital dBA meter 1m from the front of the cooler and replaced the Radeon HD 6950 with a HD 5550 Silence.

Even with the fan running at full speed, the noise emitted by the cooler was below the 30 dBA minimum sensitivity of our noise level meter.  This cooler is very quiet indeed and is barely noticeable at all.  This makes it ideal for those building an HTPC.

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