We won’t put too much emphasis on PBO results, but we will spend some time to quickly analyse them using our full fan speed data.
With 90C the maximum target temperature for PBO, we are looking for the cooler that achieves the balance between lower temperature operation and higher PBO clock speeds. Higher clocks with lower temperatures are better. But one cooler may run at slightly higher temperatures than another, albeit with higher clock speeds, so look out for that.
In essence, this test is showing us how far the coolers can be pushed while keeping a sensible 90C maximum. Or whether there is more room for pushing clocks and power delivery beyond the PBO limits while still sticking to a 90C target.
The same exceptional cooling performance continues with our PBO test. This time, the Fractal cooler manages the same power cooled as the Asetek Phanteks competitor, but it is behind on the CPU clock measure by a very slim margin.
G.SKILL's ENKI 360 AIO – the other 360mm comparison cooler – is beaten by Fractal's Lumen S36 RGB.