Threadripper 3990X CPU Cooling Comparison – Taming the Beast

1. Introduction - Taming the 64-core Beast2. Test Samples - IceGiant, Noctua, be quiet!, Corsair3. Testing on the 3990X - Our Approach4. Test Procedures5. PBO-1000 Testing - CPU Temperatures and Power6. PBO-1000 Testing - VRM Temperatures7. PBO-1000 Testing - Clock Speeds and Cooling Dynamics8. Manual OC Testing - CPU Temperatures9. Manual OC Testing - CPU Power and VRM Temperatures10. Noise Testing11. What's Going On With be quiet! and Cooler Master?12. Closing Thoughts - Cooling Threadripper 3990X is Tough!13. View All Pages

IceGiant ProSiphon Elite Air Cooler:

IceGiant's ProSiphon Elite 2019 prototype is a 240mm width class, 1020-gram air-type CPU cooler with side-by-side fan mounting. The unit is a gravity-driven, two-phase cooling solution that leverages thermosiphon technology instead of conventional heatpipes. That thermosiphon cooling technology is used to transfer heat away from the all-aluminium design's evaporator base unit. Thermal energy boils the internal dielectric fluid, the vapour from which travels through the condensers and dumps its heat off to the fin array, before the vapour is condensed back to liquid and is gravity-fed back to the evaporator for the continuous cycle to repeat.

Two condenser cores are mounted horizontally through the densely packed aluminium fin array, though the 2020 version is set to have three condenser cores with more fins per row. Clearly, the ProSiphon Elite is designed for high performance cooling with limited low-noise operation. That point is reinforced by the inclusion of two 2200 RPM 120mm PWM fans; the 2020 version is suggested to ship with a pair of 2500 RPM blowers. Pre-order pricing for the 2020 edition is currently $120 USD but the MSRP is likely to be $150 after launch in Summer 2020.

Modern Intel and AMD sockets will be supported, and the evaporator base is full cover for Threadripper. As this is a gravity-driven thermosiphon CPU cooler, the unit can only be used with the motherboard mounted in the horizontal upright or vertical upright orientations. This is perfectly fine given that those two orientations cover the vast majority of the enthusiast market. IceGiant's suggestion is that the thermosiphon cooling technology is better able to handle extremely high heat loads as the competing air coolers with conventional heatpipes are likely to saturate (or ‘dry out') and suffer from severely impaired cooling performance.

This, according to IceGiant, gives the ProSiphon Elite the relative positives of air cooling (from a reliability and longevity perspective) with the ability to handle high heat loads that would typically require liquid cooling alternatives. According to IceGiant, a best of both worlds, so to speak.

We suggest that you read the IceGiant blog (HERE) and product page (HERE) for more details.

Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 Air Cooler:

Noctua's NH-U14S TR4-SP3 is a 140mm-class, 865-gram single tower heatsink with six heatpipes in a U-shaped orientation. The ‘TR4-SP3' naming scheme denotes the Threadripper-sized baseplate. This evidently thick and sturdy baseplate is made from nickel-plated copper, as are the heatpipes that connect with the single aluminium fin array.

A single 1500 RPM version of the 140mm A15 PWM fan is supplied with the roughly £70 CPU cooler. Another £20 spend gets a retail version of the A15 PWM fan that is rated at 1200 RPM and can be used in push-pull configuration. Noctua's overall cooler design is clearly optimised for a strong balance between thermal cooling performance and noise output.

More details can be found on Noctua's product page (HERE). Read our full review of the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 CPU cooler HERE.

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro TR4 Air Cooler:

be quiet!'s TR4 flagship is a dual 135mm-class tower heatsink that is connected to the Threadripper-sized copper base. Seven 6mm heatpipes transfer heat to the 90-fin aluminium array. The cooler is rated for a TDP of 250W according to be quiet!, whatever that means and however that is measured.

At the front is a 120mm 1500 RPM Silent Wings 3 PWM fan. A 135mm 1200 RPM Silent Wings PWM fan sits in the centre location, beneath a metal top cover that adds structural rigidity and will also absorb some noise output. As was the case with Noctua's sTRX/TR4/SP3-only CPU cooler, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro TR4 is also clearly optimised for low noise operation given its fan choice and fin spacing. UK availability price is currently around £75.

More details can be found on the be quiet! product page (HERE). Read our full review of the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro TR4 CPU cooler HERE.

Corsair iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT 280mm AIO Liquid Cooler:

Corsair's iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT is a 280mm closed-loop liquid cooler with black sleeved tubing made from ‘low permeation' rubber. The conventionally sized – 56mm x 56mm – copper cold plate supports all modern Intel and AMD platforms but does not provide complete coverage for the Threadripper heatspreader. CoolIT OEM design is followed for the 2700 RPM pump unit.

Low-noise operation is clearly not a primary design goal given the densely packed fin array of the aluminium radiator. A pair of 140mm ML140 PWM fans are deployed and feature a maximum rotational speed of 2000 RPM. Pump speed, fan speed, and RGB lighting can be controlled using Corsair's iCUE OS software. Pricing in the UK is around £132 currently.

More details can be found on the Corsair product page (HERE). Read our full review of the Corsair iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT CPU cooler HERE.

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