Page 5 - Cooling Test Results
Out test configuration is as follows;
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
CPU Cooling: Included CPU cooling solution (Modified Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML280 Mirror)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B660-I Gaming WiFi
Graphics: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 TI
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-6000 2x16GB
Storage: Patriot P400 1TB
Power: Included PSU (Cooler Master V850 SFX Gold 850W)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
All tests were run in our custom-built computer to best reflect real-life performance. The computer remained in the same place and room for all tests. The ambient temperature of the room was roughly 21 degrees Celsius. The thermal paste applied to each cooler was stock respective to their manufacturers to rate its performance. Sufficient time between testing was applied for the paste to settle. The fans on all coolers, if applicable, were connected to the same motherboard's 4-pin connector. The test computer was turned on and idling for at least one hour for the idling tests. High CPU load results were obtained using the Prime95 in place large FFTs test with a maximum number of worker threads for a minimum of 15 minutes and recorded when the temperature was deemed stable.
For the first test, I let my computer sit idle for a while. After about an hour, I shook my mouse to wake my computer up. We can see the liquid cooler maintained the Core i5-12600K at around 25 degrees Celsius, which is a pretty low temperature. While this is a good start, idle tests do not give a full representation of the cooling capabilities, thus leading us into our load tests.
Starting Prime95 and giving the processor ample time to load up all the cores and threads, we can see how the cooler and chassis performs when the processor is under heavy stress. The modified ML280 Mirror performed solidly here too, peaking at 75 degrees Celsius. This is a pretty good peak temperature as it did not exceed 80 degrees Celsius, which is something we have seen with other coolers on Intel chips. I observed the boost frequency throughout the test, which was 4.9 GHz across all cores. The liquid cooler performed very well in our tests.
Sound is often perceived differently by people, but we try to make our subjective audio tests as objective as possible. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is silence and 10 is an EDM festival, I would rate this liquid cooler around 1.5/10 when idle and 3.0/10 when under full load. The SickleFlow 140 fans emit a relatively low level of noise, even when under full load. Under day-to-day use, these fans are quieter, although still audible. One reality users will have to face when purchasing an AIO cooler is there will be more moving parts in the system, which makes for more sources of noise. The pump emitted a low humming sound at full speed, which was relatively quiet. At normal speed though, the pump is basically inaudible.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation
5. Cooling Test Results
6. Conclusion
