Test Rig Details

Time to hit the road and put this Spire CoolGate CPU cooler to some testing. We went ahead and used our well know AGP test system that comes equipped with an Intel P4 Prescott processor for socket 478. This is one hell of a processor as it previously allowed some major overclocking, so we will see what the CoolGate will bring. Let's check out the specifications...

• Intel Pentium 4 (Prescott) 3.0GHz CPU
• ASUS P4P800 Deluxe Mainboard
• Crucial Ballistix 2x 512MB (DDR500) Dual Channel Memory
• PNY GeForce 6800 GT (NV40) 256MB AGP
• 1x Maxtor Diamond Max 9 200GB IDE (UDMA133) HDD
• Plextor PX-130A DVD-ROM Drive
• Speeze RockeTeer 600W Power Supply
• Cooler Master Cool Drive 6 HDD Cooling
• Cooler Master ATC-200 Case

This is a very common system that most can relate to as hardware components and performance. Indeed it is not state of the art but can still keep up with the daily tasks and games. And this system is an excellent base towards gaining some extra performance by means of overclocking the CPU and DDR memory. So we have all it takes to put the CoolGate CPU cooler to some serious testing.

I just love the blueish glow, and the CoolGate heatsink is spreading this blue glow to a further extend. I couldn't get a better cooler to show of the blue glow which comes from the RockeTeer power supply. The CoolGate fits nicely and did really impress us due to its limited size and weight.

To get a full view I couldn't just go on without showing of some extra impressions while the system is running. The CoolGate nicely integrated into the MVKTech test system. But the question still remains, how good are the cooling abilities of the CoolGate CPU cooler.

Benchmark Analysis

Now, before starting with the first part of the analysis I would like to mention the noise that the CoolGate gives off. It is barely noticeable and frankly quieter than the stock Intel fan. The fan speed reported of the CoolGate was as specified at 3.700 RPM. Next we will check the temp reading of the Spire CoolGate versus the stock Intel CPU cooler. This will be done by looking at the reporting temperature of the CPU during idle and full load operation.

Idle Operation

	Room	Ambient	CPU
Stock Intel Cooler	23.2°C	27.6°C	36.4°C
CoolGate Cooler	23.2°C	27.7°C	33.7°C

Looking at the results put down by both heatsinks we can't complain that much as at idle operation these perform quite adequately. When looking at the performance difference we can see that the CoolGate delivers a better score than the stock Intel cooler. Of course during idle operation it doesn't yet show its full potential.

Full Load Operation

	Room	Ambient	CPU
Stock Intel Cooler	23.2°C	28.3°C	51.6°C
CoolGate Cooler	23.2°C	28.1°C	44.1°C

Going further we used a program to put the CPU to work at full load which was accomplished by using decryption software, namely RC5-72/OGRp2 Distributed Client. This will stress the CPU and keep it running at full load while the program is running. Upon checking the temp reading we can clearly see that the CoolGate is pulling away from the stock Intel heatsink and shows of some decent results. So at full load we can clearly state that the CoolGate is the preferred cooling solution.