Test System and Temperature Results

Test System

Testing Procedure

All testing is done at a room temperature of 23°C (73°F) with a 1°C margin of error. The coolers are tested with Turbo, EIST, and C1E enabled, which will allow the CPU to clock down to a low 1.6 GHz while idle, or clock up to proper speeds under stock and overclocked conditions. The retail Intel Core i7-4770K I use for testing at stock is set to load-optimized defaults with the CPU's voltage at a static 1.15 V. Overclocked, the processor is running at 4.2 GHz on the CPU and 3.9 GHz on cache, with respective voltages set to 1.20 V and 1.15 V. During all these tests, fans are set to run at 100% in the BIOS, with temperatures being recorded by AIDA64.

The idle test will consist of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 15 minutes. This will allow for a stable temperature reading that will be recorded at the end of those 15 minutes.

Wprime's and AIDA64's CPU test represent typical multi-threaded loads. Both offer consistent results, with one being a benchmarking application and the other a stability test. Both are run for 15 minutes before the peak reading during the test is recorded and taken as the result. This test lets enthusiasts know what temperatures they can expect to see with games and applications. Wprime is set to eight threads while AIDA64 is configured to stress the CPU, FPU, cache, and system memory.

AIDA64 offers maximum heat generation when set to stress just the FPU in the stability test, which will really push the CPU. This test represents extreme loads much like LinX, Prime95, and other extreme stress tests many users are familiar with.

Idle Temperatures

I took the idle temperature readings after letting the system sit idle, and while the Prolimatech Black Series Genesis does not take top honors, it is not at the bottom of the chart either, but the general temperature range between best- and worst-performing cooler is only 1-5°C in idle.

Typical Load Temperatures

At stock, Prolimatech's cooler again manages to climb up the chart, tying the likes of the much larger Phanteks PH-TC14PE at 58°C in Wprime, though it falls back a few spots with the overclock, placing 2°C behind the same Phanteks cooler.


The Black Series Genesis cooler from Prolimatech falls even further down the chart in AIDA64's CPU Stability test. Under typical loads and with the supplied fans, performance is looking rather lackluster compared to far cheaper competitors, like the recently reviewed Scythe Mugen 4 and Raijintek's Ereboss.

Max Load Temperatures

Things start to change once the FPU test is loaded and our CPU torture test begins. The Genesis again fails to impress at stock; however, it manages to claw its way back toward the top in our overclock test, but is still outperformed by cheaper offerings from the competition, like Deepcool's Gamer Storm Assassin.