Thermal Performance

Test System

Test Methodology

A Xylem D5 pump, Aquaero 6 XT controller, and an EK-Quantum Surface X360M radiator with Phanteks T30-120 fans help complete the loop. The GPU is not placed in the loop to make the only source of heat the CPU, thus limiting testing to the CPU block itself. Average flow rate is set to 1 GPM and calibrated in-line temperature sensors are used to measure the coolant's temperature. Everything required is placed inside an environmental chamber with the ambient temperature set to 25 °C. Thermal paste cure time is taken into account, and three separate mounts/runs are done for statistical accuracy, and to remove chances of any mounting-related anomalies. For each run, a custom Prime95 test with small FFTs and AVX2 load is used, looping for 30 minutes, and CPU core temperatures are measured using AIDA64 with the average core temperature recorded at the end of each run. A delta T of CPU core and loop temperature is thus calculated for each run, with an average delta T that is then obtained across all three runs. This way, the cooling solution is taken out of the picture.

Test Results

Note that metal top blocks, such as this very Eisblock XPX Pro Aurora in its full brass version, tend to perform slightly better than the non-metal top blocks in my environmental chamber with active ventilation, owing to more uniform and efficient heat distribution. There are some blocks here which are socket-specific, and others such as this Alphacool one under review offer more compatibility, but also mean they are not necessarily designed to specifically perform as best as possible on the Intel LGA 1700 socket. These two factors add to the rest of the puzzle including the installation mechanism, and how well of a fit is achieved with uniform mounting pressure across the entirety of the CPU. The Eisblock XPX Pro Aurora full brass fares quite well in our tests, even besting some socket-specific blocks! The metal top contributes to this no doubt, but the bigger factor is the larger cold plate with increased heat transfer area that cost some coolant pressure drop, but comes in handy here. It's all mostly within error margins admittedly, so everyone else without vested interest should keep this in mind.