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

The ETS-N30 falls towards the back of the pack at idle, with respective readings of 31°C and 34°C at stock and when overclocked.

Typical Load Temperatures

The ETS-N30 again ends up near the back of the pack. This time, it's just 1°C away from tying the NZXT's Respire T40 at the very bottom. Meanwhile with the system overclocked, the cooler manages to get within striking distance of the similarly priced and sized Scythe Katana 4 and Raijintek Aidos. While both competing options perform a bit better, one is more expensive the other is hard to find.


Pushing a heavier workload with AIDA64's CPU stability test has the ETS-N30 do better by comparing favorably to the Katana 4 and Aidos.

Max Load Temperatures

Using AIDA64's FPU stability test to push CPU load levels to the maximum, it becomes clear that the ETS-N30 just can't get the job done. Remount after remount saw the same results. It performed well enough at stock; however, with the CPU overclocked and voltages increased to 1.2v, it crossed the thermal throttle point and failed the test. The cooler may have passed the test in an environment with more fans, but on our test system which only considers the cooler's performance, it failed. However, that was never the goal with this cooler. Its goal is to be a quiet stock replacement, a goal it fulfills.