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

At idle, Swiftech's H220-X manages to tie for the top spot at both stock and overclocked settings.

Typical Load Temperatures

In Wprime, the first typical load test, Swiftech's H220-X manages to eek out its first major victory by beating the Corsair H105 by 1°C with both stock and overclocked settings.


Firing up Aida64's CPU benchmark, Swiftech's new AIO again beats the Corsair H105 at stock but loses out to it by 1°C in the overclocked test, which I did not expect.

Max Load Temperatures

Now for the torture test. Using Aida 64 to produce as much heat as possible by putting a load on the CPU's FPU, Swiftech's H220-X is beaten by the Corsair H105 at stock while the H220-X wins out in the overclocked test. Such "flip-flopping" performance is again not what I expected initially. However, the noise and fan-speed results will shed some light on everything.