Cooling Performance Testing
My previous motherboard died before I got to test this hardware, so unfortunately I was forced to upgrade my system, as it was just not cost effective to repair a DDR2 system. After I quickly got over this disappointment, I set up my brand new 6 core Phenom II with a stock cooler. In my other reviews, I was never able to offer a comparison directly against a stock cooler, as I had usually bought OEM CPUs in the past. I started this process out with the stock cooler, which is the first stock cooler I have run in probably 10 years.
I also ran the Cooler Master Hyper TX2, which was the first heat pipe cooler I ever owned with my first dual core processor, an Athlon X2 4200+. This cooler is comparable in size to the Spire Kepler Pro, as well as a baseline used in some earlier reviews on the previous hardware. Installation of this cooler is not as simple though, since the retention clip is 2 pieces that fall apart until the appropriate tension is in place.
Idle temperatures were taken after leaving the system unattended for 30 minutes following a cold boot. Load temperatures were taken after 30 minutes of running Prime95's In-place large FFTs. Temperatures were monitored using the MSI Control Center and OpenHardwareMonitor (openhardwaremonitor.org). AMD Cool'n'Quiet was disabled to prevent the hardware from trying to target a certain temperature and to minimize differences caused by clock speed variation.
First up are the CPU temperature results (in degrees Celsius):
Next up are the system temperature results (in degrees Celsius):
Installed in case
Size comparison - Kepler Pro, CM TX2, AMD stock (left to right)
Spire Kepler Pro CPU Cooler
The Spire Kepler Pro performed admirably. While operating temperatures were not drastically different, the noise level certainly was. At idle, the AMD stock fan operated around 4000 rpm, which wasn't an issue. However, under load this fan had to spin up to 5500 rpm, generating a noise that made me want to wear ear plugs. On consumer PC's, this would be acceptable, and it gets the job done. However, on gaming and high end systems, CPU utilization isn't expected to be an uncommon occurrence. When I was digitizing my DVD library, my system would be running 100% encoding MP4's for days on end. Every aftermarket cooler I've tested has been able to keep the loaded CPU running cool without generating additional noise, but the Spire Kepler Pro really shines in ease of installation.
With a MSRP of $38.95 USD, this cooler fits into the mid-tier category of CPU cooler pricing. But there's also a good chance the street price would bring this cooler down to a more competitive price point. Unfortunately, I was not able to find this cooler available for sale in the US. It's not uncommon to find OEM CPUs available for enough of a discount to completely offset the price of a decent aftermarket cooler. If they are available in your location, I would definitely recommend this cooler as a simple to install and much quieter alternative to a stock cooler.
Pros: Quiet operation; overall decent cooling performance; ease of installation.
