ZEROtherm Core 92 Review

Testing:

To test the ZEROtherm Core 92 CPU heat sink, it was installed with the included thermal paste and tested in four intervals. The first two intervals tested the heat sink with the Core i7 920 running at stock speed with no turbo for a base run, with normal heat load at idle in Vista, and then loaded with Prime95 small FFT's in half hour intervals. The two intervals were then repeated with the processor overclocked to 3.33GHz (166BCLK x 20 multiplier). The CPU voltage was set to 1.25V, and the testing was done inside a case for real world results rather than on a test-bench in open air. The Core 92 will be pitted against the Gelid Silent Spirit, which is another 92mm heat sink, along with the stock Intel heat sink and three behemoth 120mm heat sinks. Ambient temperature was 76F (~24.5C), and the resulting temperatures are rounded out averages of the temperature for each core.

Testing System:

• Processor: Intel i7 920
• Motherboard: MSI X58 Platinum
• Memory: Mushkin HP3 12800 3x2GB DDR3
  
• Video Card: nVidia GTX260 216sp
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800 watt Modular power supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Western Digital Green 1TB SATA
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit SP1

Comparison Heat sinks:

• Evercool Transformer 4
• Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ(RB)
• Stock Intel i7 Heatsink
• Gelid Silent Spirit
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366

Overall, the ZEROtherm Core 92 performed great, putting up a nice fight for its size. It idled higher than the others, but at load it bested the Gelid and stock Intel heat sinks by far, and came close to the Transformer 4, which has two 120mm fans versus the single 92mm fan found on the Core 92. Definitely a good showing; this petite heat sink did very well.