Since i7 processors made their appearance cpu coolers compatible with Lga1366 were very few. But as time was passing more and more manufacturers presented i7 compatible cpu coolers. It is hard for someone to choose the best out of all these coolers that are available because there are many designs and types.

We have seen some cpu coolers that are compatible with i7 processors, but it is better for someone to have them all together. So in this i7 cpu cooler round-up I gathered 14 of the most known cpu coolers from Cooler Master, Noctua, Xigmatek, Prolimatech, Evercool, Glacialtech, Nexus, NesteQ and Thermalright!

Lets move on to the coolers tested!

1. Cooler Master Hyper Z600 (w/ NF-S12B fan)

2. Cooler Master V8

3. Cooler Master V10

4. Noctua NH-U12P SE

5. Xigmatek Cobra D984(with retention kit)

6. Xigmatek Achilles S1284C(with retention kit)

7. Prolimatech Megahalems (w/ NF-S12B fan)

8. Glacialtech UFO V51 Silent

9. Nexus FLC-3000

10. Nexus LOW-7000

11. NesteQ Silent Freezer 1200

12. NesteQ Silent Freezer 900 (with retention kit)

13. Evercool HPK-10025EA

14. Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme (w/ NF-S12B fan)

Let's see the testing methodology.

Heatsink testing methodology

• Each heatsink test consists of two parts, Real Test and Synthetic Test.
• Real Testing is performed in a real system, while Synthetic is done using methods that simulate thermal loads.
• Stable thermal loads are used in order to have accurate results, more specifically thermal load is produced by power resistors.
• The thermal load wattage is 30,60,90,120,150,180,210 watts. This covers a really wide range of processors and also overclocked states at wattages of 180 and 210 watts.
• Temp readings are taken from a sensor inside a copper plate that is the exact size of the processor tested in order to simulate the cpu with the best way.
• For reading the temperature I am using a high sensitivity digital multimeter.
• Thermal paste used in each test is Noctua NT-H1 because it has very quick break-in time.
• The copper piece that simulates the processor is not perfectly sanded, because the actual processor heatspreaders are never mirror polished.This happens again to have as accurate results as possible.
• Sound pressure levels are measured with a high sensitivity digital sound pressure meter, from 20cm away of the cooler inside a sound proof box to eliminate any external noise of echo.   

System used for the test

• CPU:Intel core i7-950 @ 3.6Ghz
• Mobo:EVGA X58 Sli
• VGA:Dual MSI GTX 260@ Sli
• Memory:Adata 6Gb kit
• HDD: 4x Seagate 500Gb
• PSU: Seasonic M12D 850w

Now let's move to the testing!

TESTING PART 1 - Real Testing

TESTING PART 2 - Synthetic Testing

This is mainly to double check the results of the real testing, the chart is huge and not so easy to read but I couldn't shrink it more,it would have become very difficult to read it. 

TESTING PART 3 - Sound Pressure Level

It would be unfair to place all coolers at the same table when trying to pull out results and conclusions, so I will only write what impressed me and will not list all coolers.If someone wants to see more detailed results for a specific cooler there are dedicated reviews of each one at the corresponding section.

So....let's have a look at the winners!

Performance

The absolute winner regarding performance is Cooler Master V10, followed by Prolimatech Megahalems and Noctua NH-U12P SE with a slight difference in temperature.

Also Xigmatek Cobra has the best performance in the second category(fan under 12cm).

Noise

Intel Stock cooler has the lowest noise levels at low fan speed, but the winner is the Xigmatek Achilles which has the lowest noise levels out of the box. The other coolers that surpassed it were having Noctua NF-S12B fan so they are out of competition since the noise is paired with the fan used.

Appearance

Cooler Master V10 and V8 have a great design and along with Glacialtech UFO V51 get the top 3 positions for the apearance.

Innovation

Innovation is the other name of Cooler Master V10, the massive heatsink combined with TEC is the winner!

HTPC

For HTPC use where low profile cooler is required, the best performing was the Evercool HPK-10025EA

Value for money

Value for money is something diffcult to say, but Xigmatek Achilles(low price/high performance/fan included), Noctua NH-U12P SE(very rich bundle/high performance/two fans included) and Cooler Master V8(high performance/fan included) are at the top because of their features.

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For all the above:

CoolerMaster V10 is given the "Editors Choice" and "Innovation" awards, and also the "Gold" award for being the highest performing cpu cooler in this round-up.

Xigmatek Achilles is given the "Low Noise", "Value for Money" and "Best in it's class" awards.

Noctua NH-U12P SE is given the "Editors choice" , "Best in its class" and "Value for money" awards.

 

GlacialTech UFO V51 is given the "Design" award.

Evercool HPK-10025EA is given the "Best in its class" award

And at last Xigmatek Cobra,Prolimatech Megahalems and Coolermaster V8 are given the "Recommended" award.