Test System & Temperature Results

Test System

Testing Procedure

All testing is done at a room temperature of 23°C (73°F) and 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, The C7 performs well at stock, falling in line with most tested coolers. With the CPU overclocked, the higher static voltage has CPU temperature climb to 36°C, which, while not the worst temperature recorded among these coolers, is quite the leap regardless.

Typical Load Temperatures

The C7 does well in Wprime despite its tiny size. It loses to the Noctua NH-L9x65 at both stock and overclocked; however, considering the CRYORIG C7 is nearly half the price, it's not a landslide victory in favor of Noctua.


Firing up Aida64's CPU benchmark, CRYORIG's C7 again falls behind Noctua's NH-L9x65. At stock, it's 5°C behind, but once the CPU has been overclocked, the gap shrinks to 2°C. Yes, that result is surprising, and I had to double check, so I rebenched both, but that's the result. CRYORIG's C7 somehow managed to gain some ground in the OC portion of this test.

Max Load Temperatures

CRYORIG's C7 quite the tiny cooler, the FPU test proved to be too much. Keep in mind that the test system has no active cooling, and as such, the mighty but tiny C7 suffers, just barely surviving the FPU test at stock. Amazingly, the CPU did not thermal throttle. Once the CPU is overclocked, however, the C7, much like the Noctua NH-L9x65, fails to survive, which has the CPU thermal throttle.