Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP CPU Cooler Review
Thermal Testing Gaming
OC3D CPU Cooler Gaming Test
With this new CPU testing rig, we wanted to experiment with analysing the “gaming” performance of CPU coolers. After all, all-core stress tests are not a common workload for most PC users. Games do not usually put huge levels of stress on all cores of your processor, especially if your CPU has a high core count. We also wanted to see if your choice of CPU cooler impacts GPU thermals under a GPU-focused stress test. After all, your CPU cooler can have a huge impact on the overall airflow pattern of your PC.
This testing procedure uncovered something. What we found was that AIO CPU liquid cooling solutions gave us lower GPU thermals. This makes sense, as these solutions pump hot air directly out of our test system and act as an exhaust. That said, the impact on GPU thermals was minimal. We only saw drops of 2-3 degrees during this test. Given this lack of difference, we will now focus exclusively on CPU thermals with this test.
For our CPU game test, we used Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker’s benchmarking tool for our gaming test. This test can run for a long time and moves between CPU and GPU-limited parts of the game. This test was used at a resolution of 1080p at maximum settings.
1,000 RPM Fan Test
At 1,000 RPM fan speeds, this CPU cooler isn’t delivering strong results. Honestly, these results left us very confused. As you can see below, the fan speeds at higher RPMs deliver much stronger results, especially when compared with other CPUs coolers. That said, at 1,000 RPM this cooler’s performance drops off. Perhaps this cooler’s fin stack is too dense? That would explain such a large performance drop at low RPMs.
1,500 RPM
At 1,500 RPM fan speed, we can see that the V8 ACE 3DHP delivers much stronger results than at 1,000 RPM. We can also see that Cooler Master’s dedicated Intel version of this cooler performs better than its AMD counterpart. That makes sense given our use of an Intel CPU for testing.
Maximum Fan RPM
When fan speeds are cranked up, the Cooler Master V8 ACE 3DHP comes into its own. It moved down our charts to stand amongst some of the best air-based CPU coolers that we have tested. Fan speeds make a big difference with this CPU cooler.
