Introduction

When we published our Core i7-980X Review we showed the new cooler that comes with this CPU, named DBX-B. Some readers asked us for a complete review of this cooler, so here it is. See if the owners of this high-end six-core CPU need to buy a CPU cooler with a higher performance if DBX-B will do the trick if they want to overclock their CPU.

In Figure 1, you can see Intel DBX-B: it is a tower cooler, with four U-shaped heatpipes. Its general aspect is very good. The sample we benchmarked came with no thermal compound, but according to Intel the retail version of Core i7-980X will come with a good-quality thermal compound.

click to enlarge
Figure 1: Intel DBX-B CPU cooler.

In Figure 2, you can see the cooler from the front, with its 100-mm transparent fan featuring blue LEDs, which is protected by a metallic grill. This fan has a four-pin connector, which means it has PWM automatic speed control.

click to enlarge
Figure 2: Front view.

Intel DBX-B

In Figure 3 you can have a side view of the cooler. Note the four heatpipes, which are curved so it probably won't interfere with any component of the motherboard.

click to enlarge
Figure 3: Side view.

In Figure 4 you can check the rear side of DBX-B.

click to enlarge
Figure 4: Rear view.

In Figure 5, you can see the cooler from above. There is a cap that protects the heatpipes tips and a small switch that allows you to choose the fan operating mode: Q (quiet) or P (performance).

click to enlarge
Figure 5: Top view.

In Figure 6 you can check the base of the cooler, which is a copper plate with a perfect mirrored finishing.

click to enlarge
Figure 6: Base.

Installation

Installation of DBX-B is simple: you just need to put the backplate shown in Figure 7 on the solder side of the motherboard, put the cooler on the CPU and fasten four screws that attach the cooler in place. Obviously this cooler only fits socket 1366.

click to enlarge
Figure 7: Backplate.

In Figure 8, you can see the cooler installed in our case. During our bechmarking the case rear fan was turned off.

click to enlarge
Figure 8: Installed in our case.

How We Tested

In order to test Intel DBX-B cooler we used the following methodology.

We used a Core i7-980X six-core CPU, that comes with this cooler as a companion. We overclocked it to 4.2 GHz, with 1.4 V core voltage.

We took noise and temperature measurements with the CPU idle and under full load. In order to achieve 100% full load on all 12 virtual cores (threads) we ran Prime95 (version 25.11, which uses all CPU cores) on the "In-place Large FFTs" option.

Temperature measurements were taken with the core temperature reading (given by the CPU thermal sensor) from the program SpeedFan. For this measurement we used an arithmetic average of the 12 core temperature readings.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed 4" (10 cm) from the fan. We turned off the video board cooler so it wouldn't interfere with the results, but this measurement is only for comparative purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Intel Core i7-980X
• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Extreme
• Memory: 12 GB Kingston Hyper X KHX2000C8D3T1K3/6GX (DDR3-2000/PC3-16000), configured at 1600 MHz
• Hard drive: 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (ST31000528AS, SATA-300, 7.200 rpm, 32 MB buffer)
• Video card: ASUS GeForce GTX 285
• Video resolution: 1680x1050
• Video monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW Plus
• Power supply required: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
• Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition

Software Configuration

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Software Used

• Prime95
• SpeedFan

Error margin

We adopted a 3 ^oC error margin, i.e., temperature differences below 3 ^oC are considered irrelevant.

Our Tests

In the tables below you can see the results of the measurements. We tested DBX-B with the switch at positions "Q" and "P", and then we tested two other coolers: Prolimatech Megahalems with a SilverStone FM123 fan and Thermaltake ISGC-200 (which is not mechanically compatible with socket 1366, but the motherboard we used supports socket 775 coolers), so we can have a comparative of performance. All measures were taken at a room temperature of 18 ºC.

CPU Idle
Cooler	Noise	Speed	Core Temp.
Intel DBX-B (P)	44 dBA	850 rpm	25 ºC
Intel DBX-B (Q)	42 dBA	800 rpm	31 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems (max)	60 dBA	2600 rpm	15 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems (min)	43 dBA	750 rpm	17 ºC
Thermaltake ISGC-200	42 dBA	1050 rpm	32 ºC

CPU Fully Loaded
Cooler	Noise	Speed	Core Temp.
Intel DBX-B (P)	62 dBA	2600 rpm	59 ºC
Intel DBX-B (Q)	54 dBA	1750 rpm	70 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems (max)	60 dBA	2600 rpm	57 ºC
Prolimatech Megahalems (min)	43 dBA	750 rpm	75 ºC
Thermaltake ISGC-200	48 dBA	1900 rpm	79 ºC

On the graph below you can check the CPU core temperature when the CPU was idle, in Celsius degrees.

On the graph below you can check the CPU core temperature when the CPU was fully loaded, in Celsius degrees.

Main Specifications

Intel DBX-B CPU cooler main features are:

• Application: Socket 1366 processors.
• Fins: Aluminum.
• Base: Copper.
• Heat-pipes: Four copper heat-pipes.
• Fan: 100 mm.
• Nominal fan speed: Not informed.
• Fan air flow: Not informed.
• Maximum power consumption: Not informed.
• Nominal noise level: Not informed.
• Weight: Not informed.
• More information: http://www.intel.com
• Average price in the US: This cooler in not sold on the retail market.

Conclusions

The new Intel DBX-B CPU cooler didn't disapoint us. It took nicely an overclocked Core i7-980X, where we increased its original 3.33 GHz clock to 4.2 GHz. Actually, it kept the temperature at the same level of Prolimatech Megahalems, which is the CPU cooler that achieved the best performance among the products we tested to date, which is really impressive.

Its noise level with the switch at the "P" position was equivalent to other high-performance coolers, i. e. a little high when at full load, but you have the choice to keep the switch at the "Q" position and have the cooler always with a lower noise level.

In short words, Intel managed to bundle its most high-end CPU with a top-notch cooler. So if you buy a Core i7-980X CPU you won't need to buy a retail high-performance cooler because you will already have one. But thinking it over, if you bought this CPU money probably isn't an issue for you...