Results and conclusion:
Now it’s time to share our results with you. Finally, the good news is that the temperature in the lab remained virtually unchanged throughout the series of tests on the different waterblocks . We also noted that the temperature of the liquid in the reservoir reached a maximum of 30°C, to within a few tenths, for all our tests. Let’s start with the temperatures recorded on the 8 P-Cores and read in Core Temp version 1.18.
First observation: for our three waterblocks, the logic of the coolest core and the three hottest is well respected. We can also see that the difference between the coolest and warmest core is 9°C in all three cases. We then averaged the P-Cores and E-Cores, and here are the results, bearing in mind that the water temperature at the end of each run varied by 0.4°C from 59.9°C to 30.3°C.
Finally, the table in the form of the performance delta, i.e. the average temperature from which we have subtracted the water temperature.
As you can see, the performance of our Alphacool Core 1 is excellent. It performs almost as well as the EK-Quantum Velocity² model, but at a much more attractive price. The differences between the EK model and the Optimus are similar to those we observed when we received the EK waterblock. Bear in mind that temperatures will of course depend on your cooling loop.
Alphacool Core 1 waterblock:
We’re under the impression that our Optimus Foundation waterblock is about to retire, and from now on it’s the high-performance Alphacool Core 1 that will equip our test configuration with the Intel i9-13900KS processor and the ROG Z790 APEX. Priced at 119.98 euros, this new Core 1 block delivers on all its promises. Installation is a breeze, the aRGB backlighting is perfectly balanced, and the small border is more than enough. The three colors available in Alphacool’s catalog allow you to choose the color that best suits your configuration. In our opinion, this new waterblock in the “Core” series is almost faultless. Finally, Vertex has received a copy of the Alphacool Core 4090 GameRock, which we’ll be testing very soon.
Many thanks to Alphacool for making this Core 1 CPU available.
We liked :
- The very good performance/price ratio compared to the competition
- The perfect design of this Core 1 CPU model
- The quality and finesse of the aRGB backlighting
- The quality of the waterblock design
- The “OUT” engraving in the port – a small detail, but one that makes all the difference
- The Core 1 CPU’s compact format
We would have liked :
- Plastic washers instead of foam ones.
