CoolerMaster CM Sphere Heatsink Review :: The Test and Results

Having two products that are only different by way of the alloy they are made of makes for an interesting test as to which works better, pure copper or copper coated in silver? Copper is traditionally known to make a good solid block that can help keep temps down on your CPU, copper with a coating of any type will bring the results down by a lest a degree or two. One thing to consider also is that the CPU temp, even under the best air-cooled product will only be a degree or so below the ambient temperature of the room you are doing the testing in.

Installation of the CM Sphere is not that much of a task, there are different ways that it installs as well depending on the CPU being AMD AM2 or Intel 775 based. The Intel connection requires the use of a back-plate and four screws to secure it to the ZIF socket. The AMD connection uses a set of clamps that connect to the plastic base that comes standard on all AM2 motherboards, and is actually the easier install of the two. We use a ceramic paste in our tests as it gives a better result for short term test sessions. Using the best Silver paste can achieve a possible degree of better cooling, but this type of paste takes a few days to properly settle and make the bond between the CPU and heatsink.

We use an open bench test setup in a closed room that usually remains at about 80 Degrees Fahrenheit, which is actually pretty warm all things considered, but not as hot as some places people keep their systems. We used both the motherboards onboard temp reading and the SpeedFan reading to get our results, and the two were different by a few degrees on each system. The SpeedFan allows a Windows based interface that you can gather screen shots of, and which shows the CPU and specs as well. If you do not have a camera to take pictures of the BIOS, this program does make getting a shot of what the temps are much easier. In all fairness the SpeedFan temps were lower than the ones shown in the BIOS, so we used those to show all scores. Motherboard BIOS are notorious for giving false reading in any case. The unit worked much better on the Intel system than the AMD, almost by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, so Intel 775 chips do run much cooler than the latest AMD solutions.

Test System 1 AMD

• Motherboard: Gigabyte
• CPU: AMD AM2 5000+ Black Edition
• CPU Cooler: CM Sphere
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix PC8500
• VGA: EVGA 8800GTS 320M
• PSU: CoolerMaster 850W SLI

Copper CM Sphere

Idle 30 Celsius
Full Load 37 Celsius

Jet Black CM Sphere

Idle 32 Celsius
Full Load 38 Celsius

Test System 2 Intel

• Motherboard: XFX 680i SLI 775
• CPU: Intel Core2 E6750
• CPU Cooler: CM Sphere
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix PC8500
• VGA: EVGA 8800GTS 320M
• PSU: CoolerMaster 850W SLI

Copper CM Sphere

Idle 22 Celsius
Full Load 27 Celsius

Jet Black CM Sphere

Idle 24 Celsius
Full Load 30 Celsius