The Cougar Helor 240-360 CPU Liquid Cooler Review: A Top Tier Start In CPU Cooling
by E. Fylladitakis on December 9, 2019 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Cougar
- AIO
- Liquid Cooling
- Cooler
Thermal Resistance VS Sound Pressure Level
During our thermal resistance vs. sound pressure level test, we maintain a steady 100W thermal load and assess the overall performance of the coolers by taking multiple temperature and sound pressure level readings within the operating range of the stock cooling fans. The result is a graph that depicts the absolute thermal resistance of the cooler in comparison to the noise generated. For both the sound pressure level and absolute thermal resistance readings, lower figures are better.
In this graph, we can see how Cougar’s Helor 240 and 360 AIO liquid coolers fare against some of their direct competition. Both Helor coolers perform very well overall, with the 240 mm version outpacing even simpler 360 mm sized solutions when looking at the lower end of the dB(A) axis, while the 360 mm version of the Helor reaches very low thermal resistance values. The catch here is that although the Helor 360 does reach the thermal performance figures of the Corsair H150i Pro RGB, one of the most prominent products in its league, it does so at significantly higher noise levels. The very low slope of the graph suggests that the Helor 360, much like several other competitive products, benefits rather little from high airflow, with the noise figures increasing disproportionally to the lowering thermal resistance.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
20 Comments
View All Comments
Pro-competition - Monday, December 9, 2019 - link
Why dont you throw in a few high end air coolers like thermalright, noctua, be quiet!?E.Fyll - Monday, December 9, 2019 - link
You can easily check their performance figures in several of our air cooler reviews. The average thermal resistance figures are directly comparable, the test setup is exactly the same.Pro-competition - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
Great! What TIM do you use? Do you standardise the thermal paste used (e.g. only use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut) or the TIM that comes with the cooler?JanW1 - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
Very conveniently for the Cougar Helor, many of the tested coolers were not included in the Thermal Resistance vs Sound Pressure chart, as it would be much more obvious that this cooler is rather middling in performance.Among the selection tested here, the Alphacool NexXxos completely dominates the competition in cooling performance per noise but that reference point was omitted. Why? It wouldn't crowd the graph since it's apart from all others. Maybe not the same market, but the cooler was part of this test and would have been an informative reference.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
Yeah, that Alphacool NexXxos looks like da real MVP.nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
Ah, it's also double the price and a self-assembled open loop system.bwanaaa - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
i guess the kraken x62 is slightly better if not only its performance but the ability to mount on ryzen/TR.Foeketijn - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
We've seen with swiftech and Alphacool, the most important part is a copper radiator. But yeah copper costs a couple of cents more, So yeah, lets just add RGB and hope the blinking light distract the potential buyer from the cheap design choices.nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - link
I read your comment because it had RGB in it.Foeketijn - Wednesday, December 11, 2019 - link
nice one