OCZ Cryo-Z Phase Change Cooler Tested

Test Results

Once everything is attached to the motherboard it takes right around three minutes and thirty seconds for the Cryo-Z to chill the processor to -30 C. At this point your motherboard will power on via a signal from the Cryo-Z and you can begin to actually start using your system.

The Cryo-Z, without load will cool down to -55 C as shown by the built-in display on the front of the unit. Our testing shows the actual temperature to be -42.5 C where the CPU meets the head of the cooling system.

TweakTown uses a different method for testing CPU heatsinks which allows for an even playing field across all product tests. We feel that by using the same ambient temperature and strict lab-like testing procedures we are able to accurately compare one product to another. More information on our testing procedure can be found in the T.E.C.C. article here.

I wanted to use the TECC for testing the Cryo-Z since it is the most accurate form of testing CPU heatsinks and coolers known to the enthusiast world. Keeping with the rules that the TECC guides us with, the OCZ Technology Cryo-Z gives us a load temperature of -12.8 degrees Celsius. At idle the Cryo-Z takes our TECC block all the way down to -21.6 degrees Celsius. These temperatures are without the Cryo-Z chassis being inside of the thermal chamber, since real world use has the chassis outside of the system case.

Under idle and load the Cryo-Z makes 68 dB(a) at 1.5 feet. This is actually not as loud as the Glacialtech Igloo 5610 PWM or the stock AMD heatsink at full load. Still, if a quiet computer experience is what you're after then the Cryo-Z is not your best option.