Test System Specifications:
- CPU – AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
- Motherboard – ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi
- Memory: 32GB (2 x 16GB Modules) Kingston Fury DDR5-6000
- Graphics card: MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming X
- Storage: 1TB Corsair MP600 Elite PCIe Gen4x4 NVME M.2 SSD
- Power Supply: Seasonic Prime TX-1000
- Chassis: Open Test Bench
- Thermal Compound: Arctic MX-6
- O/S: Windows 11 Version 24H2
Testing Methodology:
We are primarily focussing on the performance of each cooler at 100% fan speed and also when locked to 40dBA noise output. We will focus on cooling performance using a manual overclock with all-core frequency and VCORE locked to 5.2GHz/1.3v (AMD) and 5.5GHz/1.3v (Intel) and Precision Boost Overdrive performance.
- The test data is logged using HWINFO and the final 10 minutes of the data is calculated to find the average CPU temperature and CPU clock multiplier (AMD PBO Test) and then plotted in the charts.
- For testing, we use a 30-minute looped run of Cinebench R23 and record the steady-state CPU temperature at the end of the test. This ensures that the CPU has had ample time to warm up and reach a steady state under all of the coolers.
- The ambient is maintained at 19-21 degrees Celsius. Where there is variation beyond this temperature range, we add extra repeated tests to ensure consistency. However, this is well controlled now with A/C.
- We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of poor mounting spoiling results.
- Ambient temperature and humidity are controlled via a mini split air conditioning system inside the test room. Ambient temperature is maintained between 19-20C, Temperature delta figures are shown in the charts (ambient temperature is deducted from the measured component temperature).
Test Results:
Acoustics
We’ll start by looking at noise output as this will give us a good indication of performance based on noise.
It's no surprise that the Sudokoo Proteus is one of the louder coolers at max fan speed since the 30mm thick fans are running at 2500rpm, which makes it 2dBA louder than the DeepCool Mystique 360 and a huge 12dBA louder than the quietest cooler at max speed, the Arctic Liquid Freezer III.
Thermal Performance: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
However, all this noise and high fan speed doesn’t translate into blistering thermal performance, in fact the Proteus 360 at max fan speed has identical performance to the DeepCool Mystique 360 and the Montech Hyperflow ARGB at 60°C over ambient. But both of these other coolers have max fan speed around 300- 350 rpm lower than the Sudokoo cooler.
Reducing the fan speed to 40dBA noise output puts everything on a level playing field, and the true thermal performance is seen.
In this configuration, the Proteus 360 again matches the performance of the DeepCool Mystique 360 at 64°C over ambient, which looks low in the chart, but it’s only 3°C off the top-performing cooler, so the noise-normalised performance is solid but not chart-topping.
In the PBO test, the important metric is clock speed as the CPU automatically adjusts frequency based on maintaining a target temperature.
Again, the Sudokoo Proteus 360 performance mirrors the DeepCool Mystique 360 with an average clock multiplier of 52.2 and 66°C over ambient average temperature while cooling 255W CPU package power. This again might look low in the chart but it's only 100MHz off the best, so it's again solid performance but nothing special considering the almost £260 price tag.