Test setup and results …
For the test we chose the following components this time:
Gigabyte Aero 15Xv8 Gaming Notebook
– 32GB DDR4-2666 (2 modules)
– Intel Core i7-8750H, 6x 2.20GHz bzw. 3.9-4.1GHz Boost
– NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q, 8GB
For measurement, the following tools were used: Cinebench R15, Unigine Heaven and SpeedFan.
The ambient temperature during the test was about 21°C.
We first determined reference values without the Massive 20 RGB by giving the CPU in Cinebench and then recording the maximum temperature and the score reached. The same values were determined for the GPU by means of the Heaven benchmark in the FullHD Ultra Preset. In addition, we recorded the maximum noise level while using a dB meter from about 50cm away, which is about the distance of a person gaming with the notebook.
Overall, we went through the following test scenarios:
- Without Massive 20 RGB
- With Massive 20 RGB – fan off
- With Massive 20 RGB – fan low (600 rpm)
- With Massive 20 RGB – fan high (800 rpm)
| Test scenario | Temperature / Score / Volume |
| Without Massive 20 RGB | CPU Temp: 83°C Cinebench score: 1006 GPU Temp: 78°C Heaven score: 1906 Volume: 52 dB |
| With Massive 20 RGB – fan off | CPU Temp: 83°C Cinebench score: 1051 GPU Temp: 71°C Heaven score: 1909 Geräusch: 52 dB |
| With Massive 20 RGB – fan low (600 rpm) | CPU Temp: 83°C Cinebench score: 1052 GPU Temp: 71°C Heaven score: 1912 Geräusch: 52 dB |
| With Massive 20 RGB – fan high (800 rpm) | CPU Temp: 82°C Cinebench score: 1056 GPU Temp: 71°C Heaven score: 1920 Geräusch: 52 dB |
At first glance, the values are close together. However, if you look more closely, you can see that the CPU finally continues to run into the temperature limit, but achieves this later, which is reflected in slightly higher Cinebench scores, as the CPU later starts to clock down. The GPU can not score higher, but is at least 6-7°C cooler.
A little surprising are the values with fan off. In principle, a notebook cooler should support the existing cooling by optimizing the fresh air supply from below. Here it seems that Thermaltake’s design and mesh grille are already improving the airflow in this notebook so much that the fan does not make much of a difference.
The Massive 20 RGB notebook cooler has no effect on the volume under load. If the cooling of a gaming notebook is at maximum, it is the dominant acoustic factor. However, we noticed positively that the notebook-internal cooling works less in normal Windows operation with additional notebook cooler, which reduces the overall noise level in normal Windows everyday life.
The fan volume is measured with a dB meter also from 50cm distance.
| Thermaltake Massive 20 RGB | ||
| Low | 37dB | 600rpm |
| High | 38dB | 800rpm |
To be able to estimate the fan noise better, there is again a video about it:
Notebook cooling fine tuning …
Of course, typical for OCinside, we wanted to get a little more out of the way and lowered the VCore to the minimum possible for the CPU using the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. As we’ve already discovered in the course of the test, the Intel Core i7-8750H clocks itself down at over 80°C to limit the maximum temperature. A reduced VCore should therefor lead to a lower temperature and thus to a longer applied maximum clock. We were lucky with this CPU and were able to lower the VCore by a very good 0.155V, without causing the CPU to become unstable.
With these settings, we ran two more test scenarios:
- Without Massive 20 RGB with -0,155V VCore
- With Massive 20 RGB – fan high (800rpm) -0,155V VCore
| Test scenario | Temperature / Score |
| Without Massive 20 RGB with -0,155V VCore | CPU Temp: 74°C Cinebench score: 1206 GPU Temp: 69°C Heaven score: 1936 |
| With Massive 20 RGB – fan high (800rpm) -0,155V VCore | CPU Temp: 72°C Cinebench score: 1211 GPU Temp: 69°C Heaven score: 1941 |
The achieved performance increase of nearly 20% at around 10°C less CPU temperature is a great success!
Since the CPU and GPU are connected to the internal cooling via the same heatpipes, the GPU in Heaven benchmark even benefits 2°C of the cooler CPU. As before, the temperatures achieved with the Massive 20 RGB Notebook Cooler are a touch better. A great result.
Thermaltake Massive 20 RGB Optics …