[bigben2k]

Using an actual CPU?!?

In the last cooler test, we ascertained the temperature data with the aid of the computer-regulated CPU simulator KT-2. With the KT-2, an aluminum block shaped like the die is heated with the aid of a power resistance. The thermal sensor of the KT-2 is located just below the surface on the inside of the block. This enables a highly accurate, reproducible temperature measurement. Despite this, taking measurements using a simulator has a few drawbacks:

-the shape and size of the heating surface do not correspond exactly to the die area of a real CPU;
-the temperature distribution of a real CPU surface cannot be simulated;
-the output does not correspond to the values of a real CPU.

During the course of this test, we used the same kind of measurement platform used by AMD in their cooler tests for the very first time.