If you are Overclocking, then P95 and/or ITB are a good way to test stability, and that's about all I use it for. Find a stable OC, and then don't run it again. I sure as shit never run P95 for 24+ hours like some people I talk to. You might as well sit in your car and hold the pedal down just below red line for a whole day. It's a pointless, and non-representative task that reduces the life of the components.
I agree, but there is/was a point to a burn in. Some thermal pastes "cure" after installation, and perform better after they have baked in some. A lot of people would "burn" them in by running P95 (or something similar) over night.
Now, most aftermarket heat sink compounds don't act that way any longer - the metal or ceramic pastes are pretty consistent from new installation through aging. I think the stock thermal pads that Intel uses on their stock heat sink (which is worth less than the metal it's made from) still has this style of thermal pad though.
I used to do it for custom water loops as well - not necessarily over night, but a large thermal loop can take a few hours to finally hit equilibrium (the point at which temps finally stop creeping up slowly and just stabilize out) and see what final "worst case" performance would be. Large water loops take a lot longer to hit steady state than air coolers (both a pro and a con)
If you are still contemplating water, an AIO cooler will outperform all but the best air coolers, but the margin isn't going to be that large compared to your existing 212 unless you have case ventilation issues. The biggest benefit to an AIO is not that it actually can cool a CPU better than an air cooler - because it can't. It is that your venting the CPU heat directly outside the case, whereas with your 212 your venting it inside the case and then relying on the case ventilation to pull it out. Most cases that isn't a huge issue, but there are some situations where it can make a pretty big difference.
AIO coolers are a relatively inexpensive way to get into water cooling - you have to mount the block and radiator just like in a custom loop, but you don't really have to worry about installing tubing, filling and venting, and other hassles that come with a custom loop. Of course, you lose out on a lot of flexibility as well, but it's a good way to get your feet wet. If mounting the radiator and running the pre-installed tubing is too much, then at least you didn't spend a lot of money finding that out the hard way.
The 212 is a pretty good cooler. It isn't a super-high performer, but it's very good for it's price point, and is good enough that in a lot of cases it can even support moderate overclocking. P95 does absolutely hammer CPU thermals, it truly is a worst case scenario. If your have at least non-throttling passing temps with your heat sink as-is under P95, then I would call it a day and be happy you have it without having to spend a lot of money and hassle.
Comments
Now, most aftermarket heat sink compounds don't act that way any longer - the metal or ceramic pastes are pretty consistent from new installation through aging. I think the stock thermal pads that Intel uses on their stock heat sink (which is worth less than the metal it's made from) still has this style of thermal pad though.
I used to do it for custom water loops as well - not necessarily over night, but a large thermal loop can take a few hours to finally hit equilibrium (the point at which temps finally stop creeping up slowly and just stabilize out) and see what final "worst case" performance would be. Large water loops take a lot longer to hit steady state than air coolers (both a pro and a con)
AIO coolers are a relatively inexpensive way to get into water cooling - you have to mount the block and radiator just like in a custom loop, but you don't really have to worry about installing tubing, filling and venting, and other hassles that come with a custom loop. Of course, you lose out on a lot of flexibility as well, but it's a good way to get your feet wet. If mounting the radiator and running the pre-installed tubing is too much, then at least you didn't spend a lot of money finding that out the hard way.
The 212 is a pretty good cooler. It isn't a super-high performer, but it's very good for it's price point, and is good enough that in a lot of cases it can even support moderate overclocking. P95 does absolutely hammer CPU thermals, it truly is a worst case scenario. If your have at least non-throttling passing temps with your heat sink as-is under P95, then I would call it a day and be happy you have it without having to spend a lot of money and hassle.