A very interesting CPU Cooler review was released by Hardware.info Fresh air: 49 processor coolers tested
Not sure how accurate it is or if the DBA measurements were done in an area where its meaningful, but take it for what it can be used for, i like a lot the steady DB into what temps you get on each cooler, even if the measurement of db is not accurate (not implying it isn't, but if it is) it will be with each other for the testing they did.
Hardware.info Fresh air: Test results - Cooling at 30 and 40 dB
In there you can see many of the coolers we own or suggest for people looking for doing new builds, on most of the 30db charts the Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH (dual fan) and the Thermalright True Spirit 140 Power seems a like a winners specially since they retail for less than $50, but worth mentioning that the Noctua NH-D15 reigns in most charts, still out of what it costs to me the two before are much better buys.
An interesting CPU Cooler Review
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Re: An interesting CPU Cooler Review
Always nice to see a large comparison. But, setting the bar at 30dB makes the results very uniform and hides what separates the quiet leaders from the pack. Some of these cooler's fans are running near the top of their rpm range at 30dB (Mugen 5 PCGH 12V is 33dB). The noise floor looks to be under 20dB - it's a shame he didn't use 20dB as a test point.
Re: An interesting CPU Cooler Review
But it's 30dB at only 10cm distance! (Comparable to 20dB at 100cm.)
Re: An interesting CPU Cooler Review
So, what? All the interesting stuff for many of these coolers is happening at lower rpm settings than they tested. All air coolers follow the same basic curve:
- there's a section where no matter how much air you throw at it, it isn't going to get much cooler
- there's a section where no matter how much hotter you let it get, it isn't going to get much quieter.
- there's the elbow in the curve where the two meet up.
For example, here's the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3. I want to know where the elbow is so I can make an intelligent decision on how much further I can go in the lower rpm/lower noise/higher temps part of the curve.
- there's a section where no matter how much air you throw at it, it isn't going to get much cooler
- there's a section where no matter how much hotter you let it get, it isn't going to get much quieter.
- there's the elbow in the curve where the two meet up.
For example, here's the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3. I want to know where the elbow is so I can make an intelligent decision on how much further I can go in the lower rpm/lower noise/higher temps part of the curve.
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