quietest Noctua cpu cooler

[cpaqf1]

Hi,

what would be the quietest (silent) noctua I can get to cool a stock i5 6500?

thanks!

[edh]

In what case? It depends upon the layout of the case really as to how big a cooler you can use. Will you consider only Noctua? This limits your choice and is expensive even though their fans are excellent.

[cpaqf1]

Phanteks ENTHOO Evolv ATX. I'd prefer noctua, I'd like to know the best noctua, and perhaps the best non-noctua alternative I could look at.

thanks!

[Abula]

The best quiet coolers for the money for cooling a quad cores imo are,
Scythe Ninja 4
Thermalright Macho Rev B

If you are not into such big cooler, then consider the Scythe Cooling Motherboard SCKTT-1000

Purely on noctua, their best cooler would be the Noctua NH-D15S, but it only comes with 1 fan, so if you plan on adding another it will get close to $100, while the above will perform very similarly at half price.

Skylake isn't that hard to cool off, i have been running a i7 6700K for a week now, and never seen it pass 70C even in prime95 with the fans at 600rpms. Also did a build for a friend two weeks ago with 6700K and scythe nonja4, and he is running it at 700rpms and hasnt reported above 65C. The i5 6500 should be a lot easier to cool down, specially considering its 800mhz slower.

What motherboard are you planning to go with?

[quest_for_silence]

Skylake isn't that hard to cool off

Unless you overvolt it (in order to oc).

[quest_for_silence]

what would be the quietest (silent) noctua I can get to cool a stock i5 6500?

Noctua NH-U14S or NH-C14 (EOL) if the mobo can control 3 pin fans.

Without oc (even the i5 6500 can be oced of about 25-30% by BCLK using suitable mobos like the ASRock Hyper series), even the small NH-D9L may be worthwhile, noise wise (the smaller 92mm fans are quieter than 140mm ones, albeit the CPU would run hotter than with those larger siblings).

[cpaqf1]

The scythes and thermalright are hard for me to get, while the noctuas are easy. I already own an NH 12S I could use, how does it compare to the 14S you mentioned?

The setup in planning had to be inaudible at idle even up close so that's why I'm asking shot all that info.

Also, should I change the stock fans in the phanteks evolv?
It has 140mm fans but I think it supports 120mm as well.

I'm still not sure what mobo I'll get.

[quest_for_silence]

I already own an NH 12S I could use, how does it compare to the 14S you mentioned?

Its F12 could be dialed down to inaudible levels, albeit it should be run under 900rpm to be really quiet: so all in all it's ok.
On the other hand, the CPU will be likely hotter with the NH-U12S, but I don't think that will require to speed up the fan, so definitely how loud the NH-U12S will be depends of how you will drive its fan.

Also, should I change the stock fans in the phanteks evolv?

If you correctly drive them, absolutely no: though personally I don't like that much the Evolv airflow scheme, according to SPCR its PH-F140SP fan are among the best sounding 140mm fans available in the market.

I'm still not sure what mobo I'll get.

ASUS or ASRock are the best bet for sensible fan control, nowadays.

[CA_Steve]

It's just a 65W class CPU and you have the NH-U12S on hand. Why not try it and see if you like it? With as little heat load as this CPU generates, you'll be able to operate down in the low rpm area.

[cpaqf1]

Also, should I change the stock fans in the phanteks evolv?

If you correctly drive them, absolutely no: though personally I don't like that much the Evolv airflow scheme, according to SPCR its PH-F140SP fan are among the best sounding 140mm fans available in the market.

Isn't that the older PH-F140HP though? I was unable to really find anything about the new SP on SPCR.

@CA_Steve, yes, that's probably what I'll end up doing

[Abula]

I'm still not sure what mobo I'll get.

I value more fan control than a lot of things that others consider important, but i would suggest the following, kinda generalizing but bare with me,

Asus
If you want top of the line in terms of connectivity, and marketing. Their software fan control is the best in the market, their bios fan control is alright, but has some bugs and not always works the way it should, contrary to their software. One of the best things on asus is the ability to switch on the bios their headers into PWM or DC.

MSI
Has good Bios fan control, specially for PWM fans on CPU_FAN1 and 2, starting on 12.5% to 100% on 12.5% increments, in essence its not bad, you can easliy reach one of your fans with those limitations, 12.5%, 25%, 37.5%, 50%, 62.5%, 75%, 87.5%, 100%. You have multiple breakpoints so you can do your graph as you like. Their Cha_FAN headers i think are DC on none smart mode, and PWM on smart mode (dont take me word for it), with 40% as their lowest in DC with 10% increments, in no smart mode you can only set a steady %, so it wont ramp up with the conditions.

AsRock
The best Bios fan control in the market, their PWM and DC have no limitations on the bios (like MSI and Asus), you can reach as low as you wish (as long as your fan can go that low), 1% increments on 1C variations, with 4 breakpoints. But its very important to understand how AsRock skylake mobo headers work. CPU_FAN1 and CHA_FAN1 (in absence of CPU_FAN2), are autodetect headers, they can do PWM if you incert a 4pin or DC if you place a 3pin connector, the rest of the headers are PWM, no way of controlling DC fans on CHA_FAN2, 3, 4, etc. As long as you understand how it works, and what fans to use on each header, to me AsRock cant be beaten in terms of fan control, but its not as easy as Asus software, requires planning and understanding.

Isn't that the older PH-F140HP though? I was unable to really find anything about the new SP on SPCR.

Since you like Noctua so much consider REDUX line, its pretty good both in PWM and DC, Consider the following,

CPU Coolers = Noctua NF-P14R 1500PWM
CASE FANS 140 = Noctua NF-P14S 1200PWM or NF-P14S 900rpm (for DC)
CASE FANS 120 = Noctua NF-S12B 1200PWM or NF-S12B 700rpm (for DC)

[quest_for_silence]

Isn't that the older PH-F140HP though? I was unable to really find anything about the new SP on SPCR.

Yes, it's still the old TS/HP fan with a slightly different square frame, instead of the original octagonal one.