The reason for keeping the IHS would be to protect the CPU, it is not very difficult to ruin the CPU completely otherwise. A shim would be a thin layer of metal between the CPU and the HSF, as it may not be possible to mount current coolers without the IHS with appropriate amount of pressure otherwi...

Hi Long time reader of SPCR, just wanted to give a suggestion to improve the readability when looking at the noise comparison between powersupplies at various loads. Currently there are two colours, yellow when under 30dBA and green when over. To me it would be interesting to add a second colour at ...

Would it be possible to subtract the background noise spectra from the measurements in linear space instead of changing the response? I'm not sure if this would interfere with the A weighting, and it would be problematic if the noise levels during the measurements were lower than the assumed noise l...

Great article!

I have one suggestion, which is to add the noise level of the system without the graphics fan running (e.g. by comparing to a Arctic cooling S1 at idle), to give an idea on how much noise the cooler adds at the lowest fan speed.

The VS450W has an amient noise level of 28dba, but the S12 has 17 dba. I'm looking for a quiet PSU, I think the S12 still is the best option. The HX520 has modular cabling and 2 dba more noise (should not be notisable). But after reading all wining noise post of the HX520, mayne the S12 will be mor...