I was thinking about buying a Enermax Noisetaker 370W when I came across the Enermax Coolergiant EG485AX-VHB(W) SFMA.
I know SPCR approves the Noisetaker-series, but is the Coolergiant also very quiet?
Enermax Coolergiant-series quiet?
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Nope. You can see it reflected in the names. Noisetaker is optimised for noise. Coolergiant is optimised for cooling.
I read one review in German about the Coolergiants a while ago (can't remember where, but probably something that got linked from tweakers.net). I thought: If even a general hardware site comments that they are noisy, then I can ignore this product.
I read one review in German about the Coolergiants a while ago (can't remember where, but probably something that got linked from tweakers.net). I thought: If even a general hardware site comments that they are noisy, then I can ignore this product.
Hey, tollo71. I actually have both, so I can say from experience that the Noisetaker is definitely quieter than the Coolergiant, but the Coolergiant does cool better.
The Coolergiant uses 3 fans: an 80mm intake fan at the back of the PSU, a 70mm exhaust fan at the back of the PSU, and a small blower fan at the bottom of the PSU to suck air out of the case and expel it out the back of the PSU, bypassing the PSU's interior.
The Coolergiant starts out quiet when you first turn it on (after the initial "crank the fans up to 100%" startup phase), but as it ramps up, you get two main types of sounds. One is the whooshing type of sound you get from air moving. The other is an uneven whining. I cannot tell if this is from the fans (especially the 70mm), or if it is resonance or whistling caused by the airflow patterns inside the PSU. In either case, I am sure the aluminum shell of the Coolergiant does not help. Believe it or not, the blower is actually fairly quiet, though it does exhibit a slight ticking or chirping every now and then.
From a cooling point of view, the Coolergiant at low speed cools only slightly better than the pre-Whisper Enermax (circa 2000) it replaced, but at lower RPM, with less whooshing but more whining. I eventually got tired of the noise and got a Noisetaker, though. When I did, my CPU temp went up 5 degC, but I am fine with that.
The Coolergiant uses 3 fans: an 80mm intake fan at the back of the PSU, a 70mm exhaust fan at the back of the PSU, and a small blower fan at the bottom of the PSU to suck air out of the case and expel it out the back of the PSU, bypassing the PSU's interior.
The Coolergiant starts out quiet when you first turn it on (after the initial "crank the fans up to 100%" startup phase), but as it ramps up, you get two main types of sounds. One is the whooshing type of sound you get from air moving. The other is an uneven whining. I cannot tell if this is from the fans (especially the 70mm), or if it is resonance or whistling caused by the airflow patterns inside the PSU. In either case, I am sure the aluminum shell of the Coolergiant does not help. Believe it or not, the blower is actually fairly quiet, though it does exhibit a slight ticking or chirping every now and then.
From a cooling point of view, the Coolergiant at low speed cools only slightly better than the pre-Whisper Enermax (circa 2000) it replaced, but at lower RPM, with less whooshing but more whining. I eventually got tired of the noise and got a Noisetaker, though. When I did, my CPU temp went up 5 degC, but I am fine with that.