Tom’s Hardware Xigmatek HDT-S1283 review

[samdrong]

Tom’s Hardware just put out the CPU Cooler Charts 2008 article. In it, they give the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 the “Recommended Buyâ€

[nyu3]

I’m no heatsink expert… will someone explain the discrepancies to me?

Short answer: Tomshardware sucks. Most of their articles offends all my senses.

Tomshardware doesn't present their testing methodologies in detail. For example, they don't say what low speed adjustment really means (I only scanned through the article briefly). And of course, their standards of ``quiet'' and ``silent'' should not be taken seriously. Just say no to Tomshardware.

Anyway, difference in measurement could come from where the mic is placed.

They say the Xigmatek is noisy because they used the stock fan, which runs at 2000rpm (high speed) and 1100rpm (presumably the lowest they speed they used).

[Luminair]

short answer: the person at toms hardware knows less about what he is doing than the person at spcr

if you put a jet engine on a duck it becomes a noisy duck

[andyb]

With the CPU idle, CPU temperature fell to around 36 °C with a noise level close to 38 dB(A), making the cooler practically inaudible.

Well that proves that the reviewer is either plain stupid or deaf, I would say take your pick, but the reviewer might actually BE deaf, maybe we should take pity.


Andy

[Cistron]

With the CPU idle, CPU temperature fell to around 36 °C with a noise level close to 38 dB(A), making the cooler practically inaudible.

Well that proves that the reviewer is either plain stupid or deaf, I would say take your pick, but the reviewer might actually BE deaf, maybe we should take pity.


Andy

Sound-pressure is distance dependent. If you don't know where the microphone is placed, you cannot make assertions about the numbers.

[AuraAllan]

With the CPU idle, CPU temperature fell to around 36 °C with a noise level close to 38 dB(A), making the cooler practically inaudible.

Well that proves that the reviewer is either plain stupid or deaf, I would say take your pick, but the reviewer might actually BE deaf, maybe we should take pity.


Andy

Sound-pressure is distance dependent. If you don't know where the microphone is placed, you cannot make assertions about the numbers.

And Toms dont tell us where the mike is so......................?

Please just stop going by Toms. Its not worth it.

[zoatebix]

Maybe, MAYBE you could go there for a "Best Gaming Graphics Card for the Money" article, but even then you're probably better off lurking on forums like SPCR's, Anandtech's, or even SlickDeals'.

[dhanson865]

If you want to know why other web sites say 40 dba is silent its because they have a godawful cheap sound meter.

There is no such thing as a cheap SPL that measures SPCR levels reliably. I spent a while one night doing tons of google searches and this is what I came up with.

The problem is you want to measure down to 15 or 20 dba but none of the meters easily priced on the web are reliable for even measuring 30 dba.

Code: Select all

Min dBA Price Brand/Model
 35        25 SCOSCHE SPL1000
 30       100 Nady DSM-1 Digital SPL Meter
 30       100 (Unknown brand) AR824 Multi-Range Sound Level Meter
 32       100 Galaxy Audio Checkmate CM-140 SPL Meter
 30       225 Galaxy CM-150 Check Mate SPL Meter
 30       250 Extech 407750 Sound Level Meter with PC Interface
 30       250 Extech 407740 3 Range Digital Sound Level Meter
 26       275 Extech 407738 Sound Level Meter with Memory
 30       350 Galaxy Audio CM160 Checkmate SPL Meter w/Hard Drive
 35       375 Goldline SPL120L Hand-Held SPL Meter
 30       650 Quest Technologies Type 2 Sound Meter, basic
 30      1450 Quest Technologies Type 1 Sound Meter, basic

 17      ???? Bruel and Kjaer 2250 Light
 25      ???? Bruel and Kjaer 2238 Mediator

The standouts are

Code: Select all

Min dBA Price Brand/Model
 35        25 SCOSCHE SPL1000

 30       100 (Unknown brand) AR824 Multi-Range Sound Level Meter
 30       100 Nady DSM-1 Digital SPL Meter

 26       275 Extech 407738 Sound Level Meter with Memory

 17      ???? Bruel and Kjaer 2250 Light
 25      ???? Bruel and Kjaer 2238 Mediator

There may be better choices but if so they don't show up well on the google searches I chose.

For a casual user the Scosche SPL1000 or Nady DSM-1 might be enough for to settle an argument or satisfy curiosity.

For a more serious use the Extech 407738 claims to do under 30 dba for under $300.

And if I were trying to keep up with SPCR I'd be finding prices on all those stupid SPL manufacturers that don't sell to the retail market. God only knows who makes what at what price. But you can definitely get something that will read under 20 dba if you try hard enough and have plenty of cash.

If you read a review and the ambient noise isn't 10 dBA lower than the quietest component in the roundup then they probably have a crap sound meter and are holding it right up against stuff to barely get the meter to notice the sound over the noisy room they are in or they just don't care enough about sound to measure in a quiet room.

In short most tech sites don't have the equipment to do it right and obviously don't care to get the equipment or to learn how to do it right.

[Nick Geraedts]

This is one of the things that makes SPCR stand out. I know my name says "SPCR Reviewer", but admittedly I haven't had much time to work with Mike over the past year.

One of the first things that I noticed when working with Mike was that everything was so incredibly consistent. PSU testing was done the same way - every time. Standard heatsink testing platforms, standard audio recording methodologies. Heck - when making recordings, Mike would hear things a block away that I couldn't, but the recordings sure did. Out goes that recording, and a new one starts.

I know from other friends who work at other review sites (can't really mention them) that different people write up the articles differently. One reviewer might find a product to be the best thing since sliced bread, while others wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Sadly, TH seems to fall into this category, and in my honest opinion, there isn't any other review site out there that handles subjective and objective measurements as well as SPCR.

[Fallsroad]

They say the Xigmatek is noisy because they used the stock fan, which runs at 2000rpm (high speed) and 1100rpm (presumably the lowest they speed they used).

Mine runs at about 900RPM, sometimes lower, occasionally in the 1050's RPM (full load, warmer room). It is controlled by the motherboard PWM header.

Wonder why they would choose 1100RPM as the lowest fan speed setting?

[dhanson865]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/15079/14

Noise levels were measured with an Extech 407727 Digital Sound Level meter 1" from the side of the drives at idle and under an HD Tach seek load. Drives were run with the PCB facing up.

Our SSDs register 42.6 decibels here because that's the ambient noise level of the rest of the system from only 1" away. The drives themselves are completely silent.

http://www.amazon.com/Extech-407727-Dig ... B00023RVOS
Measuring range from 40 to 130dB

again another site with a $75 piece of junk meter. That meter is fine for measuring the noise of a car exhaust or a rock concert. There just isn't a good reason to use a meter that won't read below 40 dBA to test computer equipment.

for $25 more they could have bought a meter that would go down to 30 dBA instead of 40.