Looking for an awesome quiet air cooler

Watlinguk

Watlinguk

Watlinguk

Associate
Joined
1 Aug 2010
Posts
1,870
Hi guys I'm looking for suggestions for an awesome QUIET (has to be quiet) air cooler that will fit my ASUS Maximum Forumla vii z97 board. It needs to cool an overclocked 5ghz 4970K with good temps. I also have corsair platinum ram and their profiles are quite high. The case is a Phanteks P400S Mid tower.

If this cooler had white leds that would be even better!

What can you guys suggest please? Every AIO cooler I've had sounds like a leaf blower, even on the quite modes.

Best regards.
 
I would have personally suggested one of these, but your case appears to only have room for a 160mm high CPU cooler, whereas this one is 165mm with the fans installed:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpe...h-performance-cpu-cooler-140mm-hs-054-al.html

Height aside, the Phanteks coolers are very cheap at the moment and should also offer great performance:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-ph-tc14pe-cpu-cooler-black-hs-009-pt.html

Looking at the upper end of the dual-tower CPU coolers, I'm not sure if many of the would fit in your case due to their height. You might need to look into a more quiet AIO, or a top down/ single tower air cooler. In terms air coolers, these should be pretty decent:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-ph-tc14cs-cpu-cooler-silver-hs-007-pt.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-ph-tc12dx-cpu-cooler-black-hs-012-pt.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/scythe-mugen-scmg4-pcgh-edition-cpu-cooler-hs-044-sy.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/prolimatech-genesis-cpu-cooler-hs-011-pl.html

The Prolimatech doesn't come with fans, which means you could buy your own fans with a white LED. I know you said AIOs were noisy, but I've had this one cool my CPU and now my GPU, and it is super quiet while still maintaining decent performance (as long as you can decrease the voltage on the fans, or again buy your own with white LEDs):

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...-liquid-cooling-upgrade-bundle-bu-095-tl.html
 
The PH-TC14PE looks pretty awesome but I'm not sure it's going to fit with the ram been 55mm and the case been 160mm. It looks really nice though :(
 
check my post here -

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/best-cooler-for-80.18777819/

smaller than a n15 but so close, a n12us, plenty of ram clearance and is sooooooooooooooo quite, which i rate over a few a degrees of heat any day of the week. People are so obsessed with heat. If your talking 10 - 20 agree, but not over 1 - 5. Nearly any non -intel heat sink will be in the 10's of degrees better!

Sorry! if you go to Noctua home page they will give clearance issues.
 
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Noctua D15 or S variant but check clearances.

Got mine cooling the below and even with the fan on 100%, its barely audible.
 
Broken Hope said:
Your ears must be faulty, the D15 fan at 100% which is 1500 RPM is not barely audible, it's fairly loud.
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Less than 20dB, rated... One of the quietest going, TBH.
However, it's not the cooler that makes the noise - It's the airflow through the fins and a lot depends on fan/heatsink combo, same as with radiators. The same fans on different radiators/heatsinks can have wildly variable results.
 
I think the key word here is 'rated'.
20dB is a ridiculously low rating, especially considering 30dB is a very quiet bedroom late at night.

I have used the D15 and can say for a fact the A15 fans at 1500rpm are not 'barely audible'. Even at 1100rpm they are very audible over a meter from case setting on floor around end of desk I was setting at. They were not loud, but could definitely be heard.
 
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doyll said:
20dB is a ridiculously low rating, especially considering 30dB is a very quiet bedroom late at night.
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20 - Rusling leaves, ticking watch.
30 - Quiet whisper at 3ft
40 - Quiet residential area, park.
60 - Normal conversation at 3ft.

My NF-F12s are 'rated' at 22.4dB... Even using various free phone apps, I get just over 24dB measured about 6" from the exhaust. Same for most of my fans, being within 3-4dB of their official rating.

doyll said:
Even at 1100rpm they are very audible over a meter from case setting on floor around end of desk I was setting at. They were not loud, but could definitely be heard.
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That's just subjectivity, though.
Most modern PC fans costing over a fiver will be acceptably quiet for the majority of people, when set below 1,000rpm. My D5 pump is audible over all my fans going at once...
But there will always be some kind of noise and if you're one of those who fusses over hearing a mouse fart in your garden, then that's your subjective problem. You will never find an absolutely silent case so long as there is air moving in and out of the case, through grilles and radiators and heatsinks, bouncing around off components and resonating against the side panels. You can play around and lessen it, change the rads and heatsinks, etc, but it will never be utterly silent.

JamesM said:
I must be deaf then
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You and me both...
 
Sound is so subjective. Rustling leaves can be so quiet we can barely hear them or so loud we have a hard time carrying on a conversation.

Of course it's subjective. But I have a rather expensive dB meter .. much more accurate than a phone app. 30dB is a very quiet room. I've monitored many different places over the last couple of years. I find it very very hard to find a place that is below 30dB ambient noise level. I really have to wonder how you can measure 24dB only 6" away from your fan. That translated into less then 4.5dB at 1 meter .. and my understanding is 1 meter is pretty much the industry standard distance sound measurements for making sound measurements.

Established sound level comparisons:
Conversational speech, 1 meter 60dB
Average home 50dB
Quiet library 40dB
Quiet bedroom at night 30dB
Background in TV studio 20dB
Rustling leaves in the distance 10dB
Threshold of hearing 0dB
​
But I have to wonder how can we hear "rustling leaves at a distance" when our "quiet bedroom at night" is 3 times louder? :D
 
if a gnat flew in to my window i would hear it - comp on floor or desk ? that will differ outcome as well. When i had a case that had no space behind the m/board my 2 drives would be stuck down on the base - i never obstruct the inlet fans! Hence my cases over the past and present keep well cool without a hurricane going through :p
 
doyll said:
I really have to wonder how you can measure 24dB only 6" away from your fan.
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I chose 6" as a constant, because it was easy to consistently place accurately and because I didn't know what the industry standards are.
I use a phone because I have no need to drop GPU levels of money on fancy sound kit, for this one purpose.
I also don't put the mic directly into the airflow path.

doyll said:
Established sound level comparisons:
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Again, very subjective.
What I found was that I generally measured within a few dB of most manufacturer's published specs. I used the phone app because it gave me a way to consistently measure and thus compare one fan against another in an otherwise controlled situation.
Beyond that, so long as the machine doesn't wake the Mrs up in the middle of the night from behind a closed door, it's all good.

doyll said:
But I have to wonder how can we hear "rustling leaves at a distance" when our "quiet bedroom at night" is 3 times louder? :D
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For the same reason I don't put the mic directly into the airflow - Sound is directional.
So if the front of your case is facing you, the intake fans will appear louder, same as if your top exhaust sound bounces around under the desk. People know about this, which is why they cup their hand behind the rear-speaker of their phones when watching a video.
 
I don't put the mike in the airflow because the airflow generates noise as it flows past the mic. ;) Sound can be directional, but fans radiate sound in all directions .. so do rustling leaves and quiet bedrooms. My point was most of the time the ambient noise level arround us is 20-30db.

Your measuring 24dB at 6" being the same as manufacturer's specs based on 1 meter distance means our meter is not even close to accurate. 24dB at 1 meter is about 40dB at 6"

dB measurement system only measures sound pressure and do not take into account how they effect us. Sone measurement system is how loud a sound is perceived. I think sone is better way, But fan sound specificatons are based on fan in open airflow .. no restrictions .. meaning they are not the same sound or volume we hear from our fans in use. In reality we need to actually listen to the fans in use to know what they sound like and can determine if we like them or not.

I understand you have very sensitive hearing. I used to too, but 40 years of loud noises in workplace changed that some. ;) I test / use at least one cooler and/or fan a month and have for many years now. One of my favorite fans is Thermalright TY-14x series fan. Now they make a TY-147A SQ and TY-143 SQ.. It's too bad Thermalright products are so hard to find.
 
doyll said:
I don't put the mike in the airflow because the airflow generates noise as it flows past the mic.
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That too, although I felt it went without saying, here... even if some YouTube reviewers could do with being reminded.

doyll said:
Sound can be directional, but fans radiate sound in all directions
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They also move air, which can carry the sound and make it seem louder at the exhaust end.

doyll said:
Your measuring 24dB at 6" being the same as manufacturer's specs based on 1 meter distance means our meter is not even close to accurate.
Click to expand...
But it is consistent enough to use as a measure for comparisons...

doyll said:
dB measurement system only measures sound pressure and do not take into account how they effect us.
Click to expand...
Exactly, which is why it's subjective. Even if Mfr's ratings are exact, it's only an indication and may go right out the window if you use the wrong radiator for the fan you've chosen.

doyll said:
In reality we need to actually listen to the fans in use to know what they sound like and can determine if we like them or not.
Click to expand...
Which is why I alwasy advocate the "suck it and see" approach... and why I spend half my life helping a friend continually swap all his fans about!! :D

doyll said:
I understand you have very sensitive hearing.
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Sensitive, but not discerning. I'm no audiophile!
 
ttaskmaster said:
That too, although I felt it went without saying, here... even if some YouTube reviewers could do with being reminded.

They also move air, which can carry the sound and make it seem louder at the exhaust end.

But it is consistent enough to use as a measure for comparisons...

Exactly, which is why it's subjective. Even if Mfr's ratings are exact, it's only an indication and may go right out the window if you use the wrong radiator for the fan you've chosen.

Which is why I alwasy advocate the "suck it and see" approach... and why I spend half my life helping a friend continually swap all his fans about!! :D

Sensitive, but not discerning. I'm no audiophile!
Click to expand...
Some people don't understand the obvious. ;) I consider 99% of 'reviews' on youtube nothing but talking heads .. usually advertising the product/s they are 'reviewing'. As I said, I test and review lots of cooling components .. and I use the air temp going into cooler recorded at at same time as I record CPU / GPU temp for baseline temp, not the room ambient. Most cooler testers / reviewers us

Indeed, air flow / wind carries sound, but it does not 'make it seem louder'. It is only carrying the sound farther without lowering it's sound level.

Manufacturer's rating have little to no relevance to the sounds we hear from our fans in our uses. ;)

Been there done that. :D
Many people do not realize how different fans sound in use .. and I have yet to hear a fan sound clip on YouTube (or anywhere else on internet) that actually sounds like actual fans do.

Most users have no idea that push versus pull sound difference is largely the result of the fan's motor mounting framework giving 3-5mm more spacing between impeller and what fan is mounted on when pushing then when fans is mounted to pull. Some coolers come with thicker sound dampening spacers for this, but I don't know of any radiators that do this. Noctua supply these for pull fan on NH-U14S & NH-U12S. So do Alpenfon for the Olymp .. can't think of others of-hand. I often use the thick (3mm ish) fan 'gaskets' on radiators to lower fan noise.
 
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