I've been looking for a way to improve performance of my Raijintek Aidos cooler to keep my overclocked i5-4690k (4.5GHz) cool and quiet while having this all in a small case. It was either this or replacing this cooler with a different one altogether. Thought I will do a separate thread for this in case anyone is looking to do the same.
Wanted to share some thoughts as suggestion was to simply replace stock fan to improve cooling/acoustic performance.
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Noctua NF-A9 came in today so I've run some tests to compare it to Raijintek Aidos fan. I do not own any equipment though so it will be very subjective. I've tested it in a quiet room with nothing else emitting sound other than my pc.
NOISE
First of Noctua is much quieter than Raijintek stock fan. It's inaudible at idle (up to 1200 rpm) and at max 2000 rpm pleasantly audible. It emits much nicer sound which is more of a humming sound with a flow of air as opposed to higher pitch Raijintek noise which can only be compared to the one that hoover makes (obviously not as loud). Changes in rpm on Noctua are also more pleasant and fluid.
Raijintek at idle (1200 rpm) can be heard but it's only a noise of moving air. Can be manually set to minimum of 1070 rpm but at that speed emits a rather unpleasant low frequency noise an isn't any quieter because of that.
COOLING PERFORMANCE
I've clocked my i5-4690k to 4.5GHz for this test (102.3 base clock, 44 ratio, 1.25V) and run prime95 for 5 minutes each twice with 5 minutes break in between. I must say it was rather warm in my room (short sleeve and all) again no proper equipment, sorry. If I was to guess around 24C or more.
Noctua was hitting max 87C which was rather high for my liking. That's the only reason why I only run the test for 5 minutes and not longer.
At the same time Raijintek kept to max 76C in this test with no indication the temp would go any higher. In fact I run it for 15 minutes at the third attempt ant the temp would not go any higher.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I must say I had high expectations of Noctua fan and while it delivered in acoustic performance it really disappointed in it's main duty cooling. Difference of 9C at full load is significant and would severely impact on overclocking capability.
So for anyone considering swapping stock fan on Raijintek Aidos. If your aim is to only reduce fan noise at idle/medium loads Noctua would be great. If you want to achieve a decent overclock though and aren't bothered with noise at full load stick to the stock Raijintek fan.
For the last category of people who like me want both cooling performance and quiet system at full load with overclock Raijintek simply isn't the solution. It is a very decent cooler though and I would recommend it to anyone.
Wanted to share some thoughts as suggestion was to simply replace stock fan to improve cooling/acoustic performance.
*************************
Noctua NF-A9 came in today so I've run some tests to compare it to Raijintek Aidos fan. I do not own any equipment though so it will be very subjective. I've tested it in a quiet room with nothing else emitting sound other than my pc.
NOISE
First of Noctua is much quieter than Raijintek stock fan. It's inaudible at idle (up to 1200 rpm) and at max 2000 rpm pleasantly audible. It emits much nicer sound which is more of a humming sound with a flow of air as opposed to higher pitch Raijintek noise which can only be compared to the one that hoover makes (obviously not as loud). Changes in rpm on Noctua are also more pleasant and fluid.
Raijintek at idle (1200 rpm) can be heard but it's only a noise of moving air. Can be manually set to minimum of 1070 rpm but at that speed emits a rather unpleasant low frequency noise an isn't any quieter because of that.
COOLING PERFORMANCE
I've clocked my i5-4690k to 4.5GHz for this test (102.3 base clock, 44 ratio, 1.25V) and run prime95 for 5 minutes each twice with 5 minutes break in between. I must say it was rather warm in my room (short sleeve and all) again no proper equipment, sorry. If I was to guess around 24C or more.
Noctua was hitting max 87C which was rather high for my liking. That's the only reason why I only run the test for 5 minutes and not longer.
At the same time Raijintek kept to max 76C in this test with no indication the temp would go any higher. In fact I run it for 15 minutes at the third attempt ant the temp would not go any higher.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I must say I had high expectations of Noctua fan and while it delivered in acoustic performance it really disappointed in it's main duty cooling. Difference of 9C at full load is significant and would severely impact on overclocking capability.
So for anyone considering swapping stock fan on Raijintek Aidos. If your aim is to only reduce fan noise at idle/medium loads Noctua would be great. If you want to achieve a decent overclock though and aren't bothered with noise at full load stick to the stock Raijintek fan.
For the last category of people who like me want both cooling performance and quiet system at full load with overclock Raijintek simply isn't the solution. It is a very decent cooler though and I would recommend it to anyone.