H100... really that noisy?

RaveyDaveyUK · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:21

About to upgrade to an i5 and still arguing with myself over a cooler.

Got a Coolermaster Cosmos S case so loads of room and fancy the H100 just coz I can.

I've seen a few pics of it mounted in the top of the Cosmos and would welcome any comments, etc regarding fitting and noise in particular.

samcat · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:25

I find the stock H100 fans quite annoying, even on the lowest setting.. BUT there is nothing stopping you swapping them out for something better.
Got all the parts to put a proper custom loop in, The watercooling bug has bitten me again!

Sam

feck199 · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:27

I looked into H80/H100 and ended up on air, not fully sure if i made the right choice yet or not. But replacing the fans would have been a must.

There are other threads comparing them, but its things like http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18327421 which made me second guess it!

Helios1234 · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:41

feck199 said:
I looked into H80/H100 and ended up on air, not fully sure if i made the right choice yet or not. But replacing the fans would have been a must.

There are other threads comparing them, but its things like http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18327421 which made me second guess it!

You made the right choice.

The H100 is very noisy. Let's just say I could hear it at full speed over a Henry Hoover 2m away... And in quiet mode, it's no better than a much cheaper mid-high end air cooler.

Leeroy123 · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:44

I have the h80 and its quite noisy on full, cant hear it on medium or low. I wouldnt change it for anything.

feck199 · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:47

Helios1234 said:
You made the right choice.

The H100 is very noisy. Let's just say I could hear it at full speed over a Henry Hoover 2m away... And in quiet mode, it's no better than a much cheaper mid-high end air cooler.

Thanks

I will need to reseat my cpu fan when i get a second 6950 tho, the way i put it in blocked my top pci-e slot

but easily fixed just not had the need yet!

RaveyDaveyUK · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:50

Hmmm... thanks for the link ****.

So if I went air, I'm guessing the Noctua is way to go until SilverArrows are back.

Any recommendations?

RaveyDaveyUK · 12 Oct 2011 at 11:55

@Leeroy: Do you find you mainly run the H80 at low/mid?

I have 6 Sharkoon 2000s in the cosmos at the mo (1 in a Tuniq Tower) so I am fairly used to noise, but hoped to turn the volume down a little.

Leeroy123 · 12 Oct 2011 at 12:24

i keep it on full all the time mate. doesnt bother me. Its not the quiestest but i have an antec 1200 case and 2 gpus which aint quiet. Doesnt bother me at all.

Helios1234 · 12 Oct 2011 at 16:03

RaveyDaveyUK said:
Hmmm... thanks for the link ****.

So if I went air, I'm guessing the Noctua is way to go until SilverArrows are back.

Yup. You won't have to compromise on noise for brilliant performance even if noise doesn't bother you...

Plec · 12 Oct 2011 at 16:29

As above - either cooler would be great choice.

I personally prefer the SA as the price to perforance ratio is virtually second to none - but the Noctua does allow for higher profile memory if required.

Tealc · 12 Oct 2011 at 16:37

I just read a review and the Noctua D14 seems better. The only time the H100 gets better temps is when it has the fans are screaming along at 2500rpm compared with the 1300rpm the Noctua runs at. The difference between the fast and slow settings with the fans only adds a few degrees though so you could run the H100 at 1300rpm and live with the four degree difference. Mind you it's just the one review I skimmed so maybe these figures are not representative of the actual real world values.

The H100 is a good idea but lacks the amount of cooling area that the D14 has.

Buying the H100 and then swapping the fans bumps the price more towards custom water cooling prices or even off the shelf kits, like those that OcUK do.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-115-EK&groupid=962&catid=1532&subcat=

£139 isn't too far away from the £99 for the H100 plus 2x Vipers or Apaches and is actually more expensive that if you have push/pull going on.

I can't help but think that these ALC solutions are a bit of a wasted opportunity, at least from a quietness point of view.

qbazdz · 12 Oct 2011 at 16:56

How does the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro compare with all those fancy WC kits?

Helios1234 · 12 Oct 2011 at 18:28

Plec said:
As above - either cooler would be great choice.

I personally prefer the SA as the price to perforance ratio is virtually second to none - but the Noctua does allow for higher profile memory if required.

Yeah, just a shame SA availability is so low. From what I hear, they had a problem with sourcing material for production a couple of months back.

Plec · 12 Oct 2011 at 18:39

Helios1234 said:
From what I hear, they had a problem with sourcing material for production a couple of months back.

Ah, that's the reason.

Oddly enough i was having a discussion in another thread about their lack of availabilty but didn't have an answer as to why.

Thanks for the info.

pgi947 · 12 Oct 2011 at 19:54

Swapped the fans out on my H80, as for me at full speed they were too noisy (what do you expect for 2500rpm

). Anyway I put a pair of akasa vipers on, PWM controlled, noise gone.

Yes the vipers can be noisy above 80% but it is absolutely nothing compared to the stock fans.

Allot of people recommend getting the GT 1850rpm as replacement fans also...