- What quiet gigant cooler is this?

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This has to be one of biggest coolers quiet i've ever seen featured in latest click iplayer.

anyone know it? ta

99gjme.jpg


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sks8c/Click_11_05_2013/
 
I remember testing a K2 passively and got pretty much the same results as a review that tested one of the no-fan coolers.

I reckon any big dual tower cooler would be a better choice and wouldn't block the top pcie slot(s), plus they'd let you use silent low speed fans if you wanted.
 
I reckon any big dual tower cooler would be a better choice and wouldn't block the top pcie slot(s), plus they'd let you use silent low speed fans if you wanted.
Except the "silent low speed fans" are not that when you are running flat out... The NoFan (I have 2) is entirely silent when being run flat out... And yes it's a NoFan 95...
 
Except the "silent low speed fans" are not that when you are running flat out... The NoFan (I have 2) is entirely silent when being run flat out... And yes it's a NoFan 95...

They look good but they come with massive limitations. They're certainly not recommended by reviewers for OC'd machines. TDP is limited to 95w.

The only review I can find with an overclock CPU is one by TTL and on an i5 2600k @ 4.0Ghz (1.25v) "flat-out" completely passive (no case fans either for complete silence, as is the point) temps rocketed to just under 80°c.

Size is also an issue. They're massive, bigger than a D14 so no tall RAM and you're likely to lose a PCI-E slot.

Personally I'd rather 20 or so dB of fan noise and have ~30°c less heat in my CPU.
 
It's an awful cooler.
Given its size price and rated TDP, why would anyone buy this over a tower cooler than can passively cool more efficiently and cheaper?
 
So which quiet cooler do you propose. Am getting frustrated with the about 50db noise of the so called 'quiet' NH-D14 makes on stock fans. Cooling is outstanding never going over 50C even when 3750k OC'd to 4.2 (stock volts) and using Haf x case...

Was considering nofan copper CR-95c however based on reviews it would struggle with my current overclock...
 
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The only review I can find with an overclock CPU is one by TTL and on an i5 2600k @ 4.0Ghz (1.25v) "flat-out" completely passive (no case fans either for complete silence, as is the point) temps rocketed to just under 80°c.
Which for most average conditions is a delta T of 55-60 deg. C (which is about right - 100W into the NoFan should raise the temps by 51 deg C as it is a 0.51W/deg C heatsink). The "best" tower coolers are in the low 60's as delta temps.

Size is also an issue. They're massive, bigger than a D14 so no tall RAM and you're likely to lose a PCI-E slot.
Yup. And it's why I don't have one in my 2600K rig - nowhere to put the graphics card.

Personally I'd rather 20 or so dB of fan noise and have ~30°c less heat in my CPU.
I spend 80% of my day in a room with 4 computers. Every dB matters to me.

TDP limited to 95W with the size of that! Must be horribly inefficient.
No, I think it's more efficient than tower coolers - see above. It just doesn't have the "advantage" of forced air cooling.
 
So which quiet cooler do you propose. Am getting frustrated with the about 50db noise of the so called 'quiet' NH-D14 makes on stock fans. Cooling is outstanding never going over 50C even when OC'd to 4.2 (stock volts) and using Haf x case...
What CPU? What PSU, what graphics card and what case? As I see it you have the following options:

  • Turn fans down on Noctua and handle the increase in temps for quieter computing
  • Design a system around a NoFan - but that just moves the problem elsewhere - you need to worry about semi-passive PSUs, quiet/silent graphics cards, RAM clearance, whether your case is suitable for a NoFan (needs ventilation holes at the top and sides).
  • Watercool.

Your tradeoffs will be dependent on what's important to you. For example, I don't game, I currently have a case that is completely passive (still have active cooling on the CPU) until the CPU gets going and then the case fans only come on when the CPU gets above 55 deg C.

I reckon with a little airflow (i.e. case fans at 300 rpm), the NoFan would actually be a very quiet overclocked computer. It won't be the fastest, but the wide placement of the radiating vanes will allow a minimal airflow to be very much more efficient than tightly stacked vanes. I will probably be putting my money where my mouth is and be trying it when Haswell comes out.
 
Which for most average conditions is a delta T of 55-60 deg. C (which is about right - 100W into the NoFan should raise the temps by 51 deg C as it is a 0.51W/deg C heatsink). The "best" tower coolers are in the low 60's as delta temps.

Actually at low-noise settings, the "best" tower coolers usually sit on average between 45-50°c in terms of delta. The nofan cooler has a higher delta of 50-60°c at an average ambient temp. That's 10°c hotter. Bearing in mind that this is based on what is now pretty much considered a modest overclock of 4.0 @ 1.25v. The nofan could not cope beyond this. Sure you can slightly lower the temps by using case fans to generate air-flow but that would just be defeating the object.

There are too many drawbacks vs benefit. IMO It's too big, it doesn't fit the needs of the modern overclocker & it's way too expensive. Around £80 for the CR-95c. NH-D14/Alpenfohn K2 can be had for around £60 and deal with bigger OC's

arekgreenman888 said:
So which quiet cooler do you propose. Am getting frustrated with the about 50db noise of the so called 'quiet' NH-D14 makes on stock fans. Cooling is outstanding never going over 50C even when 3750k OC'd to 4.2 (stock volts) and using Haf x case...

Was considering nofan copper CR-95c however based on reviews it would struggle with my current overclock...

50dB? The NH-D14 isn't that noisy. I'd suggest that there's other noise from other fans in that. I say that because I only get my noise level to 46-48db (@1metre) when I switch all my fans to 100%, 7 in total which includes 2 SP120 Performance fans @ 2350rpm pushing through a h100i.

However maybe you'd like to consider the step up into water-cooling?
 
So which quiet cooler do you propose. Am getting frustrated with the about 50db noise of the so called 'quiet' NH-D14 makes on stock fans. Cooling is outstanding never going over 50C even when 3750k OC'd to 4.2 (stock volts) and using Haf x case...

Was considering nofan copper CR-95c however based on reviews it would struggle with my current overclock...

Assuming that it is the NH-D14 which is causing all the noise in your case, it will be because the stock fans of the D14 are not PWM - Noctua didn't have a PWM solution at the time - which means that they are running at 100% all of the time. A few intermediate solutions I would suggest (before actually replacing it) would be:

1. Use the supplied Low Noise Adaptors to bring the fans under 1000rpm which would make them a lot less perceptible.

2. Replace the fans with 140mm PWM fans (with 120mm holes in order to fit the D14) which will drastically lower the sound emitted at idle and even at load. If you really max out at 50-60 degrees, the PWM fans won't spin anywhere near their maximum rpm and will be a lot quieter than the ones currently attached.

3. Both of the above. With something like a pair of NF-A15 140mm PWM fans + low noise adapter, these fans would run about 300-500 rpm on idle (compared to your 1200 rpm currently) and about 900 rpm on maximum load which you would be unlikely to reach because your temps are so good.

Sidebar: thanks for reminding me to watch BBC Click this week
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Actually at low-noise settings,
I think the problem is, it looks like your definition of "low noise" and mine differ. My goal is not to have the fastest possible overclock, but the quietest one - and do it without water.

I sit in a 10 x 10 room with 3 PCs with 12 HDDs spread across them. One is a 95W TDP Athlon II/GT210/AX760 PSU that is fully passively cooled by a NoFan (other than a fan turned down very low to blow air across the disks) another is a 65W TDP processor cooled with a very low speed fan (with passive PSU/gfx) and the third is my overclocked i7 (+ passive 7750/AX860 PSU). At idle, all I can hear from them is the disks - and that is too loud! When the fan on my overclocked i7 heatsink spins up to 1000rpm, it is too loud :D I am looking for a way to reduce that back to similar volume levels as idle - and do it without water.

I think it is easier to cool the NoFan with a low volume of airflow, due to the design and the one review I saw that tried it (can I find it now - no!) suggested even with minimal airflow with casefans just moving air, the NoFan dropped 15 deg C. No, it is not a heatsink for the person after the highest stable overclock - although I've not seen it pushed by someone designing a complete system around it - it's normally just dropped in where other heatsinks would be put and tested. It does have its place though.
 
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