Scythe Andy Samurai Master vs. Thermaltake MaxOrb
by Wesley Fink on June 4, 2007 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Noise
For many enthusiasts upgrading cooling the goal is maximum stable overclock, and they will live with the inconvenience of a louder system. For other users silence is the most important factor, and these users will forgo maximum overclocking if that increases system noise levels.
There are virtually no power supplies that do not include a fan. While Zalman and a few others do make an expensive fanless power supplies, we have not seen a fanless unit larger than 500W, or one that would be used for seriously overclocking a system. With that in mind the noise level of the system with all fans turned off except the power supply was measured. The power supply used for the cooling test bed was the OCZ PowerStream 520, which is one of the quieter of the high performance power supplies.
We have also measured the Corsair 620-watt and Mushkin 650-watt power supplies which are reported to be quieter than the OCZ. Both the Corsair and Mushkin are indeed quieter at idle or start up speed. However, as soon as load testing begins and the PSU fan speed kicks up the measured noise level is almost exactly the same as the OCZ PowerStream 520 watt power supply.
We are currently in the process of evaluating "quieter" power supplies for an update to our cooler test bed. We will make changes to that test bed as soon as we are confident in the noise measurements and test procedures with a variable speed quiet PSU. We plan to evaluate additional power supplies and configurations in our upcoming 120mm fan roundup, at which point we will complete the transition to a revised and lower noise cooler test bed.
The noise level of the power supply was 38.3 dB from 24" (61cm) and 47 dB from 6" (152mm). The measured noise level of the test room is 36.4 dB, which would be considered a relatively quiet room with a noise floor slightly below the OCZ PowerStream 520 PSU.
We measured noise levels with the Thermaltake MaxOrb and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master with the stock Scythe fan at its single speed and the embedded MaxOrb fan at Low and High speeds. Results were then compared to the other coolers/fans tested in this category. Measured noise levels in this chart should be considered worst case. Measurements were taken with an open side of a mid tower case 6" and 24" from the HSF. Real world would be a completely closed case resulting in a further reduction in noise.
The measured noise levels at 6" and 24" are below the system noise floor with the quiet Scythe fan on the Andy Samurai Master. The Thermaltake actually specifies even lower noise levels than the Scythe, but at both low and high noise it was above the 24" noise floor at 40.7dbA at low speed and 45.8dbA at high speed. The MaxOrb fan is definitely audible, but the noise is not particularly irritating in frequency. If you are very sensitive to noise you should be aware you will likely hear the MaxOrb fan with an open case.
At the 6" measurement the MaxOrb was below the noise floor at low speed, and significantly above the noise floor of 47dbA at high speed with a measured 52.5dbA. The Tuniq Tower 120 on high, the Zalman 9700 on high, and the Monsoon II Lite stressed were noisier than this, but this is still one of our highest measurements. Again the noise frequencies are well placed and not particularly irritating as there is none of the high-pitched whine that some fans generate, but the MaxOrb is definitely not silent.
For many enthusiasts upgrading cooling the goal is maximum stable overclock, and they will live with the inconvenience of a louder system. For other users silence is the most important factor, and these users will forgo maximum overclocking if that increases system noise levels.
There are virtually no power supplies that do not include a fan. While Zalman and a few others do make an expensive fanless power supplies, we have not seen a fanless unit larger than 500W, or one that would be used for seriously overclocking a system. With that in mind the noise level of the system with all fans turned off except the power supply was measured. The power supply used for the cooling test bed was the OCZ PowerStream 520, which is one of the quieter of the high performance power supplies.
We have also measured the Corsair 620-watt and Mushkin 650-watt power supplies which are reported to be quieter than the OCZ. Both the Corsair and Mushkin are indeed quieter at idle or start up speed. However, as soon as load testing begins and the PSU fan speed kicks up the measured noise level is almost exactly the same as the OCZ PowerStream 520 watt power supply.
We are currently in the process of evaluating "quieter" power supplies for an update to our cooler test bed. We will make changes to that test bed as soon as we are confident in the noise measurements and test procedures with a variable speed quiet PSU. We plan to evaluate additional power supplies and configurations in our upcoming 120mm fan roundup, at which point we will complete the transition to a revised and lower noise cooler test bed.
The noise level of the power supply was 38.3 dB from 24" (61cm) and 47 dB from 6" (152mm). The measured noise level of the test room is 36.4 dB, which would be considered a relatively quiet room with a noise floor slightly below the OCZ PowerStream 520 PSU.
We measured noise levels with the Thermaltake MaxOrb and the Scythe Andy Samurai Master with the stock Scythe fan at its single speed and the embedded MaxOrb fan at Low and High speeds. Results were then compared to the other coolers/fans tested in this category. Measured noise levels in this chart should be considered worst case. Measurements were taken with an open side of a mid tower case 6" and 24" from the HSF. Real world would be a completely closed case resulting in a further reduction in noise.
The measured noise levels at 6" and 24" are below the system noise floor with the quiet Scythe fan on the Andy Samurai Master. The Thermaltake actually specifies even lower noise levels than the Scythe, but at both low and high noise it was above the 24" noise floor at 40.7dbA at low speed and 45.8dbA at high speed. The MaxOrb fan is definitely audible, but the noise is not particularly irritating in frequency. If you are very sensitive to noise you should be aware you will likely hear the MaxOrb fan with an open case.
At the 6" measurement the MaxOrb was below the noise floor at low speed, and significantly above the noise floor of 47dbA at high speed with a measured 52.5dbA. The Tuniq Tower 120 on high, the Zalman 9700 on high, and the Monsoon II Lite stressed were noisier than this, but this is still one of our highest measurements. Again the noise frequencies are well placed and not particularly irritating as there is none of the high-pitched whine that some fans generate, but the MaxOrb is definitely not silent.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
Ver Greeneyes - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
That's exactly what I said a few posts above.. I don't understand this setup. I think the best setup for a top-mounted fan would be if you've got another fan that blows air into the heatsink, which said fan then pulls away out of the case.SurJector - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
I suspect the components on the MB do not need that much cooling. Some air, even warm, is better than none, but there is probably no need for much more.MageXX9 - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
Does anyone else stop even considering a heatsink when I see those horrible push in clips that are the same type as the retail heat sink fan? I recently built my first Core 2 Duo system and was horrified at what a horrible design. The instructions had in big bold letters that it should only be installed when the motherboard is already in the case, but the amount of force needed to get each one to click, and the way my motherboard flexed made me vow to never use those types again.So, if I don't see a screw down design that isn't plastic I immediately write it off.
What does everyone else think?
kmmatney - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
It's not just you. I was horrified when I built my first Socket 775 system. What a pain those plastic clips are! I'm always afraid I'm going to break something, or break something on the motherboard with the force needed to snap them into place. I've been putting off pin-modding my E4400 because I don't want to go through the hassle of removing my HSF.Imnotrichey - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
I just dealt with those clips for the first time, 2 weeks ago on my new system. What a hassle! First, I couldn't get them all in together at once. Then finally when I do get them in, one stays out!! so I try to restart, and then I can't pull one of the pegs out, I felt like I was going to rip the mobo out before I was going to pull out the stock HSF. Luckily, I got it once I turned the case at a certain angle so I could get a good grip. Turns out one of the pegs wouldn't go down all the way. A little piece of plastic was coming up in between the peg, pushing them apart.I had to get an Arctic Cooling Pro 7, still had some issues, but eventually got it right. But definetly never want to have to fool with those screws again :)
sofarfrome - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
...what was ambient temp during this (and other) tests? Everytime I look at the chart that compares 22 or so HSFs I see where 3 products I use always are at the top of the list (Tuniq, Scythe Ninja RevB, and now the TR Ultra 120 extreme). However, obtaining the temps Anandtech claims at 1.5875vcore is a little difficult to believe. That must be one hella cool running x6800.Wesley Fink - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
The ambient room temperature is maintained at 20 to 22C, which is 68 to 72F. We measure ambient room temp before we begin any temperature tests. In the summer we have to turn off almpst all the equipment in the test room to keep the temperature from rising during the tests.The fans used with this 3 top coolers definitely improve the cooling with these heatpipe towers. You might want to refer back to the original reviews.
DaveLessnau - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
If I'm reading that correctly, that means you tested without a case fan. This is definitely a problem. Without a case fan, the only way to get hot air out of the case would be because of overpressure. With nothing moving air into the case, there'd be no overpressure and thus no heat exhaust. Properly oriented side-blowing heatsink fans would provide some exhaust, but the down-blowing ones wouldn't be able to do that. Essentially, without that case fan, this test is designed to cause down-blowing heatsinks to fail.
Wesley Fink - Monday, June 4, 2007 - link
The large area behind the CPU is perforated in the test bed case so air can definitely escape due to heat rising and gravity flow. We just don't use a case fan to push the air out. It also seemed a possibility to us that we were not exhausting air as well with the down-facing fan coolers, so we also ran a few tests with the case on the side and the side (now the top) off. Cooling performance and overclocking did not improve at all.We are looking at all your suggestions to incorporate the best ideas in the new cooling test bed.
lopri - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
Incredible argument. (umm.. Gravity?) Are you suggesting that we can do away with the probably single most important fan in ATX design philosophy?