Why are the Noctua 140's being used as reference fans and not the Scythe? According to previous SPCR comparisons, they give better cooling at the same noise level (or the same cooling at lower noise level):

(I quote my comment posted regarding a different review):

In the Prolimatech Armageddon & Coolermaster V8 CPU Coolers review ( http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1039-page9.html ) it was found: "The Scythe 140 mm fan fared much better than the Noctua."

The Scythe fan peformed so well that "The Scythe's convincing victory over the Noctua makes a compelling argument for its use as our 140 mm reference fan."

The Scythe fan was from a Grand Kama Cross heatsink reviewed here http://www.silentpcreview.com/scythe-grand-kama-cross. It is a 140 mm PWM Slip Stream which Scythe do not sell through the retail channel as a separate item. So it could hardly be used as a reference fan.

One of the criteria for a good reference fan is that it be a somewhat stable design. If it changes every few years it isn't as useful as a reference. Other than the Sliptream series Scythe is always tweeking its fans.... and the scythe fan you are referring to isn't even a separate SKU in their product line.

Also maybe a benefit from using the Noctuas is the flexibility of mounting them as either 140mm or with a 120mm mount. My recollection is that the Scythe 140mm fans mount only as 120mm fans.

Thermalright TR-FDB-12-600 fans looks alot like the Scythe S-flex there is also 1000 rpm version my guess would be there rebranded and tweaked to lower rpm.

Regarding the reviewed cooler, I think the provided fans seems a little too weak to provide the cooling capacity overhead required for full functionality even when the room gets warmer in the summer. A pair of 800 rpm fans would perhaps have been a better option.

Other than that it seems great.

/Olle

Is the difference between this "silent edition" and other versions of the Venomous X just in the supplied fans, with the cooler itself being the same?

i believe thats the case. it seems more of a silent package than a new edition of the cooler.

Where do i buy it? This version isn't even listen on the Thermalright product webpage.

Thanks!

it's in the same price range as the HR-02, so i'm wondering how it compares with HR-02 with the same fans, and also passive

The point of reference fan is, well to be used as a reference. Yes, the Scythe performs better, but that isn't the point and furthermore, we had only one sample of that model. We couldn't do any dual fan tests with it, and if we broke or lost it we'd be up in some trouble as noted earlier, Scythe does change their designs often.

They don't perform as well but we have quite a few P14's, they're fairly quiet, and their generic shape makes them a bit more compatible (as noted in that same Prolimatech Armageddon review), so we've been using them instead.

Has anyone seen this baby in Europe?

Specialtech in UK has it in stock now.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/cus ... 14002.html

Overclockers UK seem to do this cooler for a very reasonable £40. Their P&P charges are normally pretty high though.