For the P4 review... + a comment on Frostytech

Cooling Processors quietly

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Herb W.
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For the P4 review... + a comment on Frostytech

Post by Herb W. » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:16 am

Wonderful review Mike, and I am really looking forward to your P4 followup....

You're probably already aware of them, but some suggestions for HSs to look at from my recent review-reading binge:

Swiftech MCX4000
Thermalright SLK-478 (Nov. release in US)
Alpha PAL8942

Any ideas as to when your review will hit the Web site?

A note about other another review site: Frostytech provides very rigorous reviews, with sound measurements and even playable sound clips, but - and it's a big but - for some reason they have pulled all their Swiftech reviews, despite the fact that their MCX4000 review had it at the top of their performance charts. They have even pulled the Swiftech data from the comparison charts in all their other reviews.... weird. No explanation given - it really reflects badly on their objectivity. Anyone know what happened?

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:43 am

P4 reviews -- depends when I have enough of them to make it worthwhile. Many samples have been promised, but some have yet to arrive. Maybe as early as 2 weeks -- to a month.
Frostytech provides very rigorous reviews, with sound measurements and even playable sound clips
Yeah, I agree -- except about the sound measurements: they're doing that in a wee little box. Boundary effects boost all the frequencies below ~500Hz & will tend to reduce differences between the different samples. I looked into doing this in a large closet and tossed out the idea after conferring with a bunch of acoustics experts. I agree it is nice they try but take that noise measurement with a healthy dose of caution.
They have even pulled the Swiftech data from the comparison charts in all their other reviews.... Anyone know what happened?
I noticed this as well. It does seem odd & suggests some kind of conflict between Frosty & Swifty.

Gekkani
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Post by Gekkani » Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:16 pm


Hey... I'd like to see a review of OCZ P4 Eliminator.... OCZ claims that it doesnt need a fan .. only passive cooling up to 3.06 ghz :shock:

It sound like a joke...

quokked
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Post by quokked » Wed Oct 30, 2002 8:11 pm

Gekkani wrote:
Hey... I'd like to see a review of OCZ P4 Eliminator.... OCZ claims that it doesnt need a fan .. only passive cooling up to 3.06 ghz :shock:

It sound like a joke...
it's probably called a Eliminator because it eliminates noise PERMANTLEY, thank gosh for the Thermal Throttling on the P4's or I'd think it'd toast it :)

Gekkani
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Post by Gekkani » Wed Oct 30, 2002 9:40 pm


lol! :D :D :D

quokked
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Post by quokked » Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:12 pm

MikeC wrote:
Frostytech provides very rigorous reviews, with sound measurements and even playable sound clips
with the sound measurements MikeC I think they're useful not as the context of sound measurements but as a reference for compariablity between the Heatsinks, the way they've setup their box I think would mean that the acoustic results across all the heatsinks are repeatable so no other variables can mess round with their readings (like a loud car driving by :) ) so u can see which heatsinks are louder in the enclosure in relative terms to the other one's that they test.

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Post by MikeC » Wed Oct 30, 2002 10:31 pm

u can see which heatsinks are louder in the enclosure in relative terms to the other one's that they test
That's the point. YOu can't really see if the differences get minimized by boundary effects. (Also, I'd be surprised if they get much more than ~10 dBA attentuation in the box. You'd be surprised what it takes to block out noise!)

If all the under 500Hz readings are boosted by say 10 dB, it has the effect of compressing the differences between the HSF. Sort of like "FM radio announcer voice" effect -- some mics (studios, stations, whatever) deliberately add a huskiness to all male voices (by boosting certain bands in the lower midrange and low frequencies). As a result, they all sound kind of similar - rich warm sexy voice.

That's the kind of effect recording in a small box has.

I still think it's great that they try, and it does give some idea of noise levels.

quokked
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Post by quokked » Thu Oct 31, 2002 3:12 am

You'd be surprised what it takes to block out noise!
the only place where I think u'd get low noise attentuation either the best out at sea in the middle of nowhere or maybe REALLY late at night so all u'd have is maybe 50Hz noise (not even), Or maybe one of my Uni lectures as well cause all the noise u hear is ppl nodding off silence.... I think the best way would be to measure the Change in dB from ambient to what the noise level is after :)

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Post by MikeC » Thu Oct 31, 2002 8:17 am

On one of my more fanatical days, I was dreaming up an idea to convert an underground bunker into an anechoic chamber... it has been done, effectively.

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Post by MikeC » Fri Nov 08, 2002 12:37 pm

Do you think a Zalman 6500B-CU run without a fan
Probably, with undervolting of the CPU & reasonable case airflow.

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