Heatsink roundup at Tom's Hardware

[wonsungi]

Tom's Hardware compares 34 heatsinks for the AMD Athlon XP:
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030113/index.html

Noise measurements for each cooler are given.

[Dru]

"The noise level of the tested fans varies according to the model, from an extremely quiet, barely audible 38 dB(A) (which can be compared to a loud whisper) up to an annoying 67 dB(A) (loud talking)."

38db = Extremely quiet? I guess this proves noise is subjective.

[NeilBlanchard]

Over at Dan's Data, he has tested over 125 heatsinks!

http://www.dansdata.com/coolercomp.htm

He doesn't have specific noise measurements, but he does often comment on the noise. As far as 38dBA being quiet or not, it depends a whole lot on how they measured it! 38dBA from less than an inch away (or whatever - I have not read the Tom's article, nor do I care to) could well translate to a quiet cooler from inside the case...

[Justin_R]

This is probably the weakest cooler roundup that Tom's Hardware has ever done, although their last one was pretty weak, too. Amazing that they can compare 89 heatsinks for Socket A and yet not include any manufactured by Alpha Novatech, Thermalright or Zalman, the three brands which are probably discussed most often here on SPCR. Why samples from these companies weren't included is anyone's guess. The article even says:

It remains to be seen if the manufacturers will direct their future development efforts more strongly in the direction of quiet and, of course, powerful cooling solutions.

which is laughable, since the Thermalright SLK-800 is considered one of the most powerful Socket A coolers available, and the Zalman CNPS-6000Cu is considered one of the quietest. They're building them, Tom's Hardware, you just aren't reviewing them.