[CPU Cooler] AMD Ryzen Wraith Spire (stock) Review

Closely moderated reviews by forum members willing to share their experience and accept stiff peer review. Open only to registered forum members.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar

Post Reply
Derek Semeraro
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:49 am

[CPU Cooler] AMD Ryzen Wraith Spire (stock) Review

Post by Derek Semeraro » Sat Sep 30, 2017 9:46 am

AMD's Wraith Spire fan is the stock cooler that comes with Ryzen 5 CPU. (The Ryzen 7 CPU comes with a different version of the fan with LED lights, but I believe it is the same fan.) Keep in mind that the "X" versions of the AMD Ryzen CPU's do not come with the stock cooler. This review will cover whether a builder should buy an aftermarket CPU cooler or whether the stock cooler included is fine.

My review will focus on the noise factor. For temperatures and overclocking capabilities of the AMD Wraith Spire, it would be best to check out Hardware Unboxing's review. Here are his findings compared to the Hyper 212 Evo.
Screen Shot 2017-09-30 at 1.02.03 PM.png
In my experience, the AMD's Wraith Spire is neither considerably quiet nor considerably loud. For a stock cooler, it's great considering the fact that it's free, easy to install, has overall good build quality, cools far more effectively than Intel's stock coolers and isn't appallingly loud. There is no need to worry about whether the fan is too wide for the motherboard or too tall for your case

Currently, the WS cooler is the loudest part of my system, though mostly because most of the other parts I selected are very quiet. I estimate the noise of it to be 40 DB at full speed. However, if the Wraith Spire's fan is controlled (and not running at full speed), it does not make a lot of noise. This is a fan that needs to be controlled and limited in RPM's though if you do want a low-noise build.

It's better (and quieter) than what I expected for a stock cooler and it should run quieter than the coolers in many prebuilt performance PC's out there. But in the long-run, the general goal for silent Ryzen builds is to upgrade to an aftermarket cooler. If you have room in your budget to buy a better cooler, you should go that route instead. However, if you have a tight budget at the moment, you can get away with using the WS cooler until you have the funds for a better one. As long as you're not overclocking or running a lot of intensive apps, it won't be overly noisy.

You shouldn't get this fan for any price other than free, but for what it is, it is relatively good. Rating: 6/10
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

nullptr
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:44 am

Re: [CPU Cooler] AMD Ryzen Wraith Spire (stock) Review

Post by nullptr » Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:59 am

Hello,

I just got my new Ryzen 5 1600 with this stock cooler. But my problem with it is, that in idle mode (Windows Desktop doing nothing) the cooler always emits a clearly hearable low humming sound which has some sort of slowly pulsing character. It gets louder every about 2 secs (or so) and then gets quieter again, but is always clearly hearable even when my PC case is closed. It´s the only hearable sound when my PC is doing nothing. From reading reviews I came to understand that in idle mode the cooler usually should be absolutely silent (through closed case at least). The impressions you described only cover the "CPU in load"-case. So my question now is: is your example of the cooler hearable in idle mode? If yes, I think my cooler is defective and I will turn it in to get another one. I should add that I´m not the hardcore silent type of guy. I don´t care if my PC gets loud under load, as I only play VR and wear headphones when doing so, but in normal desktop office conditions it would be nice if the PC was silent as my notebook before was. All other components are just as quiet as I expected, only that CPU cooler drives me crazy.

Tank you.

Olle P
Posts: 711
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:03 am
Location: Sweden

Re: [CPU Cooler] AMD Ryzen Wraith Spire (stock) Review

Post by Olle P » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:25 am

nullptr wrote:... slowly pulsing character. It gets louder every about 2 secs (or so) and then gets quieter again, ...
That's an indication that the CPU is idling at the temperature threshold for the fan to ramp up in speed.
You can try to raise the threshold and/or increase the minimum speed. Then it should stay at the low speed.

How audible it is depends on the case used and your background noise level.

Derek Semeraro
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:49 am

Re: [CPU Cooler] AMD Ryzen Wraith Spire (stock) Review

Post by Derek Semeraro » Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:31 am

nullptr wrote:Hello,

I just got my new Ryzen 5 1600 with this stock cooler. But my problem with it is, that in idle mode (Windows Desktop doing nothing) the cooler always emits a clearly hearable low humming sound which has some sort of slowly pulsing character. It gets louder every about 2 secs (or so) and then gets quieter again, but is always clearly hearable even when my PC case is closed. It´s the only hearable sound when my PC is doing nothing. From reading reviews I came to understand that in idle mode the cooler usually should be absolutely silent (through closed case at least). The impressions you described only cover the "CPU in load"-case. So my question now is: is your example of the cooler hearable in idle mode? If yes, I think my cooler is defective and I will turn it in to get another one. I should add that I´m not the hardcore silent type of guy. I don´t care if my PC gets loud under load, as I only play VR and wear headphones when doing so, but in normal desktop office conditions it would be nice if the PC was silent as my notebook before was. All other components are just as quiet as I expected, only that CPU cooler drives me crazy.

Thank you.
It doesn't seem like your cooler is defective. During low loads, the Wraith Spire is not loud, but it's still far from silent. It will probably be the most apparently noisy part of an otherwise quiet build. Of course, with BIOS settings from the motherboard, it is possible to reduce the fan noise, but a dedicated silenthead is best using an aftermarket cooler for silence.

Post Reply