Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] OT CPU Fans
From: Michael Toomim (toomim_AT_cs.berkeley.edu)
Date: Tue Jun 04 2002 - 12:58:47 EEST
Adam Luchjenbroers wrote:
>>Pentiums are no longer cooler than Athlons. Athlons used to be hot, but
>>the new Athlon XP's are just as cool as Pentium 4's. You can go to each
>>of Intel and AMD's web-site's and read the CPU specifications -- Athlon
>>XP's and P4's are within a few degrees of each other.
>
> Athlons dissipate more heat than Pentiums, but they usually have better
> heatsinks to compensate for it.
No, no, no! Did you check the specifications I talked about? Athlons
do *not* dissipate more heat than Pentiums.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/24309.pdf
http://www.intel.com/design/pentium4/datashts/24988703.pdf
According to these specs, my athlon XP 1600+ has a typical power
consumption of 56.3W. A 1.6G pentium 4 has a spec of 60.8W.
Everybody thinks that athlons are hotter than pentiums, but they're not!
Check it out for yourself!
> Toms Hardware Guide did some testing regarding CPU fans and did look at noise
>
> A Comparison of 46 CPU Coolers and Fans
> http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q2/010521/cooler-01.html
> noise results: http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q2/010521/cooler-30.html
One should be wary of any fan noise-level review based entirely on
decibel comparisons. The problem with bad fans is more in the focused
high-pitch frequencies that they emit than it is in the amplitude of
low-frequency static. You can get a squeeler of a fan that is "quieter"
than another one decibel-wise, but far more annoying. Graphs like the
one on that Tom's Hardware link don't reflect that fact.
Also, Dan's Data (http://www.dansdata.com/coolercomp.htm) has a great
CPU cooler comparison, which covers additional options in slightly more
detail.
> Of course, I'd check that mobo fan first. Could well be the problem.
Lastly, I take back the comment I made about the chipset fan. I just
tried detaching mine, and it was a royal pain in the butt that didn't
amount to any significant change in noise level. The chipset fan was
inaudible in comparison to the CPU and power supply fan (both of which
are fairly quiet on my machine).
If you want to make your box quieter, my experience says that you've got
to swap the CPU fan, swap the power supply fan, get a more insulated
case (my girlfriend's aluminium case *amplifies* fan noise a lot), or
switch to a convection-cooled Apple G4 cube.
Michael
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