Stock Phenom II X4 965 HSU noise comparison

[smurray]

I'm getting ready to build a new HTPC, and keep going back and forth as to whether to buy an aftermarket CPU cooler or to just use the stock one that comes with the processor. My biggest concern is noise since the PC will be left on most, if not all, of the time. I've seen measurements of how loud the stock fan is in db, but unfortunately I don't have a good enough handle on things to know exactly how loud something like 48db will be. What I do have however is an xbox 360 and a ps3, so I know exactly how loud those can get. If the stock AMD cooler installed in a Silverstone GD05B case will be no louder than either of those consoles, then I think I'll stick with the stock cooler.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I'd replace the stock cooler. The stock cooler that comes with AMD cpus is invariably both useless and loud. Even a Cooler Master Hyper 101 will be a lot cheaper, and its fairly cheap and small. But at least it contains copper and heatsinks.

The stock heatsink contains neither, its pretty much a block of aluminium with a fan on top.

 

[Eddie313]

I thought the stock amd 940/955/965 has the upgraded cooler with copper block?
All the ones i have got had the piped cooler

 

[Ancalagon44]

I bought an Athlon X2 II 620 and an Athlon X2 5600+. Both had crappy HSFs. Maybe Phenom IIs come with better HSFs though.

 

[Eddie313]

Yeah they come with better stock coolers

One of the right is the upgraded stock cooler

 

[smurray]

It seems as though I will be forced to get an aftermarket cooler after all. With an optical drive installed in a Silverstone GD05 case, there is a maximum of 70mm clearance for a HSU. I'm fairly certain the stock cooler is taller than that.

 

[deimos3428]

My biggest concern is noise

I'd budget for an aftermarket cooler, as the stock cooler can get rather loud under load. But try it out first.

 

[RallyMaster]

Honestly, the stock cooler with AMD's Phenom II quads are pretty good. The heatpipes and all work really well and are far better than the pieces of junk bundled with Intel's quads.

 

[schneiderguy]

The stock black edition heatsink with the heatpipes is loud as hell. IIRC the fan spins up to around 3500-4000 rpm D:

 

[Eddie313]

3500RPM? I have one sitting right next to me running at 1200RPM cool quiet disabled running full speed not loud at all. Now if i stress the cpu like prime or something yeah it speeds up but does not run full out all the time.