The 140mm Slim Tower CPU Cooler Roundup: Thin & Light Done Just Right
by E. Fylladitakis on May 24, 2017 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- be quiet!
- Noctua
- Phanteks
- Cooler
- Thermalright
Testing Results: Low Fan Speed
As most users don't actually need the fans of a tower cooler running at peak performance (and peak noise), let's also take a look at what kind of performance these coolers provide at lower fan speeds.
Broadly speaking, all four of the coolers that we tested for this review were capable of sustaining reasonable operating temperatures with thermal loads above 200 Watts, even with the speed of their fans greatly reduced.
There are virtually no differences between these four coolers in relation to our previous test, with the Thermalright True Spirit 140 Direct again displaying the best overall thermal resistance and excellent efficiency with the handling of low thermal loads. However, the Noctua NH-U14S greatly outperforms all other coolers when it comes to the handling of very high thermal loads, suggesting that it can maintain reasonable operating temperatures on overclocked processors alongside with virtually inaudible noise levels.
Once again, the Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Slim falls slightly behind the Noctua NH-U14S and the Thermalright True Spirit 140 Direct. The thermal resistance is only slightly worse but this time the Shadow Rock Slim also has no real advantage in terms of acoustics, as the difference between all four of the coolers is practically indiscernible.
| Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
Finally, the Phanteks PH-TC14S displayed the lowest overall performance figures, with slightly worse thermal resistance than all of the coolers in this roundup review. Although the Phanteks PH-TC14S displays thermal performance similar to that of the other coolers at lower loads, the difference widens greatly when the thermal load is very high, suggesting that the cooler is at its limit in handling the excessive thermal energy flow.
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guidryp - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
IMO, it looks like the Thermalright is the the winner. It's the least expensive, and up to 150 watts, it keeps the lowest temperature. How many CPUs pull over 150 watts? Especially in real world workloads, not torture testing??JoeyJoJo123 - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
That would seem to be the case here, yes. Performs as well as the Noctua (better than the Noctua at low loads and nearly equal at high loads), while being physically smaller, and cheaper, too.The black and silver finish is relatively attractive, too, but appearances are subjective anyways.
A5 - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
Agreed, and I own the Noctua.I've had Thermalright products in the past and they were excellent as well.
ShieTar - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
That only remains true if the CPU produces power over the same area as the thermal cartridge used in the test. The problem, specifically with Intels latest 4-Cores, is that they generate 100W on a much smaller area. Then the overall cooling capability and the vertical thermal resistance of the cooler become less relevant, and the lateral thermal resistance of the cooler base-plate becomes increasingly critical. That is why an i7-7700K will run much hotter than older CPUs with the same TDP, but much more die area.JoeyJoJo123 - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
You're not wrong, but there's more to that story.It's also partially attributable to Intel's usage of poor TIM between the die and the integrated heatspreader, rather than their older usage of fluxless solder.
Intel's newer chips (due to smaller die sizes and poorer thermal interface for the integrated heatspreader) means that by the time the heat meets the heatsink vs integrated heatspreader contact area, it's not being dissipated as efficiently as older CPU models.
guidryp - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
I think you have the situation backwards. The way the Thermalright excels at lower temperatures and it's direct heatpipe design indicate it has superb transfer from the socket.It only falls behind later when when the smaller heatsink array can't dissipate it as quickly.
Eri Hyva - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
Please, add a test with 9 volts.Arbie - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
Other sites reviewing coolers (eg X-Bit Labs R.I.P.) have found ways to plot cooling ability vs noise level. That makes it much easier to evaluate and choose the best one. IIRC one site even got cost into the same picture. In any case, leaving the reader to separately juggle delta-T and dBA is weak.Galcobar - Thursday, May 25, 2017 - link
Gold standard for standardized testing the efficiency of noise to cooling is Silent PC Review.Unfortunately, the site suffered a serious lack of ad revenue and seemed to go into the media death spiral of lack of readership>lack of revenue>lack of content>lack of readership. Hasn't been a posting since August.
snarfbot - Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - link
Well the article measures perf as shipped which while good is not apples to apples as they all use diff fans. They should be measured separately with the same fan installed into each to take fan speed, voltage and noise out of the equation.