Noise Levels

Noise levels are measured using a sound meter at distances of 6" and 24". The ambient noise level was measured at 38.3 dB(A).

Noise Level - 6

Noise Level - 24

This unit is quite loud, partially due to the 92mm fan (as opposed to 120mm on many recent models). The noise is not high pitched or overly irritating, but it is a steady drone that could even be heard from the next room with the door open.

So far, the RVT-9225 hasn't bettered the performance of the stock retail Intel cooler, but it is significantly louder than that counterpart. Unless it can pull out a win in overclocking, things are looking grim for the RVT-9225.

Cooling at Stock Speed Overclocking and Performance Scaling
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  • ImmortalZ - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    The new king IS the Thermalright IFX-14. Two Ultra120s in a single package.
  • Noya - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    A retail passive cooler will never beat 120mm tower coolers.
  • Mgz - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    the base of the heatsink/heatpipe needs a good lapping, it was in such a terrible shape :(
  • icingdeath88 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    What's that about the spoiler? Seriously? What purpose could it possibly serve?
  • Bieszczad - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    It is supposed to deflect some airflow down towards the power regulators behind the heatsink. With a cooler that blows air down, the power regulators do get sufficient airflow, but when you use a tower heatsing with a side/front mounted-fan, the MOSFETs do not get enough air and the spoiler is supposed to fix it. Not sure if it works, though, because mine was loose and I ended up taking it off lest it falls out and shorts the motherboard.
  • zebrax2 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    those results are terrible
  • mmntech - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    First of all, the cooler isn't properly lapped. It looks like somebody took coarse sandpaper over the bottom of it. Could be a bad installation too.
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    Not exactly the reviewers fault that the bottom of the cooler is the way it is. IIRC they have tested all coolers in as-received condition.
  • Clauzii - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - link

    With a 'plate' like that, one could mount a Antinov Turbopropeller - probably wouldn't help..
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - link

    As a policy we don't lap coolers we test at AnandTech. Buyers should not be required to do after-purchase grinding and sanding of a cooler to match our test results. Also the curve on many cooler plates (the better ones normally) is curved (not flat) by design and lapping can actually make performance poorer. Our philosophy is to test the cooler as received from the manufacturer as much as possible.

    Yes we have lapped a few units and compared performance to the unlapped cooler. We may even comment on those lapped results, but test results for comparison are reported for the cooler as received.

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