| Jan 24, 2005 |
Introduction
Anyone who has read anything from me in recent weeks knows of my obsession with the quiet computer system. Everything from silent hard drives to silent PSUs, the motto of the day is â??The Quieter, The Better!â?àAt the same time though, you definitely donâ??t want to sacrifice performance for lower decibel levels. Thus, finding a perfect solution for ultra silent components can be a tricky game.
In the pursuit of that goal, one of the major obstacles to tackle is silent CPU cooling. There are many options available, including Fanless, Low Decibel Fans, and Water Cooled. Each has benefits and weaknesses, and depending on your personal computer upgrading skills and the size of your pockets, each one suits a different type of user.
One of the cheaper and higher performance solutions is the low decibel fan CPU cooler. These coolers generally make use of much larger heatsinks (to help remove heat) and a large, but low RPM fan, to remove the heat. While usually very quiet, these solutions often suffer from two major pitfalls. They are heavy, and they are huge.
Well, SilenX has hit the market with their solution for silent CPU cooling. A low decibel fan system with an all copper heatsink setup, known as the IXtrema. This 120mm CPU cooler comes complete with support for all socket 462/478/754/775 AMD platforms, and is claims to operate in the range 12-24 dBA. They also boast that the cooler is capable of keeping an AMD CPU operating in its quiet mode setting, which is very appealing to silence enthusiasts like me. Lets see how this solution tested and whether it truly remains quiet when put to the test. |
