Loud heatsinks are either a really good thing, a really bad thing, or a really tolerated thing. In the case of the HHC-001 from Coolermaster I'd say the latter is the most correct. AMD processors produce enough heat that overclockers will want to have a peek at heatsinks like this. In this case the sound is loud but not incredibly high-pitched.

To listen to this heatsink for yourself, simply click on the little pair of headphones and download the MP3 recording.

FrostyTech Acoustic Sampling Chamber
Standard Waveform view of a 10 second recording. Click on the headphones to listen to an MP3 recording of this heatsink in operation.

Sound Level Measurements:

Listening to the actual noise a heatsink makes allows you to hear what pure numbers alone cannot get across. To further emphasize FrostyTech's reliance on cold hard facts when evaluating a heatsink, we also take Decibel readings with a sound level meter. These results may be higher than the manufacturer's listed specs, but then again these are real world measurements.

FrostyTech Sound Level Results
-	Manufacturer	Model	Noise Level	Scale
	Coolermaster	HHC-L61	42.2 dB	quiet
	Coolermaster	HSC-V62	43.7 dB
	JMC Prducts	400023	46.6 dB
	Zalman	All Flower HSF	47.4/28.9 dB
	Taisol	CGK760092	48.4 dB
	GlacialTech	Igloo 2310	49.4 dB
	Arkua	628	50.7 dB
	Noisecontrol	Silverado	50.8 dB
	NengTyi	XPC5000	52.4 dB
	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	53.0 dB
	Tocools	Crown	54.5 dB
	Cybercooler	P5750	55.4 dB
	Sibak	AT01515B	55.8 dB
	Sibak	AE01625B	58.2 dB
	Sibak	AC02625B	59.7 dB
	Coolermaster	HHC-001	59.9 dB
	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	63.3 dB
	Dynatron	DC1206BMP	65.1 dB	louder

compared to the low noise HHC-L61 the HHC-001 is a beast. Coming in at practically 60 dB this heatsink is not one you want for 24/7 bedroom computers. Overclockers have little choice in the matter, but the rest of us sound-sensitive people could do to find something more quiet.