Acoustic Samples: Listen to this Heatsink!

The acoustic waveform of the U1L2 is pretty forgiving, and considering that the heatsink came in at 53dB that is pretty understandable. This is a lower noise heatsink, but not low noise. You can listen to this heatsink in operation for yourself by clicking on the headphones and playing 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. Measurements are made in dB, in the A scale.

FrostyTech Sound Level Results
-	Manufacturer	Model	Noise Level	Scale
	verax	P14	32.1 dB	Quiet
	Verax	P11T	35.3 dB
	Coolermaster	HHC-L61	42.2 dB
	Coolermaster	HSC-V62	43.7 dB
	Spire	5F263	44.5 dB
	Globalwin	CAK4-76T	45.0-37.3 dB
	Globalwin	CAK4-88T	46.2 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
	Cho-Liang	CB0307U-17	49.5 dB
	Arkua	628	50.7 dB
	Noisecontrol	Silverado	50.8 dB
	Tocools	Novasonic	52.2 dB
	NengTyi	XPC5000	52.4 dB
	Coolink	U1L2	52.5 dB
	Thermal Integration	TI-V77L	53.0 dB
	GlacialTech	Igloo 2400	53.9 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
	Sibak	AC06725TH	62.4 dB
	Dynatron	DY1206BH-625	63.3 dB
	Dynatron	DC1206BMP	65.1 dB
	Thermalright	SLK-800	66.2 dB
	Thermalright	AX-7	66.4 dB
	Globalwin	CAK4-86	69.0 dB	louder

Our sound meters measured the Coolink U1L2 at 52.5 dB in operation - a sound level that pegs it in the moderate level - not quite low noise, but not loud either.