Fan noise: dB versus sone (???)

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by dlb, May 17, 2008.

  1. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    I'm looking at getting a new heatsink/fan for my A64 X2 5400. The current one is fine, but I like getting new toys ;) The two I've linked to below are the ones I'm looking at, but the first link below lists the sound level in 'sone' (it's not listed in the specs at Newegg; I got the info off the box). From the little research I've done, one sone is equal to 40 decibels. The fan is rated at 0.8 sone, which equals 32dB and that seems a bit loud, doesn't it? It also says that a stock AMD factory cooler is rated at 2.6sone, which equals 104dB!!! Isn't that a little high?? Like almost too high to be accurate (or believable). The other one is rated at 22.32dB. From my limited knowledge of sound ratings, I think that anything under about 25dB is considered pretty quiet, right?
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103031

    Manufacturer's pages:
    http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=80&disc=
    http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=1&id=2535

    Any input is appreciated. Even if you just have a comment about the coolers, or have used one or the other, or whatever. Any input does not necessarily have to be about the sound levels. Thanks.
     
  2. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    Hahaha at 104 DB, that's a rock concert or close to it!:-D Someone screwed up their math. 32db is library quiet.
     
  3. lbmest

    lbmest MajorGeek

  4. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    roflmao Yeah! I thought it was a bit high. But if 1 sone = 40dB, and a fan is rated at 2.6 sone, 2.6 x 40 = 104dB. According to this link: http://www.onlineconversion.com/forum/forum_1134460775.htm 1 sone = 40db. To get that 2.6s (or 104dB) they must have cranked up the fan speed as high as possible and jammed the microphone (or whatever) almost right into the fan, or right up against it.
    :cool Cool. Great info. Thanks. :major

    [dlb]

    (if anyone else as anything to add... feel free to do so.... ;) )
    And have a great weekend everyone!
     
  5. jruths

    jruths Private E-2

    Came across this thread while searching for a thru wall fan. The relationship between sones and db is logarithmic. So, starting with 1 sone = 40db; 2 sones ~ 50db; 4 sones ~ 60db; 8 sones ~ 70db; 16 sones ~ 80db; 32 sones ~ 90db; 64 sones ~ 100db, etc. Hope this helps anyone searching for how to convert sones to db and db to sones.
     
  6. Bold Eagle

    Bold Eagle MajorGeek

    I was gong to say that sounds about right for a "stock" HS as you listen to them when you have a major problem with the HS and they get pretty noisy.

    Here you go dbl and it supports what jruths is stating with a nice table:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sone

    If you are interested in some fans here is an excellent study being done by Vapor over at XS comparing CFM vs dB:

    http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170224&highlight=fan+testing

    http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=193126

    A good budget one that is still quite from their findings is the:

    Zalman ZM-F3

    I need some new fans soon as it is heading to summer and mine are being a pain lately.
     
  7. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    Hmmmm.... anybody look at the original date on my thread here? It's almost 18months old!
    roflmao LOL roflmao LOL

    But thanks anyway for info... I didn't know then (or now) that Sone is logarithmic to dB. So ow it makes a bit more sense.....

    ;)
     

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