I mean seriously, the massive marketing campaign AMD has been doing for this wraith cooler is the epitome of their lack of R&D investments. Makes me so stupidly sad.
Makes you stupidly sad that they bundle the best stock cpu cooler out of any released ever? Why?
It's a cooler that I wouldn't be shamed to choose not to get an aftermarket HSF for, as it's basically just as good as one, and it's one of the only things they can do to get people interested in their CPUs, as they know and you know and I know that their CPUs would be lackluster until Zen potentially comes out with potentially competitive value against Intel CPUs. In other words, they know they're stuck shipping slow CPUs right now, but the least they know they can do is bundle in a pretty neat stock cooler, and that might be enough to sway some buyers in their favor, which isn't a terrible thing, as AMD's already struggling to stay afloat.
How much energy they have to put into marketing their stock cooler makes me sad, yes, because at this point it's the best part of the bundle.
When a once great CPU manufacturer has to tell their customers that their CPU is better because... it has a better cooler, I think of the moment I first saw a K7 and tear up a little.
AMD hasn't put a lot of energy in at all, they made the cooler, they made a quick video, uploaded it, and everyone else did most of the work. Beyond that, they just list it as a value-add - and it is a very good value-add, indeed.
Ignore him. He's a troll and not even a very good one. I bet he was hoping for some kind of support. He'll keep repeating the same "the best thing a CPU manufacturer's got going is their bundled cooler" because he somehow thinks that backing out from this stupid statement will make him look even dumber in other people's eyes than keeping it up.
Eh? The AMD Wraith is clearly a kickass stock cooler. I, for one, welcome the opportunity to not need to buy additional bulky HSFs. I've got 212s on most of my PCs. It's nice to know that I don't need to for an FX build.
I agree. I can't say this enough, the Wraith is pretty much a 212 in terms of performance yet it is SO easy to install. Don't even have to put on a custom backplate. I really hope Zen CPU's have the Wraith or something similar.
I'd never have to buy another 212 again if AMD keeps making these. (As long as I was buying an AMD CPU that had one)
I disagree. While part of this demonstrates clearly what most of us already know; most stock coolers suck. It also shows that AMD actually did deliver a good stock cooler in the Wraith. Cooling wise it matches the budget standby Cooler Master 212; and comes close to matching it in terms of sound as well making it the first stock cooler I wouldn't automatically recommend trashing for an aftermarket job.
If I were nit picking, I'd've liked to've seen an affordable non-tower aftermarket cooler in the mix as well because slim profile cases don't have room for big towers. OTOH by including a 212 in the mix this article can be used as a baseline to compare testing results on them elsewhere.
I don't necessarily agree that "stock coolers suck". They suck for most of the people who would be reading this article in the first place :) but are generally more than adequate for people running their system at stock speeds and more or less typical conditions.
I think Intel has essentially taken the right approach. Bundle a good enough cooler with most CPU's since they are adequate to the task and the people using them won't know the difference anyway. Sell the "K" CPU's without a cooler. If you are buying a K, then then you are probably also a person who wants to chose their own cooling solution too. Everybody wins.
They USED to bundle the stock cooler, and even if it wasn't used permanently, it was certainly useful for testing boot or as something to hold you over until you save another ~$100 for an all-in-one CLC that couldn't fit your initial PC budget.
I'd be all in if the lack of the stock cooler also meant they dropped prices on those same kinds of CPUs, but the prices actually went up AND they lost the stock cooler. Double loss for the consumer.
I bought non-K Intel CPUs (and AMD CPUs) and aftermarket coolers. Up to this point, I had useless stock coolers that NEVER got used since most of the time I bought a decent aftermarket cooler at the same time I build the computer. There is no point selling them on ebay. They were just an unfortunate waste of resources.
So now I appreciate both strategies. Either don't include a cooler (and its price), or include a decent budget cooler (for less added price than a low-end aftermarket cooler). Both work for me. But as you say, if Intel hasn't passed on that cost saving then that isn't good.
It would be interesting to know how many people that build their own computers also use a non-stock CPU cooler (excluding the higher end Intel and AMD's Wraith). And how has that evolved over time since CPUs produce less heat now, and since budget coolers have improved quite a bit for their price.
To me water cooling is just plain unnecessary and has been for a long time. Air cooling does easily well enough, for less money, and less hassle. You don't get much for spending the extra money.
Best comment. I have about 18 desktop PCs, all of them from the last 6 years or so. Only one has a stock cooler and that's my HTPC, because it's so watt that it's quiet with the stock and sits in my living room far from me. I also think water cooling is a waste, when all one needs is a good cooler and some case fans. Water cooling nets just a few degrees difference in ambient case. If your VRMs are getting hot because the mobo maker didn't put a heatsink on it, just throw some cheap heatsinks on it.
It IS useful. It helps put definite numbers to the theory that we already know to be true (that stock coolers suck). It tells users how much of a benefit they would get, going from their stock cooler to a 212 Evo (and subsequently other coolers they test in the future).
I think there is one tiny component here that was overlooked, and that is ease of installation. The stock coolers are FAR simpler to install, weigh significantly less, and therefore cause less stress on your motherboard. That isn't a big deal when you have a high-end ROG board or the like, but on cheaper, thinner motherboards not having 400+ grams hanging off the side is pretty nice.
Have you ever used push-pins? I personally abhor pushpin coolers - damn thing doesn't go into the board half the time and results in needing 4 tries (including cleaning and reapplying TIM) before the damn thing is in....
Honestly, I'd pay the extra cost of a half-decent cooler like a Noctua NH-L9x65 or Cryorig M9i just so I can use a bunch of simple, solid screws instead.
PS: even OEMs agree - their coolers are just the reference intel coolers, but with screws and an as-cheap-as-possible backplate to screw into.
Push pins are super simple to use once you figure them out. You can't just place the heatsink on top of the CPU and mash down the pins. That's the path to tears and frustration. I've installed hundreds of them, and can nail the install in one try. They are secure enough that you can pick up the motherboard using the heatsink and wave it around.
What you do is to guide the pins until they go through the holes in the motherboard and the base (translucent white part) is sitting flush against the motherboard. THEN you press down on the black pins until they click. Go diagonally, as you would installing wheels on your car. For the first pin, you'll have to hold down the heatsink so it doesn't tilt.
It's a royal pain to line the cooler up when the board is installed in the case since you have no lateral or underside vision to see that the pins are lined up before you can push in, so you basically guesstimate where it is based on pin movement, find it feels like it's in the hole, press down on the pin... aaaaand crunch! Now, you swear some oaths about the bloody moron who designed the damn thing as you find that you've successfully crushed half of the pin out of the hole, making the bloody thing even more annoying to line up successfully blind.
No, I'll stick to 4 zinc-plated steel screws tyvm.
Lining up the pins should be super easy just from above, and you can feel and see if the pins have dropped through each hole by paying attention to elevation of each corner of the heatsink.
I have no issue with getting them to work, but they still suck. I like AMD's retention clip, no tools needed. The only issue is when it's in a tight mid-tower case or has a heatsink butted up against it. I don't like needing tools to seat or unseat a heatsink, but if a long standard screwdriver was the only tool needed to make it simpler and quick I'd be all for it. Too many coolers mount one direction (up or rear blowing) and are too difficult to either seat, unseat, or both.
I recently built a system around an Athlon X4 860K that shipped with AMD's FHSA7015B. I had some reservations about using the boxed cooler, but apathy won out in the end so locked it down over the chip and forgot about it. It does what its supposed to do and at this point, I just can't rationalize going through the trouble of pulling out the thumbscrew on the side panel, removing it, and installing something else. It's not worth my time so for someone like me an OEM boxed cooler is good enough.
It'd be interesting to see the results for the copper-cored 150W TDP Intel BXTS13A for socket 2011-3 CPUs (e.g. i7-5xxx). When I got mine about 18 months ago, it was about £15, so about half the price of a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo in the UK. If it's anything like the BXTS15A, that seems pretty reasonable for the performance it offers.
It's actually remarkable how many similar-but-different coolers Intel has sold. I went through about 15 of them from a pile of stuff at work and only found two that were the same, meaning I had 14 different heatsink/fan combinations. (FWIW some were almost the same but with different fans, but the fans were substantially different in power rating...)
Note to future self: if chucking aside Intel stock heatsinks for potential future re-use, label what CPU the came with to save yourself a headache.
AMD should start selling Wraith for $20. If they can make an Intel version, that would have been hilarious. An Intel CPU with a cooler on top of it having the AMD logo.
I'd personally find it a lot more useful if there were some charts showing temperatures with the coolers normalized for acoustic performance, or showing noise while normalized for core temperature or thermal resistance. It's not very useful to know that cooler A is both quieter and performs worse than cooler B when both are at 7v, because they're all PWM and will be targeting a temperature range, rather than running at a fixed fan speed.
Nice to see the EVO 212 is much better than most stock coolers. I have one on both my home PCs and my work PC. Glad to see the $30 investment is worth it... The wraith is sick, too bad AMD still doesn't have a nice cpu to put under it! I can't wait for Zen, I'm so sick of giving all my cpu money to Intel.
Maybe because he/she has the feeling that Intel is charging more for a given item than they would otherwise be if they had better competition, and he/she does not like paying more than may be normally justified.
Very cool! It's nice to have a quantifiable value for the improvement an aftermarket cooler can provide. My only nitpick would be to see if a push/pull setup on the 212 was worthwhile. On my system it seems to be a bit quieter since I can keep the fans at a lower RPM, but it could also just be a placebo.
Yup. My Athlon X2 4400+ (Toledo) came with a 4-pipe cooler as well. Never used the stock HSF when it was in my main rig. Got a Zalman which was badass at the time. Used the stock HSF when I moved the Athlon 3200+ (Winchester) to my file server.
Perceptually though, odds are you won't observe a difference in loudness (tone is a whole different ballgame): 3dB is the generally accepted number for human hearing to be able to perceive a difference in volume, and 10dB for a perceptual halving of volume.
But also remember that your ears are a logarithmic sensor. So while 10 dB is 10x the sound intensity, it only sounds twice as loud. In this case the 1.6 dB only corresponds to sounding about 15% louder; which is barely noticeable. Other factors like your case material (type, thickness, if sound deadening material is present, locations of fan holes, etc) affecting how much sound gets out from the CPU cooler; and the number, type, and layout if your case fans affecting how hot the internal ambient is and how hard your CPU cooler has to work will all have more significant impacts on how loud your system is.
Ummmmm.... Logarithmic scale to measure Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) are normally a relative measurement based on voltage (not power). As such, an order of magnitude increase (10X) results in a 20dB (not 10dB) increase in SPL. Keeping with the same SPL measurements, a doubling (octave) or an increase of twice as loud (2x) is a 6dB increase! No need to bring up Fletcher-Munson curves into this correction. Cheers!
Wow, I knew the Wraith cooler is good, but I didn't realize that it was that good.
I have the "quiet" 125 TDP cooler solution, which is the Wraith Cooler without the fancy shroud - same heatsink and fan, though. Maybe I'll keep it around...
The thing intel non 2011 socket cpu's uses complete trash internal dissipation compound, another reason to not sell it with stock cooler.
Even with a decent one (juper 212z) you see load temps of 75°C without OC. Meanwhile their new Broadwell-E stays within the 50°C (+/- 2°C) with a similar cooler.
AMD didn't screw up users with the IHS dissipation.
As many have stated before, Intel has to use TIM on the small cores because the small cores crack from repeated thermal shock when soldered to the IHS. Intel doesn't want to screw you over, but they literally have to! Or do you want 32nm and larger lithographies back?
They could use a bigger chunk of silicon wafer to help with heat dissipation/bond to the IHS without printing anything on it. It's not as if the smaller litho chips have gotten cheaper because of less silicon usage!
Did I miss the part about the SkyLake (LGA 1151) uPs? The Intel boxed Core I7-6700K Skylake uP comes with no cooling fan. I found that the Noctua coolers are a better fit for my needs, especially the iron-clad 3yr. warranty!
Although I already expected the 212 EVO to pull ahead (it's tough to match it on price/performance), was interesting to see the differences on the other stock ones. And the Wraith came out as a pleasant surprise.
Maybe in the US it's all about Intel and their CPUs, but in other areas of the world, like here in South America, AMD and their APUs are not doing poorly, with very good (local) pricing and decent enough performance for usual Office and light work cases, and people even use them for League of Legends and DotA2, which are very popular games around here, and not too graphics intensive.
I went to Intel's list of Skylake desktop CPU's and found only two that has around 90W of TDP. The 212 is only 25C above ambient at 150W. Anything larger or more expensive than the 212 is pretty much overkill for modern CPUs.
The hyper 212 is a bit overrated and dated, but then again i used it to test a bunch of 6700k i had fun delidding with liquid ultra and it kept them cool to 4.6/4.7GHz pretty easy.
I would love to see you guys post an anthology of coolers throughout the ages. Include comparing how older coolers would perform on modern CPUs and vice versa.
The 212 is probably the best bang per buck for HSF, can't go wrong with it. I also have a TX3 which is nearly as effective as the 212 and about $10 less, however there is one thing you must do if you're going to use it on an Intel system- ditch the flimsy black/white plastic locks and steal the ones from an Intel HSF to replace them with. Once you do that, you got a pretty solid HSF even for decently OC'd CPU's.
IMO stock coolers are perfectly fine for systems that run stock speeds and aren't intended to sit running torture tests all day.
Noisy? Did you enable "smart fan" in BIOS? Is that in normal use or hammering it with Prime95?
Bad temperatures? Did you install it properly? For whatever reason many people can't figure out push pins when they are super simple to use. Is your temperature "comfort level" calibrated for overclocks when you're just building a stock clocked system for family to use? Fact: Your stock clocked CPU does not require low temperatures.
That wraith has some pretty surprising numbers and a name to match. Too bad it looks like a dinky stock fan, they just need to jazz it up a little more and it can beat a lot of the cheap aftermarket stuff out there.
Please put the voltage on the noise level graphs next time as well since I was confused about that at first until I noticed the entire page was about 12v or 7v. It's good to see that the Wraith may be relatively loud at 12 volts, but is in line with the rest at 7 volts. I just wish I had a good way to translate this somehow to idle and load noise levels when it's actually on a CPU.
I agree that AMD should offer the better heatsink/fans with their non-top level CPUs as well. The reason I bought good heatsink/fans in the past was for lower noise and it really pays off there.
With my tiny HP mATX case which doesn't have enough width and space for large coolers like the 212 EVO, and lacks quick back panel access, the Intel BXTS15A is a really great solution. Cooling performance is nearly as good as the 212 EVO (which many believe is a great entry level cooler for overclocking), looks good and is compact, has the push-pin design for easy mounting without needing to access the back panel or remove the motherboard, and costs only $30.
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SetiroN - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Such a useful comparison!Let's see which other stock cooler that you will never get to replace your own stock cooler would be better.
/s
SetiroN - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I mean seriously, the massive marketing campaign AMD has been doing for this wraith cooler is the epitome of their lack of R&D investments. Makes me so stupidly sad.JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Makes you stupidly sad that they bundle the best stock cpu cooler out of any released ever? Why?It's a cooler that I wouldn't be shamed to choose not to get an aftermarket HSF for, as it's basically just as good as one, and it's one of the only things they can do to get people interested in their CPUs, as they know and you know and I know that their CPUs would be lackluster until Zen potentially comes out with potentially competitive value against Intel CPUs. In other words, they know they're stuck shipping slow CPUs right now, but the least they know they can do is bundle in a pretty neat stock cooler, and that might be enough to sway some buyers in their favor, which isn't a terrible thing, as AMD's already struggling to stay afloat.
SetiroN - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
How much energy they have to put into marketing their stock cooler makes me sad, yes, because at this point it's the best part of the bundle.When a once great CPU manufacturer has to tell their customers that their CPU is better because... it has a better cooler, I think of the moment I first saw a K7 and tear up a little.
looncraz - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
AMD hasn't put a lot of energy in at all, they made the cooler, they made a quick video, uploaded it, and everyone else did most of the work. Beyond that, they just list it as a value-add - and it is a very good value-add, indeed.close - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Ignore him. He's a troll and not even a very good one. I bet he was hoping for some kind of support. He'll keep repeating the same "the best thing a CPU manufacturer's got going is their bundled cooler" because he somehow thinks that backing out from this stupid statement will make him look even dumber in other people's eyes than keeping it up.nathanddrews - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Eh? The AMD Wraith is clearly a kickass stock cooler. I, for one, welcome the opportunity to not need to buy additional bulky HSFs. I've got 212s on most of my PCs. It's nice to know that I don't need to for an FX build.AS118 - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
I agree. I can't say this enough, the Wraith is pretty much a 212 in terms of performance yet it is SO easy to install. Don't even have to put on a custom backplate. I really hope Zen CPU's have the Wraith or something similar.I'd never have to buy another 212 again if AMD keeps making these. (As long as I was buying an AMD CPU that had one)
Samus - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
Personally I like the direction Intel went in, by not including a cooler at all and reducing the price of the CPU accordingly ($10-$20 vs Haswell)TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, July 27, 2016 - link
the 6700k is $10 more then a devil's canyon 4790k. The price went UP, not down.yannigr2 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Your comment makes you look stupidly indeed. A company is giving a top quality cooler that saves you $20-$30 and you find it stupidly sad?SetiroN - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Yes, I find the fact that the best thing a CPU manufacturer's got going is their bundled cooler extremely sad.yannigr2 - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
Some people will find sadness in everything AMD does. At the same time they will praise Nvidia or Intel for doing the exact same thing.DanNeely - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I disagree. While part of this demonstrates clearly what most of us already know; most stock coolers suck. It also shows that AMD actually did deliver a good stock cooler in the Wraith. Cooling wise it matches the budget standby Cooler Master 212; and comes close to matching it in terms of sound as well making it the first stock cooler I wouldn't automatically recommend trashing for an aftermarket job.If I were nit picking, I'd've liked to've seen an affordable non-tower aftermarket cooler in the mix as well because slim profile cases don't have room for big towers. OTOH by including a 212 in the mix this article can be used as a baseline to compare testing results on them elsewhere.
A5 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Meh. If AT is going to get back in the CPU cooler review game, this is a good place to start for two reasons.1) Make sure they're starting from a good assumption (stock coolers suck).
2) Compare it to the current most popular replacement.
From there, you can start adding in higher-end coolers and comparing them to the baseline.
Ratman6161 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I don't necessarily agree that "stock coolers suck". They suck for most of the people who would be reading this article in the first place :) but are generally more than adequate for people running their system at stock speeds and more or less typical conditions.I think Intel has essentially taken the right approach. Bundle a good enough cooler with most CPU's since they are adequate to the task and the people using them won't know the difference anyway. Sell the "K" CPU's without a cooler. If you are buying a K, then then you are probably also a person who wants to chose their own cooling solution too. Everybody wins.
JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Except in the latter case you're actually losing.They USED to bundle the stock cooler, and even if it wasn't used permanently, it was certainly useful for testing boot or as something to hold you over until you save another ~$100 for an all-in-one CLC that couldn't fit your initial PC budget.
I'd be all in if the lack of the stock cooler also meant they dropped prices on those same kinds of CPUs, but the prices actually went up AND they lost the stock cooler. Double loss for the consumer.
mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
I bought non-K Intel CPUs (and AMD CPUs) and aftermarket coolers. Up to this point, I had useless stock coolers that NEVER got used since most of the time I bought a decent aftermarket cooler at the same time I build the computer. There is no point selling them on ebay. They were just an unfortunate waste of resources.So now I appreciate both strategies. Either don't include a cooler (and its price), or include a decent budget cooler (for less added price than a low-end aftermarket cooler). Both work for me. But as you say, if Intel hasn't passed on that cost saving then that isn't good.
It would be interesting to know how many people that build their own computers also use a non-stock CPU cooler (excluding the higher end Intel and AMD's Wraith). And how has that evolved over time since CPUs produce less heat now, and since budget coolers have improved quite a bit for their price.
To me water cooling is just plain unnecessary and has been for a long time. Air cooling does easily well enough, for less money, and less hassle. You don't get much for spending the extra money.
JonnyDough - Monday, August 1, 2016 - link
Best comment. I have about 18 desktop PCs, all of them from the last 6 years or so. Only one has a stock cooler and that's my HTPC, because it's so watt that it's quiet with the stock and sits in my living room far from me. I also think water cooling is a waste, when all one needs is a good cooler and some case fans. Water cooling nets just a few degrees difference in ambient case. If your VRMs are getting hot because the mobo maker didn't put a heatsink on it, just throw some cheap heatsinks on it.dishayu - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
It IS useful. It helps put definite numbers to the theory that we already know to be true (that stock coolers suck). It tells users how much of a benefit they would get, going from their stock cooler to a 212 Evo (and subsequently other coolers they test in the future).This is good work, show some respect.
Cygni - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
You thought that's what this comparison was about? Really? People swapping stock coolers? REALLY?SetiroN - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
You don't get sarcasm even when explicitly pointed out? REALLY?ImSpartacus - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
I've got a 212 in my machine and I nearly went stock, so this is an absolutely fantastic comparison in my opinion.Very unique & helpful article, overall. It's amazing how such a simple topic can be so deceptively useful.
cknobman - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
The point of the entire article was to provide information for someone that wanted to use the stock cooler.Heck I'm rocking a 212 myself because I cannot see spending more $$$.
Now if AMD would only bundle a processor worthy of the freaking cooler I might buy one!!!
blackmagnum - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Tip: Don't forget to clean the fans once in a while.fanofanand - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I think there is one tiny component here that was overlooked, and that is ease of installation. The stock coolers are FAR simpler to install, weigh significantly less, and therefore cause less stress on your motherboard. That isn't a big deal when you have a high-end ROG board or the like, but on cheaper, thinner motherboards not having 400+ grams hanging off the side is pretty nice.ZeDestructor - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Have you ever used push-pins? I personally abhor pushpin coolers - damn thing doesn't go into the board half the time and results in needing 4 tries (including cleaning and reapplying TIM) before the damn thing is in....Honestly, I'd pay the extra cost of a half-decent cooler like a Noctua NH-L9x65 or Cryorig M9i just so I can use a bunch of simple, solid screws instead.
PS: even OEMs agree - their coolers are just the reference intel coolers, but with screws and an as-cheap-as-possible backplate to screw into.
jabber - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I detest the push pins too. Just cant get on with them.Zap - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
Push pins are super simple to use once you figure them out. You can't just place the heatsink on top of the CPU and mash down the pins. That's the path to tears and frustration. I've installed hundreds of them, and can nail the install in one try. They are secure enough that you can pick up the motherboard using the heatsink and wave it around.What you do is to guide the pins until they go through the holes in the motherboard and the base (translucent white part) is sitting flush against the motherboard. THEN you press down on the black pins until they click. Go diagonally, as you would installing wheels on your car. For the first pin, you'll have to hold down the heatsink so it doesn't tilt.
ZeDestructor - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
It's a royal pain to line the cooler up when the board is installed in the case since you have no lateral or underside vision to see that the pins are lined up before you can push in, so you basically guesstimate where it is based on pin movement, find it feels like it's in the hole, press down on the pin... aaaaand crunch! Now, you swear some oaths about the bloody moron who designed the damn thing as you find that you've successfully crushed half of the pin out of the hole, making the bloody thing even more annoying to line up successfully blind.No, I'll stick to 4 zinc-plated steel screws tyvm.
TrantaLocked - Monday, November 27, 2017 - link
Lining up the pins should be super easy just from above, and you can feel and see if the pins have dropped through each hole by paying attention to elevation of each corner of the heatsink.JonnyDough - Monday, August 1, 2016 - link
I have no issue with getting them to work, but they still suck. I like AMD's retention clip, no tools needed. The only issue is when it's in a tight mid-tower case or has a heatsink butted up against it. I don't like needing tools to seat or unseat a heatsink, but if a long standard screwdriver was the only tool needed to make it simpler and quick I'd be all for it. Too many coolers mount one direction (up or rear blowing) and are too difficult to either seat, unseat, or both.mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
Yes, those push pins are terrible.FriendlyUser - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Excellent, very useful review! People really need to know if they have to budget a cooler or not and what improvement to expect.Thanks!
BrokenCrayons - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I recently built a system around an Athlon X4 860K that shipped with AMD's FHSA7015B. I had some reservations about using the boxed cooler, but apathy won out in the end so locked it down over the chip and forgot about it. It does what its supposed to do and at this point, I just can't rationalize going through the trouble of pulling out the thumbscrew on the side panel, removing it, and installing something else. It's not worth my time so for someone like me an OEM boxed cooler is good enough.cowbutt - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
It'd be interesting to see the results for the copper-cored 150W TDP Intel BXTS13A for socket 2011-3 CPUs (e.g. i7-5xxx). When I got mine about 18 months ago, it was about £15, so about half the price of a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo in the UK. If it's anything like the BXTS15A, that seems pretty reasonable for the performance it offers.evilspoons - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
It's actually remarkable how many similar-but-different coolers Intel has sold. I went through about 15 of them from a pile of stuff at work and only found two that were the same, meaning I had 14 different heatsink/fan combinations. (FWIW some were almost the same but with different fans, but the fans were substantially different in power rating...)Note to future self: if chucking aside Intel stock heatsinks for potential future re-use, label what CPU the came with to save yourself a headache.
dave_the_nerd - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Wow. The stock cooler on my i5 really _is_ crap.Ratman6161 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Maybe it isn't. If your system is running fine and you were not having any problems with it, reading an article doesn't suddenly make it crap :)dave_the_nerd - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
It's been fine for three years. But I can get temps up into the 80s if I'm running Prime95.To futz with it, or not to futz with it. That is the question. :-)
mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
Is it noisy?yannigr2 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
AMD should start selling Wraith for $20. If they can make an Intel version, that would have been hilarious. An Intel CPU with a cooler on top of it having the AMD logo.silverblue - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
It might make sense to re-test the Wraith without its shroud to see if it measures up to AMD's claims.Yuriman - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I'd personally find it a lot more useful if there were some charts showing temperatures with the coolers normalized for acoustic performance, or showing noise while normalized for core temperature or thermal resistance. It's not very useful to know that cooler A is both quieter and performs worse than cooler B when both are at 7v, because they're all PWM and will be targeting a temperature range, rather than running at a fixed fan speed.mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
I agree. Noise is more important to me than this article made it.Einy0 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Nice to see the EVO 212 is much better than most stock coolers. I have one on both my home PCs and my work PC. Glad to see the $30 investment is worth it... The wraith is sick, too bad AMD still doesn't have a nice cpu to put under it! I can't wait for Zen, I'm so sick of giving all my cpu money to Intel.Peichen - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Why sick of giving Intel your money? Are you not satisfied with the performance you paid for? Are you CPUs dying young?mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
Maybe because he/she has the feeling that Intel is charging more for a given item than they would otherwise be if they had better competition, and he/she does not like paying more than may be normally justified.nismotigerwvu - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Very cool! It's nice to have a quantifiable value for the improvement an aftermarket cooler can provide. My only nitpick would be to see if a push/pull setup on the 212 was worthwhile. On my system it seems to be a bit quieter since I can keep the fans at a lower RPM, but it could also just be a placebo.Voldenuit - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
My old Opteron 165 (Toledo?) came with a heatpipe cooler, so that definitely predates the AV-Z7UB408003 cooler that came with the Phenom X4.bigboxes - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Yup. My Athlon X2 4400+ (Toledo) came with a 4-pipe cooler as well. Never used the stock HSF when it was in my main rig. Got a Zalman which was badass at the time. Used the stock HSF when I moved the Athlon 3200+ (Winchester) to my file server.Marburg U - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
OK, but just to recall that DB scale is a logarithmic scale. And the difference between 44.7 and 46.3 is roughly 45% power ratio!!!ZeDestructor - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Perceptually though, odds are you won't observe a difference in loudness (tone is a whole different ballgame): 3dB is the generally accepted number for human hearing to be able to perceive a difference in volume, and 10dB for a perceptual halving of volume.DanNeely - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
But also remember that your ears are a logarithmic sensor. So while 10 dB is 10x the sound intensity, it only sounds twice as loud. In this case the 1.6 dB only corresponds to sounding about 15% louder; which is barely noticeable. Other factors like your case material (type, thickness, if sound deadening material is present, locations of fan holes, etc) affecting how much sound gets out from the CPU cooler; and the number, type, and layout if your case fans affecting how hot the internal ambient is and how hard your CPU cooler has to work will all have more significant impacts on how loud your system is.pseudoid - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Ummmmm....Logarithmic scale to measure Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) are normally a relative measurement based on voltage (not power). As such, an order of magnitude increase (10X) results in a 20dB (not 10dB) increase in SPL. Keeping with the same SPL measurements, a doubling (octave) or an increase of twice as loud (2x) is a 6dB increase! No need to bring up Fletcher-Munson curves into this correction. Cheers!
hailey14 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
"With bulk PC orders it is, of course, a "difference" scenario..."some typo.
Calculatron - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Wow, I knew the Wraith cooler is good, but I didn't realize that it was that good.I have the "quiet" 125 TDP cooler solution, which is the Wraith Cooler without the fancy shroud - same heatsink and fan, though. Maybe I'll keep it around...
Lolimaster - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
The thing intel non 2011 socket cpu's uses complete trash internal dissipation compound, another reason to not sell it with stock cooler.Even with a decent one (juper 212z) you see load temps of 75°C without OC. Meanwhile their new Broadwell-E stays within the 50°C (+/- 2°C) with a similar cooler.
AMD didn't screw up users with the IHS dissipation.
ZeDestructor - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
As many have stated before, Intel has to use TIM on the small cores because the small cores crack from repeated thermal shock when soldered to the IHS. Intel doesn't want to screw you over, but they literally have to! Or do you want 32nm and larger lithographies back?Ascaris - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
They could use a bigger chunk of silicon wafer to help with heat dissipation/bond to the IHS without printing anything on it. It's not as if the smaller litho chips have gotten cheaper because of less silicon usage!ZeDestructor - Monday, July 25, 2016 - link
Yes they could, but then you'd be reducing yields, which would drive final price up.pseudoid - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Did I miss the part about the SkyLake (LGA 1151) uPs? The Intel boxed Core I7-6700K Skylake uP comes with no cooling fan. I found that the Noctua coolers are a better fit for my needs, especially the iron-clad 3yr. warranty!LordanSS - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
Thank you for this review.Although I already expected the 212 EVO to pull ahead (it's tough to match it on price/performance), was interesting to see the differences on the other stock ones. And the Wraith came out as a pleasant surprise.
Maybe in the US it's all about Intel and their CPUs, but in other areas of the world, like here in South America, AMD and their APUs are not doing poorly, with very good (local) pricing and decent enough performance for usual Office and light work cases, and people even use them for League of Legends and DotA2, which are very popular games around here, and not too graphics intensive.
zodiacfml - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
I went to Intel's list of Skylake desktop CPU's and found only two that has around 90W of TDP.The 212 is only 25C above ambient at 150W.
Anything larger or more expensive than the 212 is pretty much overkill for modern CPUs.
wintermute000 - Friday, July 22, 2016 - link
"modern [Intel standard desktop] CPUs"FIFY
Ascaris - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
"modern [Intel standard desktop] CPUs at their stock clock and voltage settings"Byte - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
The hyper 212 is a bit overrated and dated, but then again i used it to test a bunch of 6700k i had fun delidding with liquid ultra and it kept them cool to 4.6/4.7GHz pretty easy.phylop - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
I would love to see you guys post an anthology of coolers throughout the ages. Include comparing how older coolers would perform on modern CPUs and vice versa.Teknobug - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
The 212 is probably the best bang per buck for HSF, can't go wrong with it. I also have a TX3 which is nearly as effective as the 212 and about $10 less, however there is one thing you must do if you're going to use it on an Intel system- ditch the flimsy black/white plastic locks and steal the ones from an Intel HSF to replace them with. Once you do that, you got a pretty solid HSF even for decently OC'd CPU's.Zap - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
IMO stock coolers are perfectly fine for systems that run stock speeds and aren't intended to sit running torture tests all day.Noisy? Did you enable "smart fan" in BIOS? Is that in normal use or hammering it with Prime95?
Bad temperatures? Did you install it properly? For whatever reason many people can't figure out push pins when they are super simple to use. Is your temperature "comfort level" calibrated for overclocks when you're just building a stock clocked system for family to use? Fact: Your stock clocked CPU does not require low temperatures.
tarqsharq - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
I mean, the last few Intel processors I've bought didn't even come with stock coolers.Having a good stock cooler bundled in the cost of the chip shaves another 20-30% off the cost of lower end chips, which matters in budget builds.
SantaAna12 - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
Really?Your choice is just baffling to me.
Your fired.
Unbelievable.
HexiumVII - Saturday, July 23, 2016 - link
That wraith has some pretty surprising numbers and a name to match. Too bad it looks like a dinky stock fan, they just need to jazz it up a little more and it can beat a lot of the cheap aftermarket stuff out there.barn25 - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
Hey that EVO 212 is the same cooler i have!Ascaris - Sunday, July 24, 2016 - link
Delta over ambient doesn't work. The increase in ambient is not 1:1 with the increase in CPU temp. It's closer to 1:1.5.bj_murphy - Tuesday, July 26, 2016 - link
Third page, 3rd picture down, caption should be "Intel C25704-002 and D75516-002"...? Currently says "D57516-002"bj_murphy - Tuesday, July 26, 2016 - link
** D75716-002 not D75516-002...Hooray for more super memorable model numbers from our favourite confusing hardware manufacturer, Intel!
mikato - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
Any info about the fans?Please put the voltage on the noise level graphs next time as well since I was confused about that at first until I noticed the entire page was about 12v or 7v. It's good to see that the Wraith may be relatively loud at 12 volts, but is in line with the rest at 7 volts. I just wish I had a good way to translate this somehow to idle and load noise levels when it's actually on a CPU.
I agree that AMD should offer the better heatsink/fans with their non-top level CPUs as well. The reason I bought good heatsink/fans in the past was for lower noise and it really pays off there.
Riley-NZL - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link
No Intel Socket 2011 Stock coolers?Byte - Wednesday, August 3, 2016 - link
Interesting the copper core for the stock 7379 barely helps 1 degree compared to the all aluminum.just4U - Saturday, August 6, 2016 - link
Hmm.. I never got around to posting this but I'm going to now.. even if no one ever reads it! I loved this review E. Thanks for putting it together.TrantaLocked - Monday, November 27, 2017 - link
With my tiny HP mATX case which doesn't have enough width and space for large coolers like the 212 EVO, and lacks quick back panel access, the Intel BXTS15A is a really great solution. Cooling performance is nearly as good as the 212 EVO (which many believe is a great entry level cooler for overclocking), looks good and is compact, has the push-pin design for easy mounting without needing to access the back panel or remove the motherboard, and costs only $30.