Test System and Methodology
| Test System Specs | ||||
| Mainboard | Gigabyte X670E AORUS Master Bios Version F10a |
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| CPU | Ryzen 9 7950X3D | |||
| GPU | Galax GeForce RTX 4060 EX | |||
| NVMe | XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite 1TB | |||
| RAM | XPG Lancer DDR5 (2 x 16GB) 6000MHz | |||
| Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G7 | |||
| CPU Cooler | NH-D15S chromax.black | |||
| Case | What is under test! | |||
| Ambient Temperature | 25°C ±0.1°C | |||
| Drivers | AMD Chipset: 5.11.02.217 AMD Adrenalin: 24.2.1 NVIDIA: 551.76 |
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Noise Damping & Output Measurements Methodology
We use a Class 1 Bruel & Kjaer 2270 G4 sound analyzer equipped with a Type 4955a microphone with a dBA-weighted dynamic range of below 6 dBA and up to 110 dBA. All tests are conducted inside a hemi-anechoic chamber with a noise floor close to 6 dBA and an ambient temperature of 25–28 °C. The test subject is placed a meter from the sound analyzer. Before we start the measurements, we calibrate the sound meter using the Bruel & Kjaer Sound Calibrator Type 4231.
Noise Damping Test Procedure
We place a speaker in the measuring position and measure its intensity at frequencies ranging from 100Hz to 20KHz. We also measure the Chirp signal and pink and White noise. We use the above measurements to reference the speaker’s volume in the open air.
To ensure the same conditions are present in each measurement, we install the chassis vertically in the chamber to the microphone in the intended position. Next, we install the speaker we measured in an open field inside the chassis. We place it close to the side where the microphone points without touching the side panel. At the same time, we pay close attention to having the speaker as close as possible to the chassis floor (see photo below).
Noise Output Test Procedure
We use Corsair’s Commander Pro to control the chassis fans, using custom software that Aris developed. In addition, the Commander Pro is driven by another passively operating system that doesn’t affect the chamber’s noise floor. The software allows for precise fan sped adjustments in both RPM and percentage. Hence, we can set a portion of the speed individually for each fan, e.g., in a fan with a maximum speed of 1000 RPM, if we set the speed at 50%, the fan will rotate at 500 RPM (±1%). We measure the noise the fans produce at 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 90%, 100% of their maximum speed. Next, we change the fan speed by reversing the measurements’ logic to achieve 35, 30, and 25 dBA noise output. We write down, of course, the corresponding speeds.
The last noise measurement deals with the graphics card. We use a Galax RTX 4060 EX graphics card in all builds. In this test, we activate the system, install it in the chassis, and turn off all the fans except those used by the CPU and GPU cooling systems. We keep the CPU’s fan speed at the lowest setting to not alter the measurements and change the speed of GPU fans to 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 90%, and 100% while measuring and logging noise output.
