Quote Originally Posted by Dark Dragon View Post
I am never going back to air coolers. I don't know why people complain about the sound problem on these, because i can't even hear my computer turn on. It might be the 2 dampening cable i used while installing to reduce the voltage to the fans, but it still function wonderfully. My CPU is a consistent 30c during regular use and maybe as high as 45-50 during gaming (Total War Shogun 2, Skyrim) with both games running on ultra settings.
I doubt I'll be going back to air from water cooling any time soon. I have Antec 620, though I got rid of the Antec fan (that was about as silent as a jet engine) and replaced it with a Scythe Gentle Typhoon that I hooked directly to a mobo fan connector. So, the speed is constant, not varying. My slightly overclocked Phenom II now idles at ~25 and goes up to the 45 you mentioned when fully stressed (Prime95). Though when gaming, the factory overclocked GTX 560 Ti effectively masks any other noise...