Be Quiet! Dark Rock TF review -
Noise levels - Sound pressure readings
Noise Levels
With a certified dBA meter we measure how many dBAs originate from the PC. It's slightly subjective as there is always noise in the background, from the streets, from the HD, PSU fan, etc so this is by a mile or two not a precise measurement. You could only achieve objective measurement in a sound test chamber. Take this measurement as an indication, not a precise measurement please.
The human hearing system has different sensitivities at different frequencies. This means that the perception of noise is not at all equal at every frequency. Noise with significant measured levels (in dB) at high or low frequencies will not be as annoying as it would be when its energy is concentrated in the middle frequencies. In other words, the measured noise levels in dB will not reflect the actual human perception of the loudness of the noise. That's why we measure the dBA level. A specific circuit is added to the sound level meter to correct its reading in regard to this concept. This reading is the noise level in dBA. The letter A is added to indicate the correction that was made in the measurement. Frequencies below 1kHz and above 6kHz are attenuated, whereas frequencies between 1kHz and 6kHz are amplified by the A weighting.
TYPICAL SOUND LEVELS | ||
Jet takeoff (200 feet) | 120 dBA | |
Construction Site | 110 dBA | Intolerable |
Shout (5 feet) | 100 dBA | |
Heavy truck (50 feet) | 90 dBA | Very noisy |
Urban street | 80 dBA | |
Automobile interior | 70 dBA | Noisy |
Normal conversation (3 feet) | 60 dBA | |
Office, classroom | 50 dBA | Moderate |
Living room | 40 dBA | |
Bedroom at night | 30 dBA | Quiet |
Broadcast studio | 20 dBA | |
Rustling leaves | 10 dBA | Barely audible |
But let's have a peek at noise levels. We take a dBA gun and point it at the working PC and take a distance of 75 CM.
So explaining sound (or noise levels) is always difficult, but up-to 40 dBA is considered to be silent. Once you're in the 41~42 dBA range you can hear the product and after 43~44 dBA the product can be considered to be a more noisy cooler.
We now put the processor under 100% load again with the processor under full load for a full wPrime run. Noise pressure is a difficult thing to explain alright.
So if you want silence then up-to 39~40 dBA is your baseline threshold. At 37 DBa this cooler is very quiet when it comes to noise levels.
Today we’re putting the new be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W power supply on our test bench. The company is mainly known for its PSUs and Hilbert has recently reviewed the Dark Power 13 1000W. On the same day (24th January), the Pure Power 12M series was officially announced. We reviewed the predecessors, be quiet! Pure Power 11 (in 2018, it earned the “Recommended” award) and Pure Power 11 FM (in February 2022, also “Recommended), and we wonder what has changed in the meantime for the Pure Power 12M. The main difference is the full ATX 3.0 compatibility.
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