I had one more general question: any guess which of these two will cool more efficiently/quietly?
1) SuperMicro 4U
SNK-P0070APS4? 4U has 15% larger 92mm fan which is nice, but no copper heat pipes. It also seems to have less overall fins which means less surface area making contact with the air. But the air also has less distance to travel through the fins, so perhaps less work for the fan?
2) Dynatron 3U
B11? 3U has 15% smaller 80mm fan but has copper heat pipes which is nice. Also seems to have more overall fins which is good, but longer distance for the fan to push the air all the way through, which might be more effort for the smaller fan?
The only specs I could find were:
- SuperMicro 4U: at 3800 (max) rpm, dBA=38, but no CFM numbers provided. Also no lower fan speed numbers to compare against B11, nor any thermal specs.
- Dynatron 3U B11: at 4000 (max) rpm, dBA=42.2 and CFM=50. At 1300 rpm, dBA=16 and CFM=12.5. They also provide a
Thermal Performance Curve which is nice to have (but without comparison data for the SM 4U, not too useful).
Bottom-line: Main plus for the SuperMicro is the 15% bigger fan. But I'm guessing the Dynatron might work just as well or better (even with a smaller fan) due to the copper heat pipes and more surface area on the fins.
Which would you install if you had the space in the chassis for either? Does either manufacturer have a better track record of making quiet/efficient heat sinks? (note that I plan to replace the stock fan with a Noctua regardless of which cooler I go with)