Performance and Conclusion
I tested the Wraith cooler with the supplied AMD FX-8370 processor, running it through both simulated load and stress benchmarks. With the motherboard fan control settings at their default levels, the Wraith fan spun at 1700 RPM at idle, ramping up to 3000 RPM under full load.
I created this 2-minute video to provide an example of the sound characteristics one can expect from the Wraith cooler, from idle to full load:
The video begins with the CPU at idle, with the fan spinning at 1700 RPM. The fan speed increases with the CPU load, eventually reaching 3000 RPM by the end of the video. There were some higher frequencies present at various times, but even the full 3000 RPM speed doesn't really present what I would call a "whine".
Actual noise measurements are provided below, and the video depicts a worst-case scenario as the Wraith sits on an open testbench, with the mic about 12 inches away. Even from close proximity like this the sound at idle is a soft, "white noise" which should be inaudible inside most enclosures. Load is noticeably louder, but it has a fairly low-pitched sound; mostly air noise.
Temperatures and Noise
| Test Platform | |
|---|---|
| Processor | AMD FX 8370 |
| Motherboard | ASRock 970M Pro3 |
| Memory | Samsung OEM 4 GB (2x2GB) 1600 MHz |
| Graphics Card | XFX AMD Radeon 5450 (Fanless) |
| Storage | Corsair Force LE 240GB SSD |
| Power Supply | Corsair TX 650W PSU |
| OS | Windows 8.1 64-bit |
First we will look at the thermal performance of the three tested coolers:
Very impressive! Not only does the Wraith soundly beat the previous thermal solution, but edges out the Hyper 212 EVO in load temps! The EVO offered slightly better idle temps, but they were effectively tied once the +/- 1 degree margin of error is taken into account.
Now the noise results, taken with a digital SPL meter positioned 18" from the coolers:
The Wraith offers fairly quiet noise levels at idle, though it does rise quite a bit under load. The Wraith was 3.7 dB lower than the older stock cooler, though the tested Hyper 212 EVO was quieter still, with load noise 1.8 dB lower than the Wraith under load.
Conclusion
The Wraith's fan shroud features an LED-illuminated logo
The Wraith is a significant upgrade over AMD's outgoing thermal solution, offering lower noise and improved thermal performance. It isn't the quietest cooler I've tested, but inside of a case the noise output should be pretty minimal. AMD claims 39 dBA output from the fan, which is about midway between the idle and load numbers from my testing. I could push it to over 44 dBA, but fan speed/noise will depend on the user's motherboard fan profile, too.
Impressively, the Wraith managed to go toe-to-toe with the ever-popular Hyper 212 EVO cooler in thermal performance, though the Wraith couldn't quite equal the EVO's noise levels (the Hyper 212 EVO has a larger 120 mm fan which spins under 900 RPM at idle, and only 1950 RPM under load).
AMD currently offers the Wraith with a few processors, including (with current Amazon pricing):
This list is likely to grow (it was updated with AMD's announcement back in April), and other products are available with a similar thermal solution that omits the lighted fan shroud.
Bottom line, AMD has improved their stock cooler design to the extent that an aftermarket cooler won't be needed for most users. It kept the FX 8370 processor cool even under demanding multi-threaded loads from the x264 video encoding benchmark, and offers much quieter operation that the previous thermal solution - just as promised. (And it looks great, too!)
If you're thinking about a new CPU, and have AMD in mind, I'd look for the box with the Wraith cooler.
Just because the Wraith is
Just because the Wraith is 29% cooler than stock AMD and ties only one aftermarket cooler in efficiency it deserves a gold award? It’s only 8% quieter than stock AMD and still 4% louder than the EVO. It’s a good upgrade as long as AMD doesn’t charge more than $30 more for it than stock cooler. If so, you’re better off buying an aftermarket cooler yourself.
It doesn’t deserve gold for coming close to a cheap aftermarket cooler. Silver is what it should be. Either that or put it up against some more expensive ones and see where their performance lies.
Surprised there isn’t any AMD fanboys screaming about the lateness of this review.
Its a $5 difference from
Its a $5 difference from non-wraith version
Makes a good buy and good
Makes a good buy and good upgrade for AMD fanboy only. I bought Intel and replaced cooler right away with an NiC F3 because I knew cooler wasn’t great. I didn’t buy my 4770k just to get a snappy cooler. I got it for performance.
Don’t see anyone buying AMD CPUs to get a Wraith cooler. It’s a little bonus to you for buying their underperforming CPUs.
I owned an Evo before it’s decent aside from needing really wide case. If I was really being mean I’d ask how come it wasn’t reviewed with everything fully overclocked thermally vs Evo. Come on let’s generate more posts.
it not just ties with one
it not just ties with one aftermarket cooler. it ties with 212 evo.
The ease of installing this
The ease of installing this thing is worth the slight price bump and makes it better than getting something that’s 212 Evo class or the like.
I actually have the Wraith and the 212 and have installed both and the difference in ease of installation is a big deal. It’s hard to guage it until you do it yourself. The Wraith is as easy to install as a stock cooler (snap, snap, done) and doesn’t need a special backplate or finagling with the fussy x-screw mount or even thermal paste if you don’ want.
Plus, it’s not just a little bit less noisy than the stock cooler it is a LOT less noisy. The DB only tells part of the story, it’s the quality of the noise that matters as much as the quantity. The stock AMD coolers tend to make a high pitched whine you can hear over case fans and background noise.
The Wraith has a more low-pitched sound that I personally can’t hear over case fans. It’s so quiet, I’ve had PSU’s with fans that are louder.
Basically, my point is: “Don’t knock it until you try it”. I installed a 212 evo on my own computer, and the 8370 w/ Wraith in a computer I built for my mom for her Birthday and not only is the Wraith comparable in performance, noise, cooling, etc. It is a LOT easier to install and also pushes air down to cool surrounding components on the mobo, which tower fans don’t do.
I understand why people wouldn’t want to buy an AM3 processor or motherboard right now, with Intel providing superior single core and AM4 and Zen being right around the corner, but if you were to buy an AMD Processor, I really do highly recommend the Wraith.
I agree with everything here.
I agree with everything here. Consider it an official addendum to the review, SV108!
Everything you’ve just said
Everything you’ve just said here is logical, reasoned, rational, and truthful.
He’s going to ignore all that, because Nvidia. It’s kinda what he does.
Unlike an AMD fanboy
Unlike an AMD fanboy utilizing fanboy math. It tied Evo in thermals but not overclocked to max/fully stressed (wasn’t done AFAIK). It still lost in acoustics. So it is still inferior to a budget Evo. Tying in 1 of 2 categories doesn’t a winner make. Is that logical enough for you.
Didn’t ignore either.
Truthful coming from AMD fanboys that’s rich. Overclocker’s dream and only a few Rx 480s were affected, TDP is only 110 wait 150 um yeah and hits 1600mhz easy. To name a few.
Rational I guess the implication is that I am not. I’m perfectly fine in these regards. Hurling veiled insults is still attacking the person. Don’t worry I got thick skin. A few hundred AMD fanboys couldn’t run me out. You’re just attacking because I’m honest about what company I support and not hiding behind anonymous. It’s OK to be petty. I don’t expect any better from fanboys.
Reasoned and rational are pretty much the same thing.
I had an Evo as well. I
I had an Evo as well. I prefer the way it mounts rather than Intel’s plastic pins into the motherboard. I had one go bad hence needed replaced. It wasn’t that bad of an install. Not as easy as putting pins in but more secure.
This is a great upgrade over stock AMD. I didn’t say it wasn’t. It gets close to the Evo and that’s about it. I wouldn’t call the Evo a top tier product (gold). It’s good for the price and served me well enough. There are better ones out there but you get what you pay for.
It’s a worthy upgrade if you buy an AMD CPU for only $5 more. See I said something nice about it.
Not going to waste all my time responding to everyone. Enjoy your Wraiths.
Sorry, you lost me when you
Sorry, you lost me when you compared decibel values in % showing you clearly don’t know what the numbers mean.
Exactly. It’s amazing how few
Exactly. It’s amazing how few people understand that it’s a logarithmic scale.
I understand it’s logarithmic
I understand it’s logarithmic scale. That 4% means a lot more than the 4% implied. So the Wraith is lots louder than an Evo as a result. I was simply putting a percent to it. Don’t read too much into it to simply attack a Nvidia user.
Spare us your false martyr
Spare us your false martyr delusions. Neither of them said anything about you being an Nvidia user.
I mean, we all know that the only way you can feel justified in being the obnoxious, pathetic little troll that you are is if you feel like you’re being persecuted for it, so you HAVE TO turn everything anyone says that disagrees with you into an attack on your brand preference – otherwise, you can’t rationalize your constant attacks on anyone whose brand preference doesn’t align with yours.
You’re not an idiot because you’re an Nvidia user. You’re an idiot because you’re just a fucking idiot.
Same with you little petulant
Same with you little petulant child.
Who else would be reading a
Who else would be reading a review of a Wraith cooler but a fanboy. It comes bundled with an AMD CPU. I posted because there were no posts about it and knew I’d get responses. Wow no one complained about late review simply because I said they would. AMD fanboys didn’t even care enough to post anything in here until I posted.
Woah! Ease up on the coffee
Woah! Ease up on the coffee buddy. It’s a STOCK cooler. Have you seen Intel’s stock cooler go against the 212EVO? They get destroyed! The fact AMD is boxing a cooler that’s better than the EVO and doesn’t have space issues is fantastic. This totally deserves a GOLD award simply because it’s a one stop shop without the ergo headaches of an aftermarktet solution.
I never said the Wraith was
I never said the Wraith was garbage. It’s lots better than stock just not a top notch cooler deserving gold is all. If it was only measured against stock coolers than it would merit a gold for stock cooler.
If Evo wasn’t thrown into mix, you might be right on gold. But no measurement against top of the line coolers either. Evo is considered to be baseline cooling solution. Meaning adequate not outstanding.
Evo beats it in acoustics and the AMD CPU was not overclocked AFAIK. The Evo would probably have much better thermals in this case. How does this equate to beating the Evo? Almost as good is more like it.
If they ever bundle it with a $30 CPU then buy it and discard the CPU to get the Wraith. Be a steal then. LOL
Doesn’t deserve Gold? Yup, it
Doesn’t deserve Gold? Yup, it does. Your comments are what don’t hold true. Coincidentally, AT came to the exact same conclusion as Sebastian Peak’s article. Wraith is what it’s about.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10500/stock-cooler-roundup-intel-amd-vs-evo-212
Went there and the Evo in
Went there and the Evo in their own words is a “baseline comparison of aftermarket cooling solutions”. This means adequate. Two sources using the same comparison. Did they get the same review manual for Wraith from AMD?
Don’t you ever get tired of
Don’t you ever get tired of being wrong about everything?
When you can prove your
When you can prove your absolute “everything” then we’ll talk about me being right.
Either that or have your doctor up your meds because denying reality is quite a problem.
Don’t want to give me any credit. Even a broken clock is right two times a day.
Inherently false statement because you didn’t back your wrong opinion up with proof.
Cite every instance where I’ve posted I dare you to prove me wrong on everything. You won’t do it because you can’t. Hence proving you wrong and me right.
Exactly one article down from
Exactly one article down from this one, is an article about a CPU cooler that performs WORSE than the Wraith and costs more.
Why aren’t you in there complaining about that one?
Oh, wait, it’s because it wasn’t made by AMD.
Yes. That’s why.
My bad.
How do you know it performs
How do you know it performs worse? Just your opinion. Testing methodology and variables are different. Slap a Wraith on a fully overclocked 4770k and see what it can do. Can’t right. Well the AMD CPU it was mounted on wasn’t overclocked either AFAIK.
Two 120mm fans and it’s 44db just like the Wraith only this one was stressed more.
I see no AMD fanboy bothered to post in there as well. Doesn’t make me the only one. I only posted in yours because I waited for some AMD user to expound upon the virtues of the Wraith cooler. Lo and behold there wasn’t a one to be found until I posted. Not hypocritical at all. Just saying.
Saves me $25 on an Evo? Deal.
Saves me $25 on an Evo? Deal. This is a good move when most AMD processor purchases are made with budget in mind.
Nice review.
Thx.
Nice review.
Thx.
I love the wraith cooler, it
I love the wraith cooler, it is by far the most aesthetically pleasing stock cooler available and it performs much better than other stock coolers.
It’s not exactly the second coming of heatsink-christ, but considering that Intel doesn’t even ship heatsinks with some of their CPUs while pocketing the savings, this is a welcome change.
Hopefully this isn’t a one-and-done by AMD and they continue to put better stock coolers on their CPUs.
Sebastion, I was specking an
Sebastion, I was specking an inexpensive mini itx system for a friend who will not be gaming but will be otherwise using it as both a home office machine and an htpc. Is there a way to identify the coolers associated with the other A series apu’s as Wraith without the fan shroud? I have not built a non intel system in a long time, so this is kind of exciting. The problem is I can’t help but think the Zen/Polaris APU’s are going to be awesome for these use cases in that their single threaded performance will be much improved and they will have 4 or 8 cores. But they will probably not be out until the latter part of the year. Thanks in advance.
It would be nice to see a
It would be nice to see a thermal image of the MB with the Wrath and 212. I bet the downdraft design of the wrath makes a huge difference in MB component temps around the CPU socket.
CPU coolers are like dishwashers, once they are quiet enough the actual dB level doesn’t matter anymore. Also the quality of the sound is just as important as the quantity. Some quiet fans can still be annoying. The wrath seems pretty good in the this respect.
Best cooler ever from AMD,
Best cooler ever from AMD, AMD the RX 480 and any AMD CPU with the Wraith cooler, you will have the best Direct x 12 Gaming Machine. Amazing cooler AMD RULE EARTH so remember I am the AMDTHESITHLORD.
we will bow… man you are
we will bow… man you are soooooo cool!
AMDTHESITHLORD be praised!
AMDTHESITHLORD be praised!
Never know it was that good,
Never know it was that good, close to the EVO 212.
Now all it need is Zen CPU.
Maybe they should start
Maybe they should start selling those coolers alone.
Honestly, I would love that.
Honestly, I would love that. It’d be a great drop-in replacement for stock coolers, and even some weaker aftermarket ones. The light-up LED logo is snazzy too.
Almost as good as an Evo 212
Almost as good as an Evo 212 would make a good marketing slogan. Not sure if you can mention competitors products or not. Just making a joke.
Does the Wraith respect the
Does the Wraith respect the motherboard keepout zone? That’s always an issue with aftermarket coolers using larger heatsinks and fans, so shipping a stock heatsink that may be incompatible with certain motherboards could be a pain in some circumstances.
@Sebastian Peak
Just an idea
@Sebastian Peak
Just an idea for you guys after looking that video.
Take a smartphone, load a VNC viewer on it and run a VNC server on the computer. Open a program that reads fan speeds on the computer screen and start the VNC viewer on the smartphone. On the smartphone and the VNC viewer, zoom at the area of the computer screen where the fan speed is displayed. Put the smartphone next to the motherboard. Now, without any special equipment, you can easily display in real time the fan speed next to the motherboard and the cooler you are reviewing, while filming the video.
This is a good idea.
This is a good idea.
Test the cooler with a 9590
Test the cooler with a 9590
Silly. Air coolers aren’t a
Silly. Air coolers aren’t a good idea for a TDP of the 9590.
It was put out at retail
It was put out at retail without a cooling solution for $850-$920. Ouch.
http://techreport.com/news/25486/fx-9590-now-available-in-retail-kit-at-massive-discount
Later on they used water cooling, results were better. Can be done on high end air just not with stock cooling solution and limited overclocking.
I agree it’s a beast to cool equals about 3 4770k at tdp. About equal or worse in performance than 4770k though.
It is an overall good move
It is an overall good move from AMD, especially compared to their older socket 939 cooler, which is a similar design to their new wraith cooler, but a better fan as compared to the previous tiny jet engine.
The similarly sized socket 939 cooler, cooled decently for its size, but the noise it made was more fitting for a server room.
Bottom of their old cooler: http://i.imgur.com/tj5hply.jpg
Side view: http://i.imgur.com/qpVaGVR.jpg
Tiny fan that could reach some crazy high RPMs and generate a shocking amount of noise.
you basically have an evo on
you basically have an evo on your desktop… thats nice on a budget build. A lot nerds think 1,200.00 USD is budget. Go figure
I bought the 8350 with this
I bought the 8350 with this cooler bumped it to 4.2 and will go more because no matter what I am doing the temps stay in the 30’s.On my MSI board it just clears the ram and I had to mod the top fans a little to make them fit but it is worth it. Better looking in case then the 212 so I love this Wraith.