AMD Stock Coolers Tested: Wraith Prism vs. Wraith Spire vs. Wraith Stealth

[systemBuilder]

This review would have been perfect if you had compared it to the ultimate air cooler which is the noctua u14s. It fits in almost all cases and it beats at least 50% of water block coolers in cooling, and 100% of water block coolers in quiet! Yes it cost $60+ and is worth every single penny because it is quieter than death

 

[jonbar]

Its an odd article. No noise tests on a cooler review? And the only stress test is Blender and Overwatch? I mean its like you purposefully didnt put a load on the CPU! I get it you want to represent real world use but we all live in different climates anyway. Also the games most people play are actually probably more CPU intensive than Overwatch. Why not an OCCT stress test instead of blender, itl get the chips hotter than blender will. Other tech sites have reported quite bad ticking noise from the AMD wraith coolers, did you find this? And the only aftermarket cooler you compare these to is a Deepcool Gamma 200T? Why not Amazons best selling Hyper 212? Or even maybe something a bit more expensive, or worth $40 like the Be Quiet BK008? I personally would like to know how well these coolers perform compared to something I might actually buy. The only reason I would buy a Gamma 200T is if my cooler broke and I was strapped for cash and I needed something to get to the end of the month before I could buy a decent cooler.

Personally I would definitely prefer it if AMD sold the chips without the coolers and knocked a few dollars off the price. These coolers seem a bit rubbish to me, I mean, they perform worse than a $15 Gamma 200T for crying out loud!

Also you have to be quite savagely naive if you take AMDs word that these things are worth $40. If they sold for $40 literally no one would buy one.

Must say, all I have learnt from this article is that the $40 cooler performs around the same as a $15 cooler and that Techspot chose not to fully stress a CPU in the test nor tell its readers anything about how loud or not loud these things are.

Wccftech tested a CM Hyper 212 EVO vs Wraith Max (the prism is supposed to be a bit better)on a AMD 8350, open stand, with the results under load:
Wraith -- stock delta T 43.6@41db , OC@4.6GHz delta T 54.1@42db
CM212 - stock delta T 44.8@40db , OC@4.6GHz delta T 49.9@40db

So I would say you get a beast of a cooler bundled with the CPU, good enough for auto OC in a case with decent airflow. Best for OC/quietest - surely not.
Will update as soon as I manage to start installing OS and testing wife's rig (3700x with Wraith prism inside a Fractal Design Define C with 3x120mm front 1x120mm rear fans)

 

[michaelcly]

IMO, for those like me on a tight budget, the AMD coolers are great. I have the Stealth / Ryzen 2600 combo in a BUDGET PC for 1080p video editing. I seldom reach 60 degrees using Adobe Premier, which mostly uses the CPU. I live in Jakarta so the room is usually 77-78 degrees. After processing for 20 minutes, I can hear the fan, but barely.

Thank you for this great article. Now I know if I want to overclock, I will need to get a better cooler, but frankly, for the minimal gain and extra money, I don't think it's worth it.

 

[michaelcly]

Nope still not free. A form of marketing to get people interested in spending money. Money of which pays for the free item. Which doesn't account for all the money the items have made in the past. So in a sense the items have already been paid for, or else it wouldn't be offered for free.

I love the last sentence. Well said. I look at it this way: For $150, I got a good CPU (2600) with a cooler that works—it was the most affordable option for me. Most of my career was spent in marketing. I always ignore the word "free" (usually spelled FREE!).