CPU Heatsinks

gman

gman

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Following on from my build thread and cooling, I think I'm going to look at a new heatsink for the CPU. The CPU temp goes to about 55C when under load which doesn't bother me too much but the CPU fan is getting noisy at this temp.

So, I'm thinking a more effective heatsink will take the pressure away from the fan, and perhaps a quieter fan!

Any recommendations for a good heatsink that has a quiet fan for a i7-3770K processor? Preferably a heatsink that's smaller than the Eiffel Tower please!
 
Big heatsinks = bigger fans and surface areas = cooler CPU with quieter fans. You'll find all the recommended ones on different sites are all using 12cm or larger fans, so you are likely to end up witha tower if you want goodcooling and quiet fan...
 
PS. [smug]I think Neil and I both suggested an after market one on the original build thread[/smug] :D ;)
 
My recommendation is on both your previous threads too.
 
Cheers, I was wanting to keep it in a separate thread in case anyone else searches for similar. I may be able to get away with a large heatsink as the second side fan I installed is offsett and over the memory modules.

The ones I've picked up from the other thread and here are:

Aasa Venom (huge)
BeQuiet Dark Rock
Scythe Ninja Plus B - Silenx ixtrema
Ninja 3
Alpenfohn Panorama

I'm just going to add the chart again for easy reference:

14412.png


I'll start my researching! lol The Ninja is looking good though with it's quietest noise to airflow claim.
 
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My case supports CPU coolers to a height of 163mm so I'm guessing this covers pretty much the majority of coolers.
 
It does...
 
http://www.scan.co.uk/search.aspx?q=ln32263

Spec in above link

I have one of these bolted on top of my Intel Core processor i7 if thats any help and I can't hear it running. Do take into account where abouts your case vents are, this could have a significant affect on airflow

showing it in situ



its running at 28c if thats any help. Case has front to back airflow with no side vents

Realspeed
 
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Cheers for all the replies, I ended up trying what seems to be an underrated XIGMATEK Aegir. It appeared to produce good results whilst being quiet and amazingly it was stocked in my local PC World. I've got some heatsink install photos that'll I'll put up when I get a chance.

But there are problems. The heatsink itself seems good and my CPU temp is sitting at 28C but it's not quiet at all and the 120mm (4 pin) fan is blasting at 2,000rpm. So I go into BIOS and tell it to managed the CPU at 40C and the lowest fan setting to be 0%. Now it runs at 29C and about 1,100rpm. How strange. There's also a dull background thumping type sound now, not very noticable unless you tune into it - which I have :(

Here's another problem, the fan is attached by rubber mounts which you need to pull through and as I was doing this with the MB still attached it means I couldn't get to the lower mounts of the fan (although the CPU power cable holds it in tight so no problem). I couldn't put the fan on before mounting otherwise I'd struggle to get to the brace nuts. I couldn't be arsed pulling the whole MB out.

To be honest it doesn't sound any quieter than the stock heatsink despite the reviews and noise level quotes. If I put the fan on the memory slot side then it blocks one of the slots plus the upper side fan jams against it, so it has to go on the other side near the back which messes up the whole case airflow unless I set the full to pull air out of the heatsink rather than blow air through the heatsink (the wrong way though).

I've had to change most of the fans to create a new airflow so now the top and the upper side are the exhausts with the lower side, lower front and upper rear back being the inputs. So basically the case exhaust area is above the memory modules but I'm not really happy though. Here's what's happening now (using the old image):

Airflow_3.jpg


I think there's too many fans and it's becoming a little noisy so I'm considering losing the heatsink fan and perhaps the lower side fan. I may put the new 4 pin CPU fan on the upper side fan and connect it to the CPU Fan controller on the mobo and get that back fan to being an exhaust again. Do you reckon the heatsink can cope without a direct fan and just the side fan to push the hot air out? I'm not massively fussed about being a few degrees hotter, I just want this bloody thing to be quiet!!!

This is certainly becoming quite the project, but kinda fun in a frustrating way.
 
The fan on the heatsink is just in front of it blowing towards the front also and pushing all the hot air towards the memory and hopefully up through the top fans. I suppose I could reverse the fan on the heatsink and the back so it's pulling air out rather than pushing through the heatsink, but I really think I need to lose some fans as it's like Cape bloody Canaveral at the moment.
 
I'd second a fan controller. You can get cheap PCI backplane variable resistor ones quite cheaply but they often come from China so budget a couple of weeks for them to arrive. 99% of fans are relatively noisy when run at full pelt, so some form of control is essential to balance temperatures with noise levels.

Secondly, you may also need to select a fan controller profile in the BIOS. Just setting the numbers may not actually affect anything.

Thirdly, if you have a bumping but only 2 lugs connecting the fan, blu-tac can be used both as a method of adhering and as a suspension agent.
 
I reckon if I go down the fan controller route I'd get a front panel one, I've heard of a few actually going on fire due to bad connectors so would get a decent one although are they not manual and would involve me having to always check the temps? The BIOS doesn't seem to have the greatest fan control to be honest.

Do you reckon I could get away with having no fan on that heatsink?
 
gman said:
Do you reckon I could get away with having no fan on that heatsink?
Click to expand...
Unplug the 4-pin connector and monitor the temps running something like prime 95. My guess is no - it's a 95W TDP part. I managed my E8400 (65W TDP) totally passively, but not the i7. I'd still recheck the settings of the BIOS though....

Unfortunately, better fan control is normally improved on the more expensive "enthusiast" boards....
 
I certainly would not recommend ditching the CPU fan, although I do think you should take it back to PC World and get your money back!

I personally would ditch all but the top and front fans, then get a Bequiet Cooler because it really does what it says on the tin!

Just checked my CPU and it's 17°C with motherboard at 30°C.

Your are most welcome to come up and see my setup, just drop me a PM.
 
the only CPU heatsink ive run passive (no fan) was the mini ninja. that was in a HTPC so not much CPU load anyway.

id always have the same intake as exhaust to keep a good airflow going.
 
Alas I believe the Bequiet is a few mm too big. I was about to order one yesterday and just noticed at the last moment :(

I might be able to spin the heatsink 90 degrees and stick the fan on the side nearest my graphics card meaning I'd have two exhausts at the top drawing the heat out. Hmmm, this could work.

I'm going to ditch the two side fans for now and see how it goes. Picking up some plexiglass and a holesaw in case I want to add any side fans back in. I think I need more cable ties.
 
for fully automated fan controller, i would recommend BigNG. here's my review of it on the computer forum I frequent:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=227452

with regards to the fans, you should work out a way so that there are no turbulences or conflicts. I use Silverston FT02 case which is basically a bank of 180mm fans on the bottom, and pushing hot air upwards, no turbulences and most fans can even be turned off. my PC is completely silent when idling, very quiet when photo editing, only gets noisy when gaming.

for CPU cooler, I would recommend Noctua D14, the very best in air cooling. or a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (TRUE), the former best in air cooling before D14. I owned TRUE during Core2 Q6600 days and it was legendary. both can be run fanless if you have a case with good airflow (Silverston FT02 for example).



to be brutally honest, I think you made the wrong choice in case. there are no padding with zero airflow consideration on fan placements. I'd have recommended Fractal Design R3 or Silverstone FT02 depending on your budget.
 
I am quiet tempted to get a new case to be honest but I'll have a play with this one first. Good testing grounds and all.
 
Hope you don't mind me butting in, but I have a similar problem with very noisy fans, no matter what the pc is doing.
The trouble I have is I have 771 socket cpu's which seem to be much less catered for, and two of them right next to each other which seems to make space an even bigger problem.

Would a couple of these be any good? They look like the only thing I have seen that will physically fit.

http://www.wiredzone.com/Supermicro...ve-Heatsink-f--Socket-771-CPUs~10018395~0.htm
 
I think this is noise culprit and also making the side panel vibrate. I think I'll lose it.

Will have a look at that link now cheers!
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Hope you don't mind me butting in, but I have a similar problem with very noisy fans, no matter what the pc is doing.
The trouble I have is I have 771 socket cpu's which seem to be much less catered for, and two of them right next to each other which seems to make space an even bigger problem.

Would a couple of these be any good? They look like the only thing I have seen that will physically fit.

http://www.wiredzone.com/Supermicro...ve-Heatsink-f--Socket-771-CPUs~10018395~0.htm
Click to expand...


they do a slightly quieter one.. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/supermicro-snk-p0040ap4-intel-5500-series-heatsink-active-4u-lga-1366

oops wrong socket..

thermaltake have one - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ther...-for-xeon-603-4-771-cpu-(9225mm-fan-optional) - come without fans but you could run them on opposite sides one blowing and one sucking.
 
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Oooo interesting, thank you!

The only others I found a couple of years back were noctua, but they were ~£100 each and I needed two. Got ear plugs for £2.99. :D
 
Well, I've come full bloody circle and the new heatsink is back in the box. I was going to just hang onto it as I wouldn't feel right returning it if there were nothing wrong, however, it turns out the fan is dodgy and it's this one that's been making all the noise! So back it goes.

The original heatsink is back on and the CPU temp is around 34C, so it's not a huge difference to worry me too much. Everything is nice low hum now (except when it's stressed!). So I've ended up with the front and both side fans blowing in and the rear and top two blowing out. The case is still a nice 25C and everything is cool.

The method I use for applying thermal compound is to put a pea sized dot in the middle and let the heatsink spread it pretty much evenly. I believe most of the heat is in the centre part and getting to the absolute edges isn't crucial.

Been a good learning curve, I couldn't rotate the heatsink and remembered why I didn't do it originally - it almost touches the memory sticks and overlaps. Couldn't install the fan first either as it would pull so tight I'd never get the retainer bolt in and can't be bothering getting the whole mobo out.

If I do get another 3rd party heatsink it'll have to be something more like the Cooler Master V8 which won't overlap the memory, although it would probably interfere with one of the top fans (see image here) or I may go for a lower profile one.

Here's some photos if they are of any interest. Cheers for all the advice!

thermalstrips.jpg


thermalcompound.jpg


fanoverlaps.jpg


heatsinkrotated.jpg
 
Bit late to the chat, but Freezer 7 Pro is by far the best cooler & I've used them for years, after messing with many different types including water based, just cant beat them & they've been copied by a fair few manufacturers.

My system is so good at times the fan actually stops momentarily because it doesnt require so much fan interaction as such.

I run a rampage gene 2 matx, i7 920 iirc with ddr3, 240 ssd & an antec solo small case & you actually cant hear the damn thing running at all, until you whack a disc in a drive & it doesnt even need loads of case fans, to the point iirc the rear 120 is disabled atm so only psu & cpu cooled.
 
This is true, the artic silver 5 needs only a tiny spot & its thermal abilities are great, stuck it on my notebooks aswell as desktops.
 
I'm not a fan of watercooling kit. they perform about the same as top of the line heatsinks, but there is pump noise and risk of failure.

I ran Corsair H50 (the first closed loop kit) for 3 years after selling TRUE. once its warranty ran out, I wouldn't dare to continue to use it as any damage to the computer cannot be claimed.
 
I am nervous about water being near the computer but after doing some quick searches I can't find much on bad experiences by others. That Freezer 7 Pro looks like a design that will fit my case nice, although it's not the best at cooling according to tests it's much better than stock apparently.

The ultra coolness of the water one is tempting though, but I think I'd always worry and be checking for leaks.
 
Given my years of testing, water cooling sucks, unless its a complete non conductive liquid that submerses the whole system inside a box, then its maybe worthwhile, which is unrealistic for everyday users or anyone outside a lab lol.

Coming from a freezer 7 pro user for years, trust me its good, from cooling & noise perspective, its the best to date & I've built & repaired allot of systems/laptops :)

For the cost give it a try, there's a guy on ebay called Blackcatpc who I use for variety of items, he is a good seller, give him a shout, non affiliated with me.
 
Isn't the fan on the wrong way round? Usually the braces side is the exhaust, shouldn't it be blowing into and through the fins? I'm guessing it must be a custom built fan by or for them?

ac-freezer7pro-v2.jpg
 
That's what I have in one of my desktops, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2
 
One is on order as of last night, was exporting from Lightroom and the stock fan went mental. Took the other one back to PC World and they were [reluctantly] about to refund me when I spotted the Ram, so I've swapped it for another 8GB, so 16GB in total should help Lightroom also. Won't get the heatsink until next week though, got a busy weekend anyway so just as well!

I hope this one performs!
 
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