CPU FAN/HEATSINK combo ideas?

[alvino]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the 120mm Zalman CPU cooler. That thing is a beast. It had better be. Just look at how big the fan is, lol. It does an effective job cooling.

It's not bad. I'm using the ThermalRight SI-120 coupled with the Delta 120mm Tri-Blade fan. Good thing I have a fan controller though...the thing is a jet engine when running at full speed. It's so nice though...my Athlon 64 3200+ is running at 2.6 on 1.45v and this heatsink setup keeps it at 36C.

 

[ownage]

Like i said before, on the Scythe Ninja, you can put the fan anywhere, so make it push air through the heatsink and then out the back. Pretty simple and its very quiet and cools very well. Just as good as low end water.

How towers work are very easy. In the heatpipes, there is liquid and the warm liquid goes up towards the fins and then heats the fins, but you have a fan to cool the fins so the liquid gets cooled and then goes back down to the base. Its a cycle, it goes up then down up then down. The warm liquid rises, while the cooled liquid goes down.

 

[Kage]

Hey thanks I'll have a look.

 

[alvino]

Like i said before, on the Scythe Ninja, you can put the fan anywhere, so make it push air through the heatsink and then out the back. Pretty simple and its very quiet and cools very well. Just as good as low end water.

How towers work are very easy. In the heatpipes, there is liquid and the warm liquid goes up towards the fins and then heats the fins, but you have a fan to cool the fins so the liquid gets cooled and then goes back down to the base. Its a cycle, it goes up then down up then down. The warm liquid rises, while the cooled liquid goes down.

It's especially effective in an Antec case where the rear and top blowers are pretty much inline with the heatsink itself. So if you're looking for silence, you can just use the case fans as heatsink fans.

 

[Kage]

That Zalman sounds good from the reviews.

The only thing thats worrying me now about buying one now is clearance.

I have the ABIT AV8 board.

Theres capacitors right next to the heatsink. I mean, right next. Almost touching.
And the RAM (using stock) has a clearance of about 1-2 inches. Not much.

 

[ownage]

Zalman is good for silence, but major overclocking is a no-no with a zalman. I would highly recommend a Scythe Ninja with a decent CFM fan.

 

[Memphis`]

Basically with the tower heatsinks, they will be positioned so that air is being taken from the front of the case and being pushed out the back, hopefully towards the rear fan if u have one.
This is IMO the best cooling solution if u have a fan at the front and rear of the case, this means the fresh air is going into the heatsink, while the hot air is being expelled out the back of the case.
Ive heard very good things about the Sycthe Ninja, plus having the fan positioned wherever u like is always a good thing.

 

[Kage]

I'm just doing a bit of reviewing

You know the really large tower ones? How the heck does the motherboard support all that weight? Or are they best suited to PC's that lie flat?

 

[Memphis`]

No, most pc's manage can support them but i dont know how exactly. My friend has an XP-120 in his comp and i dont know how in hell the mobo supports that.
Im pretty sure they can support it though. If anyone knows how I'd like to know as well.

 

[alvino]

Yeah, the XP-120 got discontinued because of it's height clearance issues. That's why they made the SI-120 to replace it, because it's higher so it doesn't have to worry about height.