Any difference between the various stock AMD heatpipe heatsinks?

[duragezic]

I can't find much information about all of the different versions available. GeezerMan found one thread for me, but it was fairly inconclusive. I guess that could mean they are too similar to notice much of a difference. Anyway, I have:

CoolerMaster, 3-wire, from Ebay in 2006

And the other is a 4-wire that came with retail Opteron 165 this week. It is similar to the AVC Z7U7414001 here, but not exactly, so is also similar to the Foxconn one pictured here.


So, old vs new breaks down like this:

80mm fan vs. 70mm fan
3-wire vs. 4-wire fan (what is the 4th/yellow wire for??)
4 heatpipes vs. 4 heatpipes
all four pipes enter from one side and exit from the other vs. two pipes enter and exit from one side, two in and out on the other side


The newer/70mm fan is the one I am currently using. I tried finding any identifying markings on it. It looks like it says 'AJ 7 1 0 T S'. I couldn't find anything about those markings, and although it is similar to the AVC and Foxconn one, it doesn't have the same markings as those do. The older/80mm fan one is definitely the Coolermaster unit.

I've found reviews of the AVC unit as well as the Coolermaster one (the Madshrimps review) but no comparisons between the various stock AMD heatpipe HSF units that have shipped over the years.

Are they just very close or has anyone found one better than the other? Or if one heatsink is better, but one fan is better, I could swap them out to get the best of both. I'll be using it to cool my Opteron 165 @ 2.7ghz+ w/ AS Ceramque, and I'm able to get above 2.7ghz but I'm starting to hit high 50s under Orthos load on the core temp when it is warm in my room, so I'd like this cooled as best as possible.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I've seen both. The one with the 80mm fan is what came with my retail Opteron 165 at the end of last year. It works very well and isn't too noisy really, audible but not too bad. The one with the 70mm fan is a PWM fan and can get extremely noisy at full tilt, I do think it cools a little better due to more airflow at full tilt but the noise drives me insane.

Since the older one has the 80mm fan, you can easily swap the fan for something different (tornado fan anyone lol). The one with the 70mm fan isn't so easy to swap out (it is clipped on not screwed on too).

 

[Old Hippie]

With a nick like duragezic, I'm surprised that you care.

 

[duragezic]

SparkyJJO: Indeed, if nothing else, I would lean towards the larger fan due to better airflow and/or less noise. Though having used both, I haven't found a big difference between them, plus 70m vs 80mm isn't too much.

I've only had the 70mm, 4-wire, PWM one run as high as ~3400 RPM. IIRC, the 80mm I have only ran at like a constant 2800RPM, so there likely is a noticeable noise difference if I tested for it. The 80mm, and possibly both, can be ran at full speed by shorting the thermistor then using software to drop the fan down to a reasonable level.

I'd like to have a quiet computer of course, but can't justify the cost of quality, quiet coolers. Regardless of my CPU fan anyway, I'd think any one of my other fans like the videocard one is just as loud, especially with my side panel off (for better cooling).

So, cooling is more important to me than noise, but obviously both are considerations. I am busy this weekend, but since I haven't found any comparisons done, I'll do a few simple tests with both next week.

Old Hippie: :laugh: Few people notice or know my nickname... but yes, I am a bit of a geek too.

 

[GeezerMan]

My 70mm fan version, with thermistor shorted, will go up to 5200RPM. Pretty speedy, and loud too. Right now, I have it at 3000 RPM, not too bad at all.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Originally posted by: duragezic
I'd like to have a quiet computer of course, but can't justify the cost of quality, quiet coolers.

You may disagree with this but if you've ever experienced dead silence like me, I think you'd spend the extra dough.

My main computer has a passively-cooled CPU, video card and motherboard. The only fans in my machine are the 120mm fan inside the Seasonic S-12 power supply and the Scythe 120mm in the back of my case.

I find it completely amazing. I practically built it out of sheer curiosity to see what would happen. To tell you just how silent it is, when I temporarily replaced the Seasonic with a Fortron Blue Storm II (I was waiting for a cable extension for the Fortron), I could hear the rattle from the fan inside the Fortron PSU. Now that I have the Fortron in my other machine, I can't hear it because of the 80mm fans inside the case.