Anybody built a passively cooled P3?

[Viper GTS]

I'm building a P3 system for a friend, & I'm trying to decide what I'm using for cooling. I will be building the system & then shipping it cross country in the box the case came in. I'll be using a 250W P/S modded with one of these that I have laying around. This makes a very quiet P/S, but not much airflow.

I've really come down to two options:

1) Radial fin Molex cooler

Advantages: Small, very quiet, light weight, & I know it will work at least to 933 (I used to run a P3 700 @ 933 with one of these).

Disadvantages: Has a fan, so it will produce some noise. Only connects with one lug on each side of the socket - I don't want it breaking off in shipping, although it is so light it might not be a problem.

2) Taisol CGK760

I have one of these in my system at home. The HS is massive, & the fan is quiet - But I'd be removing the fan & relying on case airflow to cool it. Is this feasible?

Advantages: Plenty of mass for passive cooling, connects with all three lugs on each side of the socket.

Disadvantages: Would probably need a copper spacer to protect the core, heavy weight might be a problem for shipping, would have to do extensive testing to make sure it will be 100% stable, might not be able to use the quiet case fan due to low airflow.

Any thoughts? This system will be used in a dorm room, & one of my goals is to make it as silent as possible. The IBM 60GXP will be enclose in a SilentDrive, there will be no more than two fans in the whole system, hopefully one.

Viper GTS

 

[dowxp]

i think the taisol will be sufficent. what speed is the cpu? 1ghz underclocked to 600mhz? im pretty sure its feasable.


if he can stand some noise, the molex is better for better chances of stablilty.

 

[Viper GTS]

It will be a 133 MHz P3, 733 or above. No underclocking, just default speed. Using an Intel motherboard, so no over/underclocking options will be available.

And it's for a dorm full of women, there will be two other PC's in the dorm as well.

Viper GTS

 

[Windogg]

Some OEM systems (especially HPs) come with passive cooling. Unfortunatly they are usually on the borderline of stability. I need to run my HP Vectra 866 w/ a side cover when cracking RC5 on a warm day. They work fine until the ambiant temperature hits around 85F and then the system begins to lock. Without the air duct the system has a 50/50 chance of locking at room temperature. Then again there also no case fans and only a silent (VERY low output) fan on the power supply. It can be done as long as there is proper airflow. Also consider under-volting the CPU. Less juice = less heat. The yields are usually good enough that you can run it stable with less power.

For case fans there are 80mm Panaflos that get 24CFM @ 21db. Get them at Heatsink Factory. I forgot who directed me there but I plan on using them for my girlfriend's system. I am also considering the Zalman heatsinks. Crappy performance but silent.

Windogg

 

[shathal]

Intel's boxed CPU's come with active FHS for a good reason - they last, only with good cooling. Unless you have a 1U or 2U server which will provide airflow through the chassis anyway with fans, I wouldn't recommend trying to go "ultra silent".

Go for the stable & "long life" option - it's not as if the fans are THAT loud. Usually my HD's are considerably more audible ...

... The CPU's FHS's grow in size & power from 850 MHz onwards, so you know where not to go to, if you want "small & silent".

Hope this helps. .

 

[Generalen]

I know of one that have a P3 700(late stepping) with just a heatsink. (it's a MP3 box) don't know how hot it gets but it works.

 

[Viper GTS]

I think it will be a 733, I doubt I'll go higher than that.

I guess I'll go with the Molex, since I've used one before & I know what it's capable of. I will mod the P/S with the quieter fan, & with the hard drive silenced it should be pretty quiet.

My #1 goal for her system was absolute stability, so I'll stick with active cooling. I'll try passive cooling on my Tualatin once I get it.



And Windogg, the only Panaflo's I found were 32 dba...

One more question, anybody know how sturdy the fan mounts for the Zalman coolers are? That might be a good option as well, though it's expensive.

Viper GTS

 

[Windogg]

If you check about 1/3 of the way down the 80mm fan page you'll see the Panaflo Low Output fans. 1900RPM, 24CFM, 21db. I missed it the first time too.

The Zalman's are kinds pricey but they look nice. We all know the ladies love aesthetics. The "Flower" performs marginally on the Athlons but should be more than sufficient for a P3-733. It uses a seperate 80mm fan mounted above the heatsink. There is a switch that allows you to slow the fan for maximum noise control. 2Cooltek has them in stock for $42 :Q.

Windogg

EDIT, ahh.. you found the Zalmans.

 

[Tonec]

http://phamcomputer.safeshopper.com/43/79.htm?531
This 60mm low adda is completely silent, the panaflo/med adda push more air but there is a slight hum to them.

 

[Noriaki]

I've seen it done.

If you are concerned, use the taisol 760 with an Adda 60mm fan.
they are 16dbA and 13CFM. That's plenty to cool a P3, and 16dbA is very low, much quieter than even the stock taisol fan.

Unless your PSU is totally fanless I would be amazed if it's quieter than 16 dbA.

Even if the 16dbA is the loudest source in the PC it's less than half of of those 21dbA Panflos which everyone thinks are so quiet, with the panels on you won't be able to hear it over ambient room noise, unless you are in a sound proof room holding your breath. And even then you'll need extremely sensitive ears.

And then you won't need to worry about stability either.

My friend is running a P3-750@1Ghz with one of these fans.

 

[Shide1]

Both Gateway and Dell used passive cooling back when they sold slot 1 pentium 3's. The dell has a small heatsink on the cartridge with a 92mm fan pulling air off of it through an air duct. The gateway has an air duct hanging down from the power supply that sucks air off of the heatsink. The gateway is extremely quiet because it only has one fan. I am not sure if dell or gateway uses passive cooling on current socket 370 coppermine Pentium 3's. I would doubt it because I believe they run hotter than the katmai slot pentium 3's.

The retail fan/heatsink that comes with boxed pentium 3's is extremly quiet as the fan only runs at about 1600RPM.

Maybe you could use the retail fan with no case fans and see if the computer will run stable and reliable, though that would all depend on the other componets you have in the system.

 

[Viper GTS]

I don't really care how it looks, the case will be closed 100% of the time once she gets it.

If I grab one of the Adda fans for the Taisol, use my 21 dba 80mm fan in the P/S, & drop the noise of a 60 GXP (with acoustic management enabled) by 90% I should end up with good results.



Thanks for the links, I'm gonna grab a Taisol + Adda.

Will the pressure point of the Taisol's clip be OK for a P3, or should I get a copper spacer to make sure the core survives the shipping?

Viper GTS

 

[Phiberoptix]

<<
And it's for a dorm full of women, there will be two other PC's in the dorm as well.
>>



if it´s for a dorm full of women, then what´s the problem ? they won´t be able to hear the pc even if you put a fop38 in there, hehe

 

[dowxp]

<< Will the pressure point of the Taisol's clip be OK for a P3, or should I get a copper spacer to make sure the core survives the shipping? >>



dont worry about the core. p3 cores are very well built.i hit my p3 core once with a screw driver. nothing happened.