Best you could buy Heatsink Fan....

[Quiksilver]

What would be the best heatsink fan you could purchase?

I've been looking at YL's and Scythe fan's but I'm still not sure. Pretty much I'm just looking for a 120mm fan that is High CFM (Greater than 65 in no matter what orientation) at less then 45 decibels

Anyone got any more suggestions?

Could you use this fan as a heatsink fan or would the voltages required be a little much?
http://jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm...rame-with-4-Blue-leds-High-Speed-pr-3824.html

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm supposed to reorganize the heatsink review "Link" catalog here. I'm going to post a separate thread by way of "notes" -- so we can refrain from posting "replies to the "catalog" of review links, and post them on the latter thread for continuous discussion.

I had written a piece for that second thread on the factors of interest in selecting a heatsink. For performance alone, if you found comparison reviews that show "thermal resistance," you'd just pick the heatsink that had the lowest number. Thermal Resistance encapsulates all the information of idle and load temperatures, room-ambient test conditions, or just about everything but fan speed and CFM. These latter things will cause thermal resistance to vary over some range, and you'll find reviews (as at Overclockers.com) where the index is shown for "low" (reported) and "high" (reported) fan speeds and a certain size fan. Fans of a similar size are in a similar class when it would come to throughput, provided they can be made to run at the highest speed of any other fan in that class.

If the thermal resistance isn't reported in a review, then a comparison between heatsinks needs a common benchtest configuration and use of the same room ambient, the same thermal interface material, and the same stress-test software. Given those controls, the heatsink or cooler with the lowest load temperature would be showing the best performance.

But performance is not all there is, so to speak. Size, shape, weight, noise, price and other factors will be part of your decision. They are part of my own decision, even though I tend to pick the heatsink with the highest performance.

In a narrow range of thermal resistance measures, you will hear people say that inconsistencies in test conditions or just limits on accurate measurement leave the "clear winner" undetermined. That may be the case.

Here's one or two of the most recent Anandtech reviews. The focus of the reviews -- given by the titles -- may seem to bias or favor some choice, but the results are most likely as "kosher" as it can get -- given the test-conditions, the bench-configuration and controlled variance in the configurations, and so on.

A heatsink comparison review

Another heatsink comparison review

Before anyone says "He's pushing [this or that manufacturer]," and since I'm supposed to take over the "catalog of links," let me say that these reviews were about the easiest thing for me to find without leaving our (home) web-site here. Other information should be available from that link-catalog -- still posted under Lifeguard's name. that's why we want to compile that information.

Some reviews are filled with hype. Some reviews don't report useable facts. Sometimes, in a comparison, only favored advertisers are reviewed, even if the numbers used or obtained in the comparison are accurate, so the comparison leaves out useful information about other products.

Never base your decisions to purchase a cooler -- or anything else -- on a single review.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Whoa! Did I ever miss the mark here!!

You asked about heatsink FAN!!

I gave you the wrong answer.

If you can thermally control the fan, my opinion is that the beefier motor is a better bet.

But that's about what you're looking for, I think.

Personally, I use a Delta tri-blade capable of 3,700 rpm with a dBA rating around 50 at that speed. I run the fan between 1,800 and 2,500 with thermal control. In that range, the dBA rating is very competitive. I've also found a Sanyo-Denki DC-San-Ace 120x38mm fan which runs up to 2,500 rpm and seems pretty quiet.

There are more than one Panaflo fans that would meet that range.

Depending on the performance range of the heatsink, you could probably use a fan with a more modest motor -- sold on the premise of being quiet -- like Scythe or Yate-Loon.

Others may have better opinions to give about these latter fans.

Also, I see you're using a Zalman 7700 Cu, which comes equipped with its own fan. Maybe that cooler can be modded -- or better -- any fan you choose might be modded to fit it. Personally, it's not the sort of thing I would do.

I'd get another cooler first. The thermal resistance of the CNPS 7700 Cu is somewhere in the range of 0.15 to 0.20 C/W. That's not a terribly good rating by this year's standards. A Zalman CNPS 9700 or even the 9500 beats it hands down.

 

[Quiksilver]

Geez, I should of clarified my own post.

So here is some details on the new rig I will be building:

The case I will be using is a NZXT Zero without the 4 attached side panel fans and the 120mm exhaust and intake fan's replaced with YL D12SH-124B's and the Top 80mm blowhole replace with a Silverstone FN82.

The heatsink I will be using is a Tuniq Tower that will be lapped to a nice finish with a nice TIM I seen awhile back on here; IC Diamond 7 I believe it was.

Lastly the cpu this will be cooling will be a overclocked q6600. I don't feel like touching a water cooled rig yet until I've built a few more PC's so I want to push this thing on air as much as I can; thus why I'm asking for help choosing a good heatsink fan.

Oh and Panaflo, I am never touching those thing's again with a 10 foot pole; order 4 of them for my original case(that case made too much noise from the 80mm fans for my taste so I tossed it) I was going to use for the build in my sig; all 4 of them were DOA. So those are off limits.

The build in my sig will be passed down to my mother; so don't worry about that

Oh and another thing, as I plan to lap the TT and q6600, would would be a good grit to stop at considering the particle size of the chosen TIM? (I have enough paper laying around that varies form 200 grit to 2500 grit)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My fault. I attempt to read things too fast, and sometimes, a phrase like "Heatsink Fan" get's interpreted as "Heatsink-fan [assembly]."

Now I'm looking at your case. Are you sure you're not just showing off with your questions and thumping your chest about how sharp you are? Because I LIKE that case. I mean -- I think it has POTENTIAL.

Two 120mm exhaust fans. Nice!!

Son . . . son . . . lemme tell ya. You can probably dispense with using a "heatsink fan" on the Tuniq. Really. I mean it.

Go down to Michael's Arts & Crafts and buy a panel of their highest quality foam-art-board -- black. Build a neatly-fitted trapezoidal duct to fit those exhaust fans, so that the narrow end of the trapezoid is a 120mm x 120mm hole that fits against the tuniq. Or better -- make the latter hole just a tad bigger and build a stove-pipe box that fits around the Tuniq except for the exposed intake side.

I'll bet $10 today that you get better cooling performance with the "second-place runner-up" in the May 4 Anandtech comparison for the U-120-Extreme -- than with the Extreme "unducted" and fitted with a pusher-fan.

I mean it. Save yourself the money on the fan. Spend the $6 on the foam board, and get an Xacto knife -- do a little high-school trig and geometry and build the duct.

You . . . DON'T . . . .. NEED . . . . . A FAN with that case and the Tuniq.

Your biggest problem will be finding side-panel fans that are quiet, and that's not too difficult. The more, the better, and run them at half-speed. The pressure from those fans is going to force air through the Tuniq and the two exhaust fans are gonna suck it out like . . . . well, the trailer-hitch analog won't do here.

That only leaves the motherboard cooling -- nevertheless important -- and you can probably fit that into the design as well. In that variation, duct the Tuniq to one exhaust fan, throw a foam or lexan plate over the motherboard just below the Tuniq fins, and use the other fan to suck air off the mobo.

I just have to say that case is a real opportunity -- from a perspective of my favored strategy. really.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Forget the 2500 grit. 600 should do it. Just keep the base flat. The Diamond paste -- take pains to spread it thin, but evenly. The stuff clumps if you're not careful. Put a thin layer on, then a third of a rice-grain's-worth in the center and install the sink.

 

[Quiksilver]

I'm not worried about the side panel fan's as they will not be on; in other words I'm just going to use it with just that mesh or filter screen they have installed on the side. I would go with ducting except it's ugly even if you put some extra time into it to make it streamlined. I'll pass on that one thanks. Besides it's not my cup of tea, not fond of ducting at all no matter how well the results are I'm slightly more interested in a no clutter ideology so most of this build will be spent hiding cables

Micheal's Arts and Crafts? Wow, first time I ever heard someone even recommend that place; I didn't know there were some outside of Michigan (assuming your not from here).

Anyway if that ic diamond stuff is anything like drywall compound (texture and spread wise) it shouldn't be to hard for me to spread it (working for a painting painting company pays off)

I have to so though this fan has me thinking about purchasing it:
http://www.frozencpu.com/produ...PWM_Fan_R121225BU.html

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Not familiar with the fan manufacturer, but the specs at FrozenCPU show "110 CFM" and double-ball-bearing, with rated noise at 2,400 rpm below 40 dBA. That's especially good for a 120x25mm fan. I'll have to pick up one of those and try it.

The ducting thing, that's what I'd do because I have to have the lowest air-cooling temperatures. It's a fetish, and I'm filing away the link to your "Zero" case because -- like I said -- it's very promising. I won't go any farther to promote the ducting, but to say that OEMs like Dell and others build machines with ducting. The reason they can is that they can pick both the mobo and the case for mass production. But for us enthusiasts, neither the mobo maker nor the case manufacturer can -- or would -- bundle "ducts" with their products. In an Entity-Relationship database model, it's a many-to-many situation, and not economically feasible for individual members of either industry.

They had Michael's Arts & Crafts in my old Washington DC metro stomping grounds -- one of them in Annadale VA where Muhammed and Malvo shot that poor woman -- I think her name was Franklin. There are two of them here in Riverside CA within five miles of my house. So, yeah, they must be everywhere. The 7/11 chain of glue, thumb-tacks, art-board and finger-paint.

 

[Quiksilver]

I just can't help but wondering if that are like SilenX of the PWM fan market though... curious, if you happen to pick it up before my final build is complete (I got a huge list of other things I need before I get around to finishing this soo that'll more than likely be about November or higher not to mention im sitting on my hands till I see how the X38(?) series will perform motherboard wise compared to p35.)

I know dell duct's their's I got an old dell I modified to lose the ducted cooled and using a simple 80mm fan to cool it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I was more deliberate in planning my current build than in all previous projects.

I had this '94 Compaq server case I got for free, and was determined to use it. So I spent at least three months planning and executing the sheet-metal-work and painting -- before ever putting components in the box. for the trouble and time, I could easily have purchased your "Zero" or any of a number of cases.

Integral to that was the building of duct-boxes. At the center of that was to reduce the number of fans needed to obtain good cooling, balanced with deploying enough fans so that I could reduce noise. And the "fan reduction program" is still "in progress." But I don't have a fan hanging on my CPU cooler, the cooler keeps the CPU at lower load temperatures than other comparable systems at the same room ambient, and I got my VGA temperatures reduced by nearly 20C degrees while no longer running a VGA fan.

I also see enthusiasm abounds for the new chipsets, but I just checked the ASUS web site and the spec link to my 680i motherboard. They've added a line on processor compatibility: something like "Ready for new multi-core 45nm Intel processors."

And, as I said, I have piles of things that I should sell on EBay. My weakness is this: once I build a system to perfection, I become "fond" of it, and loath to sell it in whole or in part. That's got to change, between the power bills, the maintenance requirements, and the clutter.