can you run a opteron cooler fanless?

[Lord Banshee]

Ok i am thinking about making a little test computer which would run linux off usb flash drive here are the specs i am thinking

BIOSTAR NF61S Micro754 w/ GeForce 6100
Sempron 64 90nm 2600+ 1.6Ghz w/ opteron heatpipe cooler from opteron 165
512MB DDR PC3200
Corsair 1GB USB drive
Linux that will fit on the 1GB stick and run good 🙂
picoPSU w/ 80W ACtoDC Brick.

i want to run this thing without a fan at all. For the moment it will not even have a case using nut and screws to left from surface.

I plan on using this machine as a test bank for learning linux, testing hardware FPGA interfacing ( hopefully) so not messing with my main machine in case i f' something up, and maybe eventually a nice quiet server with an addition of a big Hard-Drive.

Again
I want to run the opteron cooler without a fan and wonder how well will it do with out a case and with one?

What you guys think?

-Chris

 

[RallyMaster]

Eh...I wouldn't run a heatsink with very packed fins passively. For things like the Scythe Ninja (and if you have good airflow inside the case), I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

 

[Painman]

No.

I have an Opty 165 cooler sitting in front of me right now, its fin density is way too high to rely on convection. Bolt a Panaflo L1A or something to it if the stock Delta fan is too loud for your taste.

 

[Blain]

Why do you want to run without a fan?

A. The current fan is just too loud.
B. The PS won't support the extra load of the fan.
C. I don't really know why.

Answers...
A. Run the fan at a lower voltage to quiet it down (7v or maybe even 5v if it will still start up).
B. Buy a beefier PS.
C. Think about it for a few more days.

BTW, Thin-fin heatsinks need some airflow. If you have a very light load on a CPU and want fanless, try a HS that uses thicker fins.

 

[nerp]

I had been cooling my opteron 148 with a zalman CNPS9500. The fan on the cooler sheared off one day and I didnt' realize it. It was just dangling. About two weeks went by before I realized it. Temps went up about 5-10 degrees in general, but it was still within the range of saftey. I was suprised that the machine ran stable even on passive cooling.

In any case, once I saw that I had an issue, I reduced my overclock. Even with just passive cooling, the machine was perfectly fine. I ran it passive for about a solid week before my replacement cooler arrived -- a CNPS9700.

So I'd say that using passive cooling on a non-overclocked opteron is perfectly fine if you have a large enough and efficient enough cooler.

 

[koomey]

Originally posted by: nerp
It was just dangling. About two weeks went by before I realized it.

How do you know how long it was?

 

[Lord Banshee]

To answer some questions and make some points:

Yes i do think the stock fan is too loud and if i was running this comp without a case it would be easier to hear. Under volt the fan might just do it for me.

This a not an opteron i want to cool passive, it is a sempron 64 @ 1.6Ghz

So the majority says no to passive running this heat sink need something with wider fins. And even if i wanted to to passive cooling due to the no air-flow at all, passive cooling still might be not the way to go right?

Another thought i have is to hotglue a 120mm fan on this heatsink and undervolt it. I do something like this with a dual p3 machine, this result is much more quiet than those stock p3 fans.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[aigomorla]

search for my old thread on making my NAS passive. You'll find all the answers you need, and also a extremely expensive price tag on the project.

I wanted to do this project on my X2. which is a toldeo, and it came out to be way too expensive for its performance.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

If you want to run passive try these coolers. Just remove the fans.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835207002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835200013

A little bit more expensive, but it might work better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103014


This fan will help just move the heat so it does not stay in one spot. And it is also quiet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999343

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: tylerdustin2008
If you want to run passive try these coolers. Just remove the fans.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835207002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103011

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835200013

A little bit more expensive, but it might work better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103014


This fan will help just move the heat so it does not stay in one spot. And it is also quiet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999343

uummm tyler, you forget rallys first post. He would need to have good to excellent flow going though that cpu area. I would like to say there is only about ~30% of the people who have good wire management skills to pull this off. Out of the 30% however, only 10% i would think are actually not lazy enough to do it for a passive project, the rest would do it so they could BUMP up the voltage to get higher OC.

<these are just my approximations, if there off, oh well, but i dont think there very very far off>

So OP, if your wire management skills BLOW, No, there is no way you can do it passive. If your a neat freak like n7, i cant see why you shouldnt have a problem with it. However on my dumped project i realized, (wind tunnels FTW!!)

 

[Lord Banshee]

I will not have many wires with the picoPSU and max only 1 SATA drive so wires are not an issues. But i didn't plan on having any airflow (no fans) so this is the problem.

I probably just try a couple different things and see which results in the best temp for the space.

 

[frostedflakes]

Inside a case probably not, but in open air I bet you could do this. Definitely if you undervolt the processor, I see no reason why a 2600+ couldn't run at 1.0-1.05V. This will put its load power consumption in the 10-15w range, so even with a less than ideal heatsink you should be able to keep temps manageable. If not maybe you can find something like a Scythe Ninja or NCU-2005 used for a decent price.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Blain
B. Buy a beefier PS.

Why? That PicoPSU should be able to run such a setup.

Lord Banshee, as some have suggested undervolt the CPU. Don't know if the board will let you do that though. My Biostar Tforce6100 would, but my Biostar Geforce6100-M7 would not, at least in BIOS. IIRC my Sempron 2600+ D0 (used in HTPC at the time) could run fine at stock speed undervolted to just over 1.1v. For passive cooling, consider a round heatsink with copper base like the Zalman 7000/7700 series or one of the ThermalTake Orb series (not Ruby Orb because no copper base). Alternately, as others suggested, run your Opty cooler with a different and severely undervolted fan. A Panaflo L1A on 5v would do the trick. You could also experiment with how the fan is oriented.