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Cooler for E8400, and now NB/SB Cooling

ExcaliburMM

ExcaliburMM

Senior member
Looking for the best CPU cooler possible for an E8400. Noise isn't a factor. Going in a CM RC690 case.

Currently considering:
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835207004

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233003
(With retention bracket.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835233019

I know there are places other than newegg that probably offer some really nice coolers, but I'd really like to stick with the egg if possible.
 
I see Jab has them for a decent price, and I know they've been excellent hailed for i7 cooling. Can anyone show me some reviews for the Megahalems on LGA775, specifically the E8x00 procs if possible? Or just some reviews of them in general? Anyone that's dealt with them before that can give me their idle/load temps?
 
I have that Xigmatek on my E8400, and it's great. I didn't get the retention bracket, but I probably should have since the pushpins were a pain in the ass.

Can post temps when I get home, but I don't use the fan that came with it, I use a quieter/lower speed fan. Since you said you don't care about noise, you can probably get lower temps by staying with the included fan.
 
Originally posted by: ExcaliburMM
I see Jab has them for a decent price, and I know they've been excellent hailed for i7 cooling. Can anyone show me some reviews for the Megahalems on LGA775, specifically the E8x00 procs if possible? Or just some reviews of them in general? Anyone that's dealt with them before that can give me their idle/load temps?
Click to expand...

Always a good point to make -- about the reviews. Look for "comparison" reviews that don't pick second-rate performers to test against.

Take it with a grain of salt, but one "customer-review" at Frozen-CPU vouches a 5C (lower) improvement over the TRUE. If this is a "load" reading, then that's a significant improvement. He says he hasn't stressed with PRIME95, so he may be exaggerating the improvement, but it definitely looks promising for the weight. Somebody else compared it to the copper TRUE -- which is just too darn heavy.
 
Thought I'd post a separate remark instead of editing my last.

THIS looks like a VERY RELIABLE comparison review, with several top-end coolers:

Benchmark Reviews (.com) Prolimatech Megahelem test-results summary page


I'm running TRUE and Noctua NH-U12P coolers. This Megahelem must have a superior (lower) thermal resistance than all of these coolers and several water-cooling kits. I'm guessing that it registers at somewhere between 0.08 C/W and 0.09 C/W.

Usually, the reviews show only temperatures at load above room-ambient. It doesn't much matter how stressful the loading program is, if it pushes the processor to 100% capacity. The temperature differentials are more telling.

There's only about a 1+(C-degree) improvement over the TRUE cooler. For some reason, their test results show significant differentials between the TRUE, the OCZ Vendetta 2 and the Noctua, when other reviews show those units to be neck and neck. BUT -- the bench-configuration deploys an I7-920 OC'd to about 3.6 Ghz. The TDP for these cores, as I understand it, is about 135W, so the overclocking would push the thermal wattage higher.

The point here is that the higher the thermal wattage, the narrower the differences between good heatpipe coolers and the stock cooler, and the narrower will be the improvement over "second-best." This, because:

Thermal-Resistance = (T2 - T1) / W

Where the difference in temperatures at the "hot" and "cool" ends of the device is measured in Celsius or Kelvin as (T2-T1), and W is the thermal wattage. As W increases for a device of given TR, the difference in temperatures shrinks. This would also apply to the improvement-differentials between two different devices, I think.

I'm impressed with the Prolimatech Megahelem -- second-hand impression until I can obtain and test one myself.

I'd say that it's probably overkill for an E8400, but you sure would notice the difference between the Megahelem and the TRUE (or Vendetta-2, Noctua, etc.) because of the lower thermal wattage even under extreme over-clocking for an E8400 in comparison to this review's I7-OC test-bed. And fact is, if you're going to spend maybe $40 on another cooler, why not get the Megahelem instead?

Further, lapping the processor cap (for an E8400) might gain up to 5C, and diamond-thermal-paste another 2 to 4C degrees. Note especially their discussion of thermal conductivity of materials, and they don't include nano-diamond pastes in the comparison!!

 
Originally posted by: ExcaliburMM
Thanks for all the info Bonzai.
Click to expand...

Just for the record, I need to correct something. It's simple math.

If the thermal wattage is greater, same thermal-resistance, the spread in the measured temperatures is greater. This, in turn, means that a lower thermal resistance will yield narrower improvements with higher thermal wattage.

I'm plagued with an intuitive mind, which wants to jump too fast over the logical hurdles . . .
 
[Gotta stop posting multiple threads between the replies of others.]

Just looked at some of the pictures for the Megahelem.

I've already confirmed that you can replace a ThermalRight Ultima-90 with a Noctua-NH-U12P without removing the motherboard, because the backplates have an identical design.

I'm lazy . . .

Doesn't it look as though this is true for the Megahelem?

 
most of the time the backplates that these companies use are all basically the same more or less. the thing to look at is if the backplate itself wont fall out in some way or another when the cooler is removed. i had to use cardboard spacers behind my backplates to hold them in place for the rigs using backplate mounted coolers so they wouldnt fall out and slide around under the mobo and making it harder to remount once the cooler is off the board.
 
Originally posted by: faxon
most of the time the backplates that these companies use are all basically the same more or less. the thing to look at is if the backplate itself wont fall out in some way or another when the cooler is removed. i had to use cardboard spacers behind my backplates to hold them in place for the rigs using backplate mounted coolers so they wouldnt fall out and slide around under the mobo and making it harder to remount once the cooler is off the board.
Click to expand...

Those X-shaped brackets have screw-taps that extrude on the top of the motherboard, and there are plates on the top-side of the motherboard secured with short screws to those taps.

So this is what I do: I remove one of the rectangular plates at a time, and replace (temporarily) with just a single screw to hold the backplate in the holes. Then I reverse the process, and there was never a need to shim the backplate from under the motherboard.
 
Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
So this is what I do: I remove one of the rectangular plates at a time, and replace (temporarily) with just a single screw to hold the backplate in the holes. Then I reverse the process, and there was never a need to shim the backplate from under the motherboard.
Click to expand...

You, my friend, are a gentleman and a scholar.

Brilliant tip!
 
I now realize that when overclocking this E8400 my NB is going to get pretty hot, as its already hot with my E2140 @ 3.2GHz. Can anyone recommend a good NB and possibly SB cooler, preferably on the egg?
 
Originally posted by: ExcaliburMM
I now realize that when overclocking this E8400 my NB is going to get pretty hot, as its already hot with my E2140 @ 3.2GHz. Can anyone recommend a good NB and possibly SB cooler, preferably on the egg?
Click to expand...

I tried looking for your DFI P35 board, but could only find this:

DFI LP LT P35 T2R

If, as the pictures suggest, there is only the ubiquitous aluminum heatsink on the NB and not some . . . . heatpipe necklace, then yes -- you could probably get some improvements:

TR-HR-05 at Sidewinder

But this is just an example. You could send e-mail to Gary Stofer if he's still at Sidewinder, and ask what else he has.

AigoMorla used a few of these to cool a dual-Xeon system (one each for the CPUs, I think). I've used 'em for the NB on some . . . older Springdale motherboards (DDR1 era). They HAVE to be better than the stock aluminum sink on the DFI board I linked above. The HAVE to be!

I even think you can hang a light-weight fan on them. That's one option, and I'd recommend something like the 80x15mm Zalman OP-1 fan using wire ties or whatever the instructions suggest on the his cooler.

The other possibility is [here I go again . . .] build a foam board duct that will suck air off this HR-05 drawn from an exhaust fan in your case. Of course, there are all sorts of fan-configuration possibilities. You just need to dream up the niftiest and neatest one. Or -- you might duct it to some part of the intake area for a tower-heatpipe CPU-cooler fan.
 
Originally posted by: Sacraster
I got Prolimatech Megahalems for sale if you are interest.
Click to expand...
Edit: Checked your sig. I'll be sending you a PM soon.

@Bonzai
Yeah I see Jab has those, if I wind up ordering a Megahalem from Jab Ill throw one of those on for the NB.
 
Originally posted by: ExcaliburMM
Originally posted by: Sacraster
I got Prolimatech Megahalems for sale if you are interest.
Click to expand...
Edit: Checked your sig. I'll be sending you a PM soon.

@Bonzai
Yeah I see Jab has those, if I wind up ordering a Megahalem from Jab Ill throw one of those on for the NB.
Click to expand...

I used to obsess myself with the tedium of epoxying heatsinks to Mosfets and installing coolers like the ThermalRight on the NB. Then, the high-end boards came along with the "heat-pipe necklace" design. I never even bothered replacing the stock TIM with diamond paste on those -- too much trouble.

Even less expensive boards, like the GA-EP45-UD3R, have decent NB cooling. So I was surprised at the NB sink on that DFI board.
 
The LP boards are always just as much about style as performance. They look bad ass, which was the main purpose of the NB heatsink as far as I can tell.
 
Bump: Is it possible to do push/pull on the megahalems? I have 2x 120mm YL Highs sitting around and I don't care about noise so I figured they'd be a good choice.
 
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