heatsink and fan recommendation

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
I have an XP1900 CPU and looking for a fan and heatsink with less of a noise. The volcano 6cu+ that came with my combo hasn't kept my cpu temps very well either. Any recommendations. I don't plan on overclocking, my volcano is just loud and is starting to make some squeaking noise.

I looked at another thread about SVC GC68 heatsink and getting a panaflow fan. But is that enough for me. Also the fan speed was extremely slow so I was wondering if that's a problem.
 

blade

1957 - 2008<br>Elite Moderator Emeritus<br>Troll H
Oct 9, 1999
2,772
1
0
If your room temp is around 70-75 all the time then the gc68 may be fine. And remember the gc68 uses a 80mm fan so even though it spins slower than many 60mm ones, it puts out more cfm. A bit better solution is the Dr Thermal.
 

Neurofreeze

Member
May 12, 2001
91
0
0
The two most popular choices for low-noise heatsinks with 80mm fans are the Alpha PAL8045 and the Thermalright AX-7. I'd have to say the 8045 is slightly better than the AX-7 with cooling, but it's also slightly more expensive. The difference in temperature and price is negligible though (about 1-2 degrees and a couple of bucks). Mostly people decide between the two from attachment mechanisms. AX-7 uses the tri-prong clip, 8045 uses the four mobo holes. I've seen the AX-7 go as low as $24 without fan nowadays. Most places carry it for $28. The 8045 gets up to $35, although $30 is not unheard of.
 

whitelight

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2001
3,505
0
76
the svc gc68 will suffice. you might also want to look into the thermalright ax-7. both will work well with low cfm fans.
 

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
Thanks for the information.

Anybody know about crystal fans? I see this one that has thermal control. Anybody know how it works and how well this works and how good of a fan this is? Seems like it would quiet enough when I need it to be and powerful enough when I need it to be.


I think I may go with the GC68 since it sounds so good and has a great price. I just hope the panaflow 24CFM is enough if I get it. My temp. with the volcano was on avg. in the mid to high 50's. with a 7000 RPM 38CFM fan, but I'm looking to have my temp below 50's if possible at the same time as the computer being quiet.

Thanks again
 

blade

1957 - 2008<br>Elite Moderator Emeritus<br>Troll H
Oct 9, 1999
2,772
1
0
I strongly suggest if you do get the gc68 to get a fan that puts out at least 30cfm. 24cfm is too low for that heatsink. I tested a similar one with a 31cfm (still quiet) fan on a tbird 1.4 and got 102 idle and 114 running prime95 cpu torture test with a room temp of 72.
 

drache

Junior Member
May 22, 2002
5
0
0
I work at a thermal management company - www.ajigo.com. We designed some coolers with AMD (highest performers per AMD). These are designed to work very well and reasonably quiet (OEMs and Europeans hate noise). We do not add gimmicks, just plain kick-ass coolers.

You want to try one out?

I will send you a free sample of our MF014-021 (standard cooler), which has no problem cooling Atlon XP 2400+ and should be more than enough for your 1900+.
 

ThisIsMatt

Banned
Aug 4, 2000
11,820
1
0
Originally posted by: drache
I work at a thermal management company - www.ajigo.com. We designed some coolers with AMD (highest performers per AMD). These are designed to work very well and reasonably quiet (OEMs and Europeans hate noise). We do not add gimmicks, just plain kick-ass coolers.

You want to try one out?

I will send you a free sample of our MF014-021 (standard cooler), which has no problem cooling Atlon XP 2400+ and should be more than enough for your 1900+.
Uhh, /me raises hand, I do! :D

Right now I'm running a 1.4Ghz Tbird with a volcano 5 and a custom (by myself) modded 80mm adapter with an NMB fan (near panaflo L1A specs, 1dBA higher, 1CFM higher) and it runs at up to 57° C at full load...I'd like to get that down, but am low on cash at the moment. I too was considering getting a GC68 bare hs and just using my current fan...
 

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
Originally posted by: drache
I work at a thermal management company - www.ajigo.com. We designed some coolers with AMD (highest performers per AMD). These are designed to work very well and reasonably quiet (OEMs and Europeans hate noise). We do not add gimmicks, just plain kick-ass coolers.

You want to try one out?

I will send you a free sample of our MF014-021 (standard cooler), which has no problem cooling Atlon XP 2400+ and should be more than enough for your 1900+.

kewl, that would be great. How do I get one?
 

drache

Junior Member
May 22, 2002
5
0
0
To everyone that e-mailed Ajigo:

Thanks for the interest. I gave away the three samples I had.

If I get more to give away I will post a note.
 

MarkM

Senior member
Oct 16, 2001
394
0
0
Meanwhile, I second Mecheater's question: does anyone have any expereince with this thermal controlled crystal fan? How reliabel? How noisy? How accurate (as far as the thermistor, specifically mounting it on the cpu or HS)? How practical?
 

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
Thanks Drache for the hsf. It works great and the fan sound is very tolerable. My temps are lower, but still above where I would like it.

The only thing is my cpu heat is still above 50 C's it's at about 54 which is tolerable, but that is while being idle. However it does maintain the temp. even while doing more. Any suggestions on cooling it down? I have some left over artic silver III, but would that really help compared to the thermal compoud on the heatsink already?

Should it be possible to get to 41 C on a XP 1900, or am I just fixated on when I used to run an xp 1700 in the 30's range?
 

drache

Junior Member
May 22, 2002
5
0
0
Glad to hear the fan/heat sink is working well (relatively quiet and cool). However, I understand you would like lower temps. The MF014 is our standard cooler we do offer a version with a higher CFM fan ( w/o too much of a noise increase - 27CFM 38 DB-A).

Then again, your temps may be effected by the case environment (as discussed above) or by the way the temperature is being determined. How are you getting your cpu temps? Sometimes the motherboard temp readings are not very accurate.

Problem is that when we test a cooler, we drill a hole through the base and place sensors in the heat sink and at various spots (according to AMD protocol) in order to get an accurate reading of temperatures. Well it is not realistic to do this in your personal set-up so you have to work with the data you can get.

In general, you should be able to get temperatures down, but of course the trade off is noise and money. You just have to consider if your set up is running well and within the operating temps of the processor.

Also note, most companies in thermal management and the cpu manufactures use Shin Etsu thermal grease when we decide to use a grease material (usually a bit better performance than a phase change material). We generally do not use this material on open die chips, but if we do, it is a non-conductive Shin Etsu material. I do not know whether Artic Silver is conductive or not, but you want to avoid anything conductive coming in contact with the substrate of the chip (which may have electrical contacts).
 

blade

1957 - 2008<br>Elite Moderator Emeritus<br>Troll H
Oct 9, 1999
2,772
1
0
but would that really help compared to the thermal compoud on the heatsink already
Using AS III will lower the temp by 3-4 degrees but what you really need is a more powerful fan. If you have a good heatsink then a noisy one isn't needed unless you overclock. But you need 25-35cfm.
 

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
How much would a more powerful fan do? I just noticed the fan from Ajigo is only 21 CFM which is fairly low.

Also can someone tell me how to convert the 60mm to an 80mm fan? I like a few 80 mm fans, but after searching it was hard to find a good quiet 60 mm fan. Also am I better off buying a new heatsink rather than converting to an 80mm fan? The GC68 is basically the same price as the cheapest converter I can find.

I don't think my case or room temp is fairly hot and is what is causing this heat. I'll let you be the judge. My case temp is stable at 26 degree C. my room temp is around 70's f
 

blade

1957 - 2008<br>Elite Moderator Emeritus<br>Troll H
Oct 9, 1999
2,772
1
0
How much would a more powerful fan do?
Frankly with that heatsink, not much.

You can get a 60-80mm fan adapter but as you said the gc68 is about the same so I'd go that route. It's a better heatsink also. Good quiet fans that put out good cfm are fans off a volcano II or 5, but the problem is finding anyone who'l just sell you the fan. It's weird that buying just that fan is more expensive than buying the whole heatsink which comes with the fan.

If you are in the 70 degrees for room temp then it is the heatsink. But even with the gc68 you stil may not get the temps as low as you want. The dr thermal is the best low cost solution.
 

ThisIsMatt

Banned
Aug 4, 2000
11,820
1
0
drache -
I installed the hsf today. I'm curious as to why the bottom was grooved, not smooth? I took the time to lap the bottom (my arm is tired :p), you can see the results here. The noise level is higher than my normal setup, but not nearly as loud as a coolermaster hcc-002 if you've heard one of them. It seems about the same level as an older stock AMD hsf, in fact the fan looks quite similar (low profile delta). I'm getting the same idle temps as my other setup (volcano 5 w/80mm adapter), but it is helping under load (only got to 52 while running 3dmark, UT, etc), which is better than my normal setup. However, I leave my computer on 24/7 and it's only 5 ft from the head of my bed, so I'll probably return to my normal setup.

Either way, I only see 1-2° C drops if I take my cover off, so I believe I have adequate case ventilation. I also believe my motherboard reads a bit high -- I tried putting a compunurse temp. prob next to the die and it read about 7° C lower than my motherboard sensor.
 

Mecheater

Senior member
May 26, 2000
906
0
0
Not bad, I guess I'll be happy with using the Arctic Silver III. I just used it and it's brought my temp to a stable 48 C.

50 C+ is my warning to do something about my heat
60 C+ is a must fix
70 C+ it better not get that far